Number: 1953
Proto-Semitic: *ʔimmi/ar-
Meaning: lamb
Akkadian: immeru 'sheep; sheep and goats; ram' OA, OB on [CAD i 129], [AHw. 378]; immertu 'ewe, sheep (as a generic term)' OB on [CAD i 128], [AHw. 378].
Ugaritic: ʔimr 'cordero' [DLU 35-6]. // A well-attested poetic term (the only exception is the cultic passage 1.119:10: ʔimr w ynt ḳrt lt_ʕ 'a lamb and a pigeon for the Noble'). Of interest is the phonetic (?) variant ʔamr in 1.20 I 10 agreeing with one of the Arb. forms below (cf. [Tropper UG 173-4]). See further [Del Olmo Sheep 184-5].
Phoenician: ʔmr 'lamb' [T 24]. // In the magical text from Arslan Tash (KAI 27:4-5) as part of the name of an evil demon (ḥnḳt ʔmr 'Strangler of the lamb'), see [Gibson 85] (quoting interesting paralles from Arabic and Ugaritic). Since both the orthography and the language of the Arslan Tash texts contains a number of features often regarded as Aramaic, the present term could be considered an Aramaism. This assumption seems less likely in view of the occurrence of ʔmr in the Punic offering tariff KAI 69:9 (bʔmr ʔm bgd 'for a lamb or a kid').
Hebrew: ʔimmēr 'lamb' [KB 67]. // A Hapax in the difficult passage Gn 49:21: naptālī ʔayyālā šǝlūḥā hannōtēn ʔimrē šāpär. For a survey of interpretations see [KB 1636] (with a somewhat strange conclusion: ""darling lambs" sounds pretty, but is not linguistically possible, for lamb would normally be expressed by ṭālǟ"). See further [Del Olmo Religión 128] on KTU 1.108.10 which may be of great importance for the interpretation of the Hbr. text (ʔaklt.ʕgl @l.m // št[yt.ʔi]mr.špr 'eating the divine (?) calf // drinking the beautiful (?) lamb').
Aramaic: Anc. ʔmr 'lamb, sheep' [HJ 78]. // In KAI 222A:23 (šbʕ šʔn yhynḳn ʔmr 'severn ewes will suckle a lamb', see [Fitzmyer 81]) and in a practically identical passage from TF 20 (wmʔh sʔwn lhynḳn ʔmr, paralleled by Akk. 1 ME U8 lā ušabbâ UDU.NIM, see [STF 65]). // Off. ʔmr 'lamb, sheep' [HJ 78]. // Besides administrative texts, in Aḥiq 121 (cf. [PY XXV], [Kott. 188]). // Dem. ʔmr 'lamb' [HJ 1253]. // Plm. ʔmr 'lamb, sheep' [HJ 78] (см. [PAT 340]).
Biblical Aramaic: ʔimmēr 'lamb' [KB 1816]. // In the lists of sacrificial animals (Ezr 6.9,17 and 7.17).
Judaic Aramaic: ʔimmar (det. ʔimmǝrā) 'lamb' [Ja. 51], ʔimmartā 'ewe' [ibid.], [Levy WTM I 102]; ʔimmar 'lamb' [Sok. 50], ʔymrh (det. ʔymrth 'ewe' [ibid.]). // Sam. ʔmr 'lamb', ʔmrh 'ewe' [Tal 44].
Syrian Aramaic: ʔemrā 'agnus' [Brock. 26], [PS 246].
Mandaic Aramaic: ʕmbra 'sheep, lamb' [DM 352], также ʕumbra [ibid. 344], ambra [ibid. 22].
Arabic: ʔa/immar- 'agneau' [BK 1 53], [Fr. I 58], [Lane 97], [LA IV 32].
Notes: According to a widespread point of view (e.g. [Zimmern 50]), the WS forms are Akkadisms (cf. [CAD i 129]: "the Kulturwort immeru appears in Ugarit as imru (sic!) and Aram. as emrā") while the Arb. term is an Aramaism (see [Hommel 237] who points out to the late occurrence of the Arb. term). The non-borrowed nature of the Arm. words is defended in [KB 1817] ("probably not a loanword but rather a common sbst."), for a sharp criticism of Hommel's view cf. [Nöldeke 1261-2]. // [KB 67]: Hbr., Ugr., Arm., Pho., Akk., Arb.; [DLU 35]: Ugr., Hbr., Pho., Arm., Akk.; [Brock. 26]: Syr., Arm., Arb., Akk.
semet-proto,semet-prnum,semet-meaning,semet-akk,semet-uga,semet-phn,semet-hbr,semet-arm,semet-bib,semet-jud,semet-syr,semet-mnd,semet-ara,semet-notes,