Number: 2378
Proto-Semitic: *d_Vb(V)b-
Meaning: fly
Akkadian: zumbu (zubbu, zunbu) 'fly' OB on [CAD z 154], [AHw. 1535-6]. // Common in literary and lexical texts. The earliest attestations are in Atrah̊asīs, e.g. III 44 (kīma zubbī īwû lillidū 'my offsprings became like flies', v. [Lambert-Millard 184] for other references). Also in OB z. is found with the transferred meaning 'kind of stone or metal jewel' or metal jewel' (see more details in [Lion-Michel 723]; the meaning shift is illustrated by the famous passage Atr. 100.2: zu-ub-bu-ú a[n-nu-tum] lu-ú uḳ-ni ki-ša-di-i[a-a-ma] 'these flies - let them become the lapis-lazuli of my neck!').
Eblaitic: za-ba-bù-um = NINza-bux(NI) [MEE IV 368] ('fly' according to [Civil Ebla 85]).
Geʕez (Ethiopian): zǝnb 'fly' [LGz. 640].
Tigrai (Tigriñña): zǝnbi 'mosca' [Bass. 735].
Amharic: zǝmb, zǝnb 'fly' [K 1616], Arg. zǝmb id. [LArg. 227].
Argobba: zǝmb
Gafat: zǝmbä 'mouche' [LGaf. 249].
Harari: zǝmbi 'fly' [LHar. 166].
Gurage: (all dialects) zǝmb 'fly' [LGur. 708].
Mehri: d_ǝbbēt 'fly' [JM 79].
Jibbali: d_ǝbbɔ́t id. [JJ 45].
Harsusi: d_ebbēt id. [JH 27].
Soqotri: ʔedbíboh id. [LS 121].
Notes: Related forms with reduplication (< *d_Vbd_Vb-) see in Jud. dīdǝbā 'fly' [Ja. 294], [Levy WTM I 378] and Mnd. didbia (pl.) 'fly' [DM 106] (cf. [Nöldeke 119-20]). Note also Hrs. d_ebd_ebēt 'worm' [JH 28] and Arb. d_bʔ 'espèce de sauterelle' [Dozy I 483]. // Of some interest may be Arb. zibb- 'espèce de ver (fistularia vitata)' [BK 1 968], [Fr. II 220] (with z- instead of d_- and rather distant semantically). // Ugr. d_bb 'entidad mítica femenina vencida por Anat' is compared to the present root in [DLU 139] (only in 1.3 III 46: klt bt ʔil d_bb 'I exterminated d_., Ilu's daughter'; note that two of the remaining mythical beings mentioned in this passage are called ʕgl ʔil 'Ilu's calf' and klbt ʔil 'Ilu's bitch'). // [Fron. 296]: *d_ubb- (Amh., Tna., Arb., Syr., Jud., Hbr., Akk.); [DRS 326]: Akk., Ugr. (d_bb), Hbr., Arm., Arb., Eth., MSA, [KB 261]: Hbr., Arm., Arb., Amh., Akk., Mhr.; [Brock. 138]: Syr., Jud., Hbr., Arb., Akk., Amh.; [LGz. 640]: Gez. (qualified as probable Amharism), Eth., Arb., Mhr., Soq., Hbr., Arm., Akk.; [LS 121]: Soq., MSA, Arb., Hbr., Arm., Akk., Amh.; [Firmage 1155]: Akk., Hbr., Ugr. (d_bb), Arm., Gez., Arb.
semet-proto,semet-prnum,semet-meaning,semet-akk,semet-ebl,semet-gzz,semet-tgy,semet-amh,semet-arg,semet-gaf,semet-hrr,semet-gur,semet-mhr,semet-jib,semet-hss,semet-soq,semet-notes,
