Number: 2185
Proto-Semitic: *raʔ(i)š- {} *raʔ(i)s-
Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology
Meaning: head
Akkadian: rāšu 'Kopf, Haupt' OAkk, rēšu OB on [AHw 973]
Eblaitic: rí-še6 /riʔši/ [Kr 46; Bl E No. 79]
Ugaritic: rʔiš, pl. rʔašm [Aist 285]
Canaanite: MOAB rš [Segert 267], AMARNA ru-šu-nu (with 1 pl. pron suff.) [HJ 1042]
Phoenician: rʔš [T 297]
Hebrew: rō(ʔ)š [KB 1164]
Aramaic: DALLA OLD OFF NAB rʔš, PLM OFF rš, OFF NAB ryš [HJ 1042]
Biblical Aramaic: rē(ʔ)š 'Kopf, Anfang' [KB deutsch 1777]
Judaic Aramaic: rēšā [Ja 1477]; ryš [Sok 510]
Syrian Aramaic: rēšā [Brock 728]
Modern Aramaic: MAʕLULA rayša [Bergsträsser Maʕl 77] MAL raiša 'Kopf' [Berg 77] BAH *rayša 'Kopf' [Cor 183] TUR rīs,ō 'head, top' [R Ṭūrōyo 118] MLH rišo 'Kopf' [J Mlah 188] HRT reša 'Kopf' [J Hert 197] NASS rīšä 'head' [Tser 0191] URM ris,ǝ 'head' [R Urmi 102] MMND rīš, emph. rīša 'head' [M MND 505] GZR réša 'head, top' [Nak 84] IRAN *rīša 'la testa; il capo' rīšihçyß (suff.) 'la mia testa' [Pen 120]MAʕLULA rayša [Bergsträsser Maʕl 77]
Mandaic Aramaic: riš, riša [DM 434]
Arabic: raʔs- [BK 1 793]
Epigraphic South Arabian: SAB rʔs1 [SD 112]
Geʕez (Ethiopian): rǝʔ(ǝ)s [LGz 458]
Tigre: räʔas [LH 155]
Tigrai (Tigriñña): rǝʔ(ǝ)si [Bass 151]
Amharic: ras, ǝras (also 'top') [K 381]
Harari: urūs [LHar 32]
Mehri: ḥǝ-rōh (-ō- <*ā) [JM 310]
Jibbali: rɛ́š [JJ 201]
Harsusi: ḥé-rīh, ḥerīh [JH 101] (<*ḥa-rīš)
Soqotri: réy, reʔ, réh, pl. ʔírʔeš [LS 390] (cf. also [SSL LS 1468; SSL 4 96])
Notes: In UGR rʔiš (pl. rʔašm) the graphic sign for ʔi does not necessarily point to the vocalization *riʔš-, but may also be a way of indicating ʔ + 0; ʔa in the pl. form suggests a normalization *[raʔašūma] with -a- as an apophonic plural marker (cf. the same picture in HBR rā(ʔ)šīm). Note ARM MAʕLULA rayša implying that ARM -ē- generally viewed as evolved from *-i- may in fact be a result of the contraction *-ay- > ē; the shift ʔ > y in a syllable-closing position is almost universal in ARM.
GEZ and TNA -ǝ- of the first syllable are likely to reflect *-i-, though the possibility of ǝ < *a before a laryngeal with a front vowel cannot be ruled out.
Note ETH forms with the *ʔV- prefix: AMH ǝras, HAR urūs (below) and GUR examples with a meaning shift: SOD ǝrs bä-ras-kǝnnäm 'one another (they)' [LGur 527], GYE äʔärās 'only, alone' [ibid.].
Cf. different meaning shifts in ESA: QAT rʔs1 'spout' [Ricks 150] and MIN rʔs1 'lui-même, sa propre personne' [LM 75]. Cf. ETH *tǝrʔas 'head of the bed, head support, pillow' [LGz 458; 578-9], [LGur 603]; a derived form with a *tV- prefix?
[Fron 43]: (*raʔš- 'testa' /GEZ,ARB,SYR,HBR,UGR,AKK/); [Holma 10]: AKK, AMARNA, HBR, ARB, SYR, GEZ; [KB 1164]: HBR, ARM, PHO, AMARNA, MOAB, UGR, AKK, SAB, GEZ, TGR, ARB; [LGz 458]: GEZ, ETH, ESA, JIB, SOQ, HBR, ARM, UGR, PHO, AKK
semet-proto,semet-prnum,semet-meaning,semet-akk,semet-ebl,semet-uga,semet-can,semet-phn,semet-hbr,semet-arm,semet-bib,semet-jud,semet-syr,semet-new,semet-mnd,semet-ara,semet-sar,semet-gzz,semet-tgr,semet-tgy,semet-amh,semet-hrr,semet-mhr,semet-jib,semet-hss,semet-soq,semet-notes,
