Notes:In South Semitic area only, PS status not quite reliable (note that Tgr. kǝtan and Mhr. kǝttôn may be Arb. loans). Tgr. kǝta 'young locusts, locust larva' [LH 412] and Tna kʷǝta 'cavallette ancora piccole che non possono volare' [Bass. 627] (< *kutā) may be related which would point to the suffixal origin of -ān in this term.
Eblaitic:ga-ma-tum = UH_ [MEE 4 1022]. Interpreted as /ḳalmatum/ 'pidocchio' in [Fron. Ebl. 177]. As rightly pointed out by Fronzaroli, a normalization /kalmatum/ is equally possible which would yield a form identi- cal to kalmatu which is well known from Akkadian (cf. below). This interpretation is adopted in [Civil Ebla 90]. For a tenta- tive interpretation of ga-na-du-um, another Ebl. correspondence to Sum. UH_ cf. No. ...
Aramaic:Anc. ḳml 'louse' [HJ 1013]. Hapax in KAI 222 A 31: ...wyšlḥn ʔlhn mn kl mh ʔkl bʔrpd wbʕmh [yʔkl p]m ḥwh wpm ʕḳrb wpm dbhh wpm nmrh wss wḳml ... 'And may the gods send everything which can eat against Arpad and his people! Let the snake's mouth eat, and the scorpion's mouth, and the bear's mouth, and the leopard's mouth as well as moth and louse...' (cf. [Fitzmyer 88-9] and especially [Tawil 61]).
Judaic Aramaic:ḳalmǝtā 'vermin' [Ja. 1378], [Levy WT II 363].
Arabic:ḳaml- 'poux', ḳummal- 'petites fourmis; petites sauterelles qui n'ont pas encore d'aile' [BK 2 816], [Fr. III 500] (also ḳamāl- 'pediculus'), [LA 11 568-9].
Epigraphic South Arabian:Sab. ḳmlt 'insect pests, locusts (?)' [SD 105]. Until recently this term was known from one inscription only, of doubtful authenticity (C 174/4: wl wgybhmw bn bn kl ḳmltmwtḫybm 'in order to protect them from every kind of pest and drought') but now it is attested also in MAFRAY-al-Bayḍāʔ 100/7 (cf. [Sima 129ff.] for details). Sab. ḳlm, ḳlmt 'insect pest, locusts (?)' [SD 105]. Qat. ḳlm 'Lausbefall' [Sima 131]. More details on the ESA forms see in [Sima 131ff.] (in par- ticular, the only Qat. attestation Bāfaqīh-Bāṭāyiʕ 7/2: bn kl ḳlmm 'from every harmful insect'). A related verbal form h-ḳlm 'to be ravaged (land) by insect pests' [SD 105] seems to be at- tested in S̆araf ad-Dīn 8/13 (not very reliable according to [Si- ma 131]).
Tigre:NUMBER 41 PROTO *mw/yt PRNUM 0 MEANING to die PSPEECH v AKK mâtu (Ass muātu) OAkk on [CAD M 421], [AHw 634] EBL AMO UGA mt [Aist 197] CAN AMARNA ti-mi-tu-na-nu 'you make us die' (impf.caus.suff.) [HJ 605], AMM ymtn (impf.3 pl.m.) [ibid.], PHO mt [T 204] PHN HBR mwt [KB 562] ARM SAM OLD OFF NAB PLM HTR mwt/myt [HJ 605-6], BIB mōt 'Tod' [KB deutsch 1734] BIB JUD mwt, myt [Ja 780]; [Sok 297] SYR mīt [Brock 378] NEW MND MUT [DM 263] ARA mwt [BK 2 1165] DIAL SAR SAB mwt [SD 89] GEZ mota [LGz 375] TGR motä [LH 134] TNA motä [Bass 100] AMH motä [K 304] GAF HAR EAST HAR mōta [LH 114], SEL mōtä, WOL motä, ZWY mūtä [LGur 435] CHA GUR SOD motä, GYE mōtä, CHA EZHA MUH MAS GOG mʷätä, END ENN mōdä [ibid.] MHR mōt [JM 275] HRS mōt 'to die, to be numb' [JH 92] JIB emyét 'to put to death' [JJ 176]; mít 'death' [ibid.] SOQ mī 'mort' [LS 237].
Looks like a "pseudo-correction", with *-t understood as a feminine marker and the word "corrected" into masculine, possibly due to some mythological association AFR NOTES Usually reconstructed as *mwt; -y-, however, is clearly represented in part of ARM and MSA and therefore cannot be disregarded.
Notes:Cf. the verbal root *ḳml 'to grow mouldy, putrid, rotten': Syr. ḳǝmal 'maciem passus est; mucorem duxit' [Brock. 672], Arb. ḳml 'être couvert de points noirs (se dit de la tige de certains végétaux)' [BK 2 816], [Fr. III 500], [LA XI 568]. Hbr. ḳml (at- tested in Is 33.9 and 19.6) may also belong here, especially if the translation 'to be infested with lice' is accepted (an alternative interpretation 'to become black, blacken' is preferred in [KB 1108-9]). Cf. Mnd. ḳiluma 'corruption, putrefaction' [DM 410]. Phonetically and semantically similar forms with non-empha- tic k in Akkadian and Aramaic (according to [Zimmern 52], Ara- maic forms are Akkadisms) are put in connection with the present root by many scholars (v. references below; for a sceptical eva- luation of this approach see [Sima 131], [HJ 513]): Akk. kalmatu 'parasite, louse (on animals, plants and human beings)' OAkk. on [CAD k 86], [AHw. 426]. In Old Akkadian as a proper name only. The oldest attestations may be found in the OA and OB letters CCT 2 30:29 and TCL 17 2:21 (both describe grain which is kalmatam lapit/laptat 'affected by k.'). References from Mari are collected and analysed in [Lion-Michel 720-2]. Se- veral varieties of k. are found in lexical lists; Anc. klmh 'parasite, louse' [HJ 513]. Supposed to be attes- ted in KAI 222 A 31 (cf. above) where kl mh (usually understood as 'everything that') is thought to represent klmh (v. espe- cially [Tawil 60-2]). This approach is rejected in [Fitzmyer 88-9] ("but that is not to be accepted") without sufficient ar- gumentation. Jud. kalmā, kalmǝtā 'vermin' [Ja. 645], [Levy WT I 367], [Levy WTM 341], klmh 'vermin' [Sok. 261]; Sam. klmym 'gnat' [Tal 391]. Hbr. kinnām and related forms are hardly connected with the present root in spite of the common opinion, v. No. ... . [Fron. 297]: *ḳalm-(at-) 'pidocchio' (Gez., Arb., Syr., Hbr. /ḳml/, Akk. /kalmatu/); [Sima 131]: ESA, Arb., Gez., Hbr. (ḳāmal; apparently a verbal form for which see above), Arm.; [LGz. 432]: Gez., Eth., Arb., ESA (ḳlmt); Hbr., Arm. (also kalmǝtā), Syr. (ḳalmā), "related to Hbr. kinnām, Soq. konem, Mhr. konem"; [Brock. 668]: Syr., Jud. (ḳalmǝtā, kalmǝtā), Arb., ESA (ḳmlt), Gez., Akk. (kalmatu), Hbr. (kinnām), Soq. (konem).
Hebrew:šǝpīpōn 'horned viper' [KB 1628], pB. 'a species of serpents, adder' [Ja. 1616]. Hapax in Gn 49.17 (yǝhī dān nāḥāš ʕălē däräk // šǝpīpōn ʕălē ʔōraḥ 'let Dan be a snake on the road // š. on the way').
Judaic Aramaic:šǝpīpōnā 'a species of serpents, adder' [Ja. 1616], špypwn 'serpent' [Sok. 563] (probably a Hebraism).
Arabic:siff- 'serpent; espèce de serpent tacheté de blanc et de noir' [BK 1 1096], [LA IX 154] (also suff-).
Tigre:sǝf 'millepede' [LH 200].
Tigrai (Tigriñña):wäsfat 'intestinal worm, hook-worm' K 1748
Notes:Cf. phonetically and semantically close forms with -b-, which should probably be united into a separate root: Akk. šibbu 'a snake' MB on [CAD š2 375], [AHw. 1226]; Gyt. sība 'kind of worm' [LGur. 531], Cha. Eža šiba, Enm. šība, Gyt. šīb_a, End. šī̃wä 'kind of worm' [ibid. 571]; Mhr. šǝbšīb 'red waterworm' [JM 392], Hrs. šebšebēt 'small red worm, centipede' [JH 123], E. Jib. šǝbšéb 'red waterworm' [JM 392]. [KB 1629]: Hbr., Akk. (šibbu), Arb.
Notes:Assimilation of vowels. Cf. Arab ḥanaš- 'reptile, snake'?
Number:179
Proto-Semitic:*tVnnVn-
Meaning:'(mythical) snake, dragon'
Ugaritic:tnn 'dragón' [DLU 471], /tunnanu/ [Hueh. 185-6]. A rare term denoting a kind of monster accompanying the sea- god Ym (1.3 III 40, 1.6 VI 51). In the lexical list equated to Akk. ṣēru, Sum. MUS̆ 'snake'.
Hebrew:tannīn 'sea-monster, sea-dragon; serpent; crocodile' [KB 1764], pB. [Ja. 1682]. A widely used term, mostly poetic (extensively discussed in [TWAT VIII 715ff.]), probably denoted both existing and mythical reptiles (contrast e.g. ḥămat tannīnīm yēnām // wǝrō(ʔ)š pǝtānīm ʔakzār 'their wine is poison of serpents // and fiers venom of adders' in Dt 32.33 and hăyām ʔănī ʔim tannīn // kī tāŝīm ʕālay mišmār 'am I the Sea or the Dragon // that you put a guard against me?' in Job 7.12).
Aramaic:Off. tnyn 'dragon' [HJ 1223]. In Ahiq 106: ʕlʕy tnyn ytbr 'he will break the ribs of the dragon' [PY LIV], [Kott. 238]. Dem. tnn 'serpent' [HJ 1266].
Judaic Aramaic:tannīnā 'sea-monster, crocodile; large snake' [Ja. 1682], [Levy WT II 547], [Levy WTM IV 656]; tnyn 'serpent' [Sok. 587], tannīnā 'serpent, sea-monster' [Sok. B 1223]. Sam. tnyn 'serpent' [Tal 957].
Arabic:tinnīn- 'serpent de grandeur énorme; dragon' [BK 1 208], [Fr. I 201], [Lane 318], [LA XIII 74] is almost certainly borrowed from Aramaic.
Notes:Ethiopian forms with -m- instead of -n- may be related to the present root: Gez. taman 'snake, dragon' [LGz. 576], Tna. tämän 'snake' [K Tna 1232], Amh. tämän [LGz. 576] (without translation, not in [K]). For AA parallels, v. *tam(-an)- [KB 1762]: Hbr., Arm., Arb., Ugr., Gez.; [DLU 471]: Ugr., Hbr., Syr., Arb.
