Number: 2154
Proto-Semitic: *mi/ar(V)r-(at-)
Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology
Meaning: gall, gall-bladder
Akkadian: martu 'gall-bladder, gall' OB on [AHw 614], [CAD m1 297]. Note that Holma's remark "martu wahrscheinlich aus marratu sinkopiert" is not convincing since a phonetic development of this kind is not typical of AKK
Hebrew: mǝrōrā 'gall-bladder' [KB 639] (<*mVrār-at- or *mVrur-at-), mǝrērā do. [ibid.] (< *mVrir-at-). Cf. PB mārā 'drop, poison' [Ja 838]
Aramaic: OFF WARKA mi-ir-ra-ʔ 'poison' (acc. to some interpretations, 'gall') [HJ 690]
Judaic Aramaic: mǝrirtā 'gall' [Ja 843] < *mVrir-(a)t-
Syrian Aramaic: mertā 'fel, venenum' [Brock 400]; mǝrārǝtā 'fel' [ibid.]
Modern Aramaic: MMND merartā 'gall' [M MND 504]
Mandaic Aramaic: mirta 'gall, bile, venom' [DM 270]
Arabic: mirrat- 'fiel, bile' [BK 2 1084]. Cf. ʔamurr- 'intestins' [ibid.]; related with a meaning shift?
Tigre: märānät 'gall' [LH 114-15]. Not without difficulties: possibly the reduplication of -r- is just not marked, while -ān remains to be explained; the meaning, however, is a decisive argument for relating the TGR form to the present root. Cf. also märrät 'the dark bitter extract of Dobera glabra used for the conservation of butter' [ibid. 113], which may be a metaphoric development of 'gall, bile' or a derivative of märrä 'to be bitter'
Harari: mǝrār 'bile' [LH 111] < *mi/urār
Gurage: CHA ENN GYE mʷänä, EŽA MUH mʷännä, END monä 'bladder, leather bag used for grain or honey' [LGur 406]. According to Leslau, "r becomes n in non-initial position when originally geminated" [ibid. LI], which suggests a possibility of the underlying proto-form *marra
Mehri: mǝrrā́t 'gall, gall-bladder' [JM 268]
Jibbali: mɛrrɔ́t 'gall-bladder' [JJ 173]
Harsusi: merrét 'bile, gall' [JH 89]
Soqotri: mer (mher), pl. mírehor 'ventre, l'interieur de n'importe quelle chose' [LS 251]; ʕELHA mɛr d-šébdeh 'vésicule biliare' (šébdeh 'liver') [SSL LS 1466]
Notes: Most SEM examples with reduplicated second radical quoted may have been derived after various deverbal paterns from *mrr 'to be bitter'. However, AKK, SYR and MND examples are rather vestiges of a biconsonantal stem and can hardly be derived from a geminated base. That and the fact that besides nominal forms meaning 'bile, gall, gall-bladder', there are also terms throughout SEM meaning only 'gall-bladder', and even 'bladder' as in GUR and 'stomach' as in SOQ, makes one doubt a generally accepted notion of this anatomical term to have derived from the verb 'to be bitter' (cf., for example, [LGz 360]; a contamination with the latter, especially in case of ARM and HBR PB 'poison', is very likely. [Fron 42] (*marir-at- 'bile' /HAR,ARB,SYR,HBR,AKK/); [Holma 79]: AKK, HBR, JUD, SYR, ARB; [KB 639]: HBR (mǝrērā, mǝrōrā), ARM, AKK, ARB, HAR; [Brock 400]: SYR, ARB, AKK, HBR; [LS 252]: SOQ, ARB, HBR, SYR, AKK
semet-proto,semet-prnum,semet-meaning,semet-akk,semet-hbr,semet-arm,semet-jud,semet-syr,semet-new,semet-mnd,semet-ara,semet-tgr,semet-hrr,semet-gur,semet-mhr,semet-jib,semet-hss,semet-soq,semet-notes,
