Number: 2678
Proto-Semitic: *ʔarVr- ~ *warwar-
Meaning: 'bee-eater'
Akkadian: arru 'bird used for decoy' MB on (CAD A2 305, AHw. 71) // For details connected with the use of a. as well as bird species used for this purpose v. [Salonen Vögel 29-31].
Syrian Aramaic: warwārā 'merops' (Brock. 186, PS 1068; an Arabism?)
Arabic: warwār- 'guépier (oiseau)' (BK 2 1526, Fr. IV 459)
Tigrai (Tigriñña): ʔirir, ʔǝrir 'bird which has an instinct to lead a honey gatherer to where there is honey' (K Tna 1439-40)
Notes: Arm. forms like Syr. ʔarrā 'avis illicebra' [Brock. 45] are certainly Akkadisms (cf. [Kaufman 36]). // Meaning similarity between the terms is so specific that it is tempting to posit it also for PS, though a possibility of chance coincidence cannot of course be excluded. Cf. Tna. wari 'kind of blackbird whose feathers have a metallic sheen' (K Tna 1723) and Amh. wari 'a kind of blackbird' (K 1500).
