Number: 2609
Proto-Semitic: *ḥupn-
Meaning: hollow of the hand, handful; fist
Akkadian: upnu '(geballte) Hand' OB on [AHw 1424]. ḫapnu quoted in some comparative studies (e.g. [KB 339]) is not attested either in [CAD] or in [AHw] and is to be read h_abūnu [CAD h_ 85]
Ugaritic: (?) ḥpn 'puño' [Del Olmo 548]. Uncertain, see [Aist 105], [Gordon 398]. In [DLU 179] the word in question is translated as 'codicia, acaparamiento, arrebato' (< 'to grasp by handfuls'?)
Hebrew: ḥopnayim (dual) 'the hollow of both hands' [KB 339] (<*ḥupn-)
Aramaic: OFF ḥpn, certain measure of capacity [HJ 395]
Judaic Aramaic: ḥupnā, ḥopnā 'handful' [Ja 492]; ḥpn (det. ḥwpnh) do. [Sok 212]
Syrian Aramaic: ḥupnā 'manipulus, pugillus' [Brock 250]
Mandaic Aramaic: hupna 'hollow of the palm, handful' [DM 136]
Arabic: ḥufnat-, ḥafnat- 'poignée' [BK 1 462]
Modern Arabic: Malt ḥafna 'many'
Epigraphic South Arabian: SAB ḥfn-nhn (dual) 'container or unit of measure' [Biella 182]. Translated in [SD 67] as 'type of votive object'; very likely to be interpreted as 'two handfuls' (bn frʕt 'of fruit')
Tigre: ḥǝfǝn 'both hands full' [LH 104]
Amharic: ǝffǝñ 'handful' [K 1357], ARG ǝffǝñ do. [LGur 21]
East Ethiopic: SEL umfäññe, WOL umfuññet 'contents of both hands with palms up' [ibid.]
Gurage: CHA EŽA GYE MUH ǝ̃fʷǝyyä, EŽA MUH ǝmfʷǝyyä, END umfǝʔä, ENN MSQ ǝ̃fuyä, MSQ ǝmfuyyā, GOG ǝ̃fuñña, ǝmfuñña, SOD ǝmfuññä do. [ibid.]
Mehri: ḥāfǝn 'amount held in cupped hands' [JM 169]
Jibbali: ḥáfǝn do. [JJ 105]
Notes: Though -a- attested in one of the ARB examples and MSA may in principle reflect the original vocalism (> -u- elsewhere before -p-), an opposite development (*-u- > -a- after ḥ-) is more plausible in view of -u- in all other languages. Note what can be reconstructed as *umfuñña in ETH EAST and GUR and a doubling of -f- in AMH and ARG probably reflecting *-mf-, the underlying S. ETH form to be reconstructed as *umf(u)-ñña (with the suffix -ñña) from *ḥunf-, with metathesis and *-n- > -m- near -f-, from ETH *ḥufn-.
The MHR and JIB examples may, in principle, be Arabisms; cf., however, lack of the feminine marker vs. ARB forms in -at -. See also SOQ ḥáfen 'giron' [LS 184], [SSL LS 1459], probably related with a meaning shift 'hollow of the hand' > 'hollow of the lap'.
[Fron 48] (*ḥupn- 'pugno' /GEZ,SYR,ARB,HBR,AKK/); [Holma 118]: AKK, HBR, ARB, SYR, GEZ; [KB 339]: HBR, ARM, AKK (h_apnu, upnu), ARB, GEZ, TGR; [Brock 250]: SYR, ARM, ARB, HBR, AKK, GEZ; [LGz 227]: GEZ, ETH, JIB, HBR, ARM, UGR, AKK
semet-proto,semet-prnum,semet-meaning,semet-akk,semet-uga,semet-hbr,semet-arm,semet-jud,semet-syr,semet-mnd,semet-ara,semet-dial,semet-sar,semet-tgr,semet-amh,semet-east,semet-gur,semet-mhr,semet-jib,semet-notes,
