Number: 2242
Proto-Semitic: *zam- {} *ʒam-
Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology
Meaning: blood
Mandaic Aramaic: zma 'blood' [DM 168]; also ʕzma (with the *ʔa-prefix?). While a doublet of dma do. [ibid. 111], represents the main term for 'blood' in MND
Arabic: zaʔama 'presser une plaie de manière que le pus en sorte, le sang se dessèche et forme une croûte' [BK 1 967]
Modern Arabic: SYR zūm 'blood; juice'
Geʕez (Ethiopian): zam 'blood' [LGz 638]. Other meanings 'broth; impurity left in broth by boiled meat' [ibid.], if in fact referring to zam, are likely to be due to contamination with zom, zomo (from GREEK zōmos 'soup, sauce, broth' [ibid.])
Notes: Debatable. Attested only in MND, GEZ and, as a verb, in ARB, looks an original SEM root to differentiate from a loan of GREEK zōmos 'soup, sauce, broth' (but not 'blood'!) in some of SEM: HBR PB zōm 'juice, brine' [Ja 387], zāmīt, zōmīt '[foam]; name of a brine' [ibid. 403]; JUD zōmā 'juice, brine, broth, pulp' [ibid. 387], SYR zūmā, zūmūs 'jus; liquor' [Brock 192]; GEZ zom, zomo 'blood; broth; impurity left in broth by boiled meat' [LGz 638] (the meaning 'blood', if not a confusion, must be due to contamination with zam, see above). The vocalic reconstruction is highly tentative based on the presumption that GEZ zam (unlike zom, from GREEK) retains the old vowel.
Note AFRAS: CHAD and HAMER
semet-proto,semet-prnum,semet-meaning,semet-mnd,semet-ara,semet-dial,semet-gzz,semet-notes,
