Semitic etymology : List with all references

Number: 1558

Proto-Semitic: *bVṣ/s/zVḳ- 'expectorate'

Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology

Meaning: 'expectorate, spit'

Arabic: bṣḳ 'cracher' [BK 1 132]; cf. bzḳ do. [ibid. 121]

Tigre: bärč̣äḳä 'to spit out, to quirt through the lips' [LH 281]

Tigrai (Tigriñña): bǝrč̣ǝḳč̣ǝḳ bälä 'sentir nausea, voglia di vomitare' [Bass 320] (partial reduplication).

Note that bǝrč̣ǝḳ bälä 'spit out' quoted in [LGur 131] is not found in [Bass], while comparison with bäč̣äḳ bälä 'scolare da una piaga (pus, marcia)' [Bass 342] made by Leslau [LGur 131] is questionable semantically

Amharic: tän/mborač̣č̣äḳä 'to spray, splatter (water being poured into a container)' [K 894]

East Ethiopic: SEL bǝč̣ǝḳ bälä 'spit' [LGur 131]

Notes: Only ARB and MOD ETH.

Note a variant stem with a secondary (?) -r- in most ETH (and CUSH examples with no -r- [LGur 131]); cf. a possible variant root with m- in [LGur 390].

[DRS 77] (ARB only); [LGur 131]: ETH, ARB

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *bic̣Vḳ- (?)

Meaning: expectorate

Semitic: *bVṣ/s/zVḳ- 'expectorate, spit'

Central Cushitic (Agaw): *bic̣Vḳ- 'expectorate' 1, 'saliva' 2

Notes: Insufficient data, though the affinity is striking. Hardly a Semitism in Agaw.

Semitic etymology :

Afroasiatic etymology :

Central Cushitic (Agaw) etymology :