Number: 1922
Proto-Semitic: *ḥann-
Meaning: (feminine) genital organ, uterus
Aramaic: OFF ḥn 'vagina' [HJ 387] (uncertain)
Syrian Aramaic: ḥannā 'sinus; penis; cunnus, vagina' [Brock 242]; ḥannūtā 'uterus' [ibid.]
Mandaic Aramaic: (?) hana 'privy parts', also 'lap, loins, embrace' [DM 124].
One cannot be sure whether this is derived from *ḥann- or should be interpreted in the same way as the JUD example below
Arabic: ḥann-at- 'femme, épouse' [BK 1 499].
A semantic shift well attested in SEM (cf. Introduction) and elsewhere
Tigre: ḥǝnot 'foetus' [LH 85], ḥannä 'to be with child' [ibid. 84]; cf. ḥante 'lap, the lower parts' [ibid. 83] (<*ḥan-t-ay)
Notes: Scarcely attested and semantically diverse, though supported by AFRASIAN data.
Note that ARM: JUD ḥēnā 'lap, bosom' [Ja 481] is rather from *ḥayn- <*ḥaʔn- <*ḥaʕn- <*ḥaṣ̂n- {} *ḥaĉ̣n- (No. ). The same process seems to be assumed in [Brock 242] and [DM 124] for the respective SYR and MND forms, which at least for SYR is rather doubtful in view of the gemination of -n- and the -a- vocalism of the base.
[Maizel 222]
