Number: 2474
Proto-Semitic: *layt_-
Meaning: lion
Hebrew: layiš 'lion' [KB 529], pB. [Ja. 710]. A rare poetic term (Is 30.6, Jb 4.11, Pr 30.30).
Aramaic: Sam. lyt 'lion', lyth 'lioness' [Tal 438].
Judaic Aramaic: lētā, laytā 'lion' [Ja. 710], [Levy WT I 410], [+++].
Arabic: layt_- 'lion' (also 'sorte d'araignée plus petit que le ʕankabūt-'), lāyit_- 'lion' [BK 2 1048], [Fr. IV 140], [Lane 2684], [LA II 188] (v. [Hommel 288]).
Notes: Central Semitic only. Arb. lays- 'courage, bravoure' [BK 2 1048], [Fr. IV 140], [LA VI 211] is sometimes compared to the present term, implying a variant root with -s instead of -t_ and a meaning shift (note that a presumably derived noun ʔalyas- 'lion' is quoted in the same sources). The widespread attribution of Akk. nēšu 'lion' to the pre- sent root is absolutely untenable: while the irregular *l- vs. n- can probably be explained by contamination with PS *labVʔ- (as suggested in [Landsberger Fauna 76]), consistent e-spellings in Babylonian safely exlude *y as the second radical. Alterna- tive etymological proposals for the Akk. term see in No. ... . Relationship of Gr. lĩs 'lion' to the present root is admit- ted as possible in [Gamkrelidze-Ivanov 510] (but cf. [Masson 86]). [Fron. 292]: *nayt_- 'leone' (Arb., Hbr., Jud., Akk. /nēšu/); [Hommel 288]: *lait_u (Arb., Jud., Hbr.); [KB 529]: Hbr., Arb. (layt_-, layas- [sic!]), Jud., Akk. (nēšu).
