Number: 2481
Proto-Semitic: *namal-
Meaning: ant
Akkadian: namalu (namlu) 'ant' OB, EA [CAD n1 208], [AHw. 725]. Regarded as a WS loan in [CAD] which is probably correct since the OB attestations are limited to personal names whereas the relevant Amarna passage is well known to be written almost entirely in Canaanite (EA 252:16: kī namlu tumḫaṣu lā tikabbilu u tanšuku ḳāti amēli ša yimaḫḫašši 'if one strikes an ant, does not it fight and sting the hand of the man who struck it?', on this passage cf. [Albright 31], [Hueh.], [Hess ...]). In [AHw.], on the contrary, n. is not explicitly defined as a WS loan, pos- sibly because of its supposed attestation in the SB physiognomic omen Kraus Texte 22 IV 1 (šumma ṣuprāšu na-ma-li malâ 'if his nails are full of n.' (according to [CAD], a different lexeme is used here which 'probably refers to cracks or spots on the nails').
Hebrew: nǝmālā 'ant' [KB 701], pB. [Ja. 913]. Attested twice in Proverbs: 6.6 (lēk ʔälnǝmālā ʕāṣēl // rǝʔē dǝrākǟhā waḥăkām 'go to the ant, oh lazy, // look at its behaviour and learn') and 30.25 (hannǝmālīm ʕam lō(ʔ)-ʕāz // wayyākīnū baḳḳayiṣ laḥmām 'ants are not a strong people // but [are able to] prepare their food during the summer').
Syrian Aramaic: nǝmālā 'nidus formicarum' [Brock. 431], [PS 2385].
Arabic: nimm-at- 'une fourmi; un pou' [BK 2 1346], naml- 'fourmi' [BK 2 1349], [Fr. IV 339], [LA XI 678-9].
Mehri: nōmīl 'ant (smaller than a ǝwftáyn)' [JM 299].
Jibbali: nīźín 'ant (smaller than a lǝftín)' [JJ 192].
Harsusi: lōmēl 'ant' [JH 84] (with assimilation of resonants).
Soqotri: nímhil 'ant' [Nakano 118].
Notes: Cf. Akk. lamattu 'ant' [CAD l 67], [AHw. 533], known only from Malku V 61 (equated to the normal Akk. term for ant kulbābu, v. [Landsberger Fauna 136]). Both dictionaries regard it as a WS loan which is likely in view of its attestation in Malku; note, however, that no similar term is known from any WS language. Cf. Hbr. pB. ḥănāmal 'beetle, prob. a species of locusts' [Ja 484], with unexplainable ḥă-. Akk. nimmullu 'a fly' SB [CAD n2 234], [AHw. 790] shows a superficial similarity to the present root but is hardly related in view of a transparent Sumerian etymology (NIM 'Fliege' [IK 759], mu-ulMÙL 'Raupe' [IK 691]). [Fron. 297]: *naml-(at-) 'formica' (Mhr., Arb., Syr., Akk.); [KB 701]: Hbr., Arb., Syr., Akk. (namalu, lamattu); [Brock. 431]: Syr., Hbr., Arb.; [Firmage 1155]: Akk., Hbr., Arm., Arb.
