Semitic etymology : Query result

Number: 2608

Proto-Semitic: *gaw(w)iʔ- or *gʷay(y)aʔ-

Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology

Meaning: body; corps; chest, belly; interior

Akkadian: (?) gattu 'figure, shape' MARI, SB, NB [CAD g 58], [AHw 283].

Contextually may rather be translated as 'body' (e.g. emūḳī lā šanān ušaršû gatti 'they endowed my body with unequalled power'). Double -tt- is difficult to explain (<*gaʔ-t-?)

Hebrew: gǝwiyyā 'body; corpse' [KB 193]; gaw, gēw 'back' [ibid. 182] (note a meaning shift unattested in other languages)

Judaic Aramaic: gēw, gaw, gawwā (constr. gō) 'belly, innermost' [Ja 116]; gǝwiytā, giwyǝtā 'body' [Ja 220]; cf. gwyyh 'euph. for male sexual organ' [Sok 123]

Syrian Aramaic: gawā 'pars interna corporis, venter, viscera' [Brock 107]; gǝwāyā 'intestina, viscera' [ibid.]

Modern Aramaic: MAL ɣauwa 'Leib, Magen, Mutterleib' [Berg 29] TUR gāwo 'interior' [R Ṭūrōyo 114] MLH *gayo 'Bauch': c. suff. gayi 'mein Bauch' [J Mlah 174] NASS gçyßǟvä 'interior, inner part' [Tser 040] MMND gu, st. emph. guwwa 'inside, inner' [M MND 507]

Mandaic Aramaic: giuta 'body, entrails' [DM 89]

Arabic: ǧuʔǧuʔ- 'poitrine' [BK 1 244] (redupl.); cf. ǧwy 'avoir une maladie de poitrine' [ibid. 360]

Amharic: gʷǝyya (guyya) 'area between the thighs, lap; space between the body and one's garments' [K 2032] (or to be placed under *gaw(w)- 'inside', etc.? See above)

Gurage: CHA EŽA ENN GYE MUH MSQ GOG gäg 'body' [LGur 267].

According to Leslau, from CUSH, but rather a reduplication of the present root. Cf. also CHA EŽA MUH gämʷäǧä, GYE gäwäǧä, ENN gō̃ǧä 'body; skin of body; gut; sinew' [ibid. 277] (<*gawgaw-? On a possibility of ǧ < *g in GUR see in the comments to *gišm- 'body', No. ). Note EŽA MUH MSQ GOG SOD gäggäbät, CHA GYE gäkäbät, ENN gäk_äbäd, END gäkkǟd 'chest of an animal' which has no convincing etymology, but may represent a compound of *gaʔ- + *kabid- (the SEM word for 'liver' which came to mean 'belly' in most of ETH)

Jibbali: gɛ́hɛʔ (ɛghét) 'chest, breast' [JJ 73]

Soqotri: gehe 'poitrine' [LS 103]; NOGED gɛ́hɛʔ do., et al. [SSL LS 1457]

Notes: A very tentative vocalic reconstruction.

Meanings rather diverse, 'body' and 'chest' appearing to be the primary ones.

Cf. a non-anatomic term 'insides', very likely derived from the present one, but rather to be reconstructed as a separate SEM *gaw(w)-: PHO gw 'midst' [T 63]; ARM: BIB gō 'Inneres' [KB deutsch 1685-6], OLD OFF NAB PLM HTR gw 'interior' [HJ 217], JUD gw 'inside, in, on' [Sok 121], SYR gawwā 'intra, intus' [Brock 107], MND gaua 'inside, interior, inner part' [DM 74] (also giuta 'interior, inside' [ibid. 89]); ARB ǧaww- 'intérieur, fond (d'une maison, etc.)', EGP DIAL 'dans' [BK 1 348]; ESA: MIN gw-n 'partie intérieure d'une construction'; ETH: TGR go 'to, at, near' [LH 558].

Sometimes compared to phonetically similar terms meaning 'depression, hole' in various SEM languages, which in fact make a different root *gay/wVʔ- 'valley, depression, lowland': HBR gay(ʔ) 'valley' [KB 188]; ARB ǧaww-, pl. ǧiwāʔ- 'terrain déprimé, encaissé, fond de la vallée; champ, plaine'; ESA: MIN gwʔ 'carrière' [LM 37]; MSA: JIB gɔ̄t, pl. gói 'deep hole, depression' [JJ 80].

[DRS 106]: HBR, ARM, SOQ, AMH (incl. SEM 'inside' and 'valley, depression'); [Brock 107]: SYR, ARM, HBR, ARB (incl. 'inside' and 'valley'), ESA (gw, untranslated); [KB 182-3]: HBR (gaw, gǝwiyyā), ARM (also 'inside'), ARB, PUN (both 'inside'), SOQ