East Ethiopic:SEL sīr, WOL sir 'hide of cattle after the hair has been pulled off' [LGur 559]
Gurage:ENN GYE sīr, CHA EŽA MUH MSQ GOG sir do. [ibid.]
Soqotri:ŝírhi (sirehi) 'peau' [LS 433] (cf. also [SSL LS 1474]).
On a non-etymological h in SOQ see [LS 22]
Notes:A very complicated case. As anatomic terms attested in MOD S. ETH and SOQ only. The ETH (EAST and GUR) forms are regarded by Leslau as possible borrowings from ARB sayr- 'belt' (semantically hardly tenable) and at the same time compared to AMH sir 'thin strip of leather' and TGR säyyära 'to cut leather into strips' [LGur 559]. However, it is rather a genuine PETH word denoting a kind of a worked skin that gave rise to such terms as GEZ ŝāʕr (also sāʔr, sǝʔr, sāʔar) 'a leather bottle' [LGz 480], TGR sǝʔǝr 'skin for milk or for water' [LH 190], AMH sir 'a thin strip of leather of worked sheep or goat hide, sinew used as thread in making shoes or sewing leather bags' [K 482] and the EAST and GUR terms which, with some reservations, can be qualified as anatomic. This ETH proto-form is to be reconstructed either as *ŝiʕr- relying on GEZ ŝāʕr (admitting "weakening" of *-ʕ- into -ʔ- in TGR) or as *šiʔr- relying on GEZ sāʔr, sǝʔr, sāʔar; in any case, GEZ -ā- is from *-i- before a laryngeal (note -ǝ- in sǝʔr).
Cf. what may be a derived verb with -ʕ as a triconsonantizer or a variant root with metathesis (cf. -ʕ- in GEZ below): SYR srʕ 'pellem fissam detraxit' [Brock 500]; ARB šrʕ 'ôter la peau d'un animal tué en commenc̣ant par une incision entre les jambes' [BK 1 1216]; MHR ŝǝrū 'to skin a cow with a knife' [JMhr 386], JIB ŝéré do. [JJ 256].
It is difficult to say whether the SOQ and MOD S. ETH examples below preserve an original biconsonantal stem, with ʕ (or ʔ ?) added later as a triconsonantizer or they have lost the original laryngeal in a position of a second (cf. GEZ and TGR nouns) or third (cf. SYR, ARB, MHR and JIB, on the one hand, and -h- in SOQ, on the other) radical.
Note that the SOQ example was compared by Leslau [LS 433] to a well-known SEM term for meat (*šiʔr- {} *siʔr- 'flesh', No. ); this comparison, though plausible semantically, does not explain ŝ- in SOQ
Number:2221
Proto-Semitic:*ŝaw/ym-at- {} *ŝaw/ym-at-
Meaning:birth-mark, mole
Akkadian:(?) šimtu 'a (birth)mark' (or 'abnormal features').
Quoted under šimtu '(ownership) mark, etc.' (see below). This meaning is reliable in at least one context: "a priest, who has š." (followed by other terms denoting physical defects)
Hebrew:PB šūmā 'mark, mole, wart' [Ja 1536]
Judaic Aramaic:šūmā 'mark, mole, wart' [Ja 1536].
š- instead of the expected *s- probably by contamination with sūmā, sīmā 'mark, spot' [ibid. 966]
Arabic:šām-at- 'grain de beauté; signe; tout signe noir qu'on voit sur la terre' [BK 1 1300]
Notes:An entangled case likely complicated by contamination of two roots, close phonetically and semantically. In the anatomic term, a hypothetic *ŝ1 is tentatively postulated as a first radical based on HBR PB š- and ARB š-. The other, non-anatomic term is *šim-t- {} *sim-t- 'mark, sign': AKK šimtu '(ownership) mark, marking, paint, glue, varnish' OAkk (?), OB on [CAD š3 9], [AHw 1238] (while in [CAD š3 11] šimtu is understood as a derivative of a triconsonantal verb šamātu 'to mark' [ibid. š1 307], an inverse development is more plausible, namely, šim-t-u with -t- suffix perceived as part of the root and evolved into a triradical denominal verb šamātu); JUD sūmā, sīmā 'mark, spot' [Ja 966] (with s- instead of the expected *š-), SYR šūmǝtā 'vulnus; ulcus; cicatrix, vibex; particula hostiae; pilus' [Brock 764], šwm 'maculavit' [ibid.]; ARB sīmā 'marque, signe; traits du visage, physionomie' [BK 1 1170]; SAB s1m-t 'line, mark, sign' [SD 163] (placed under ws1m; cf. mws1m). Note also a cultural term 'brand, ownership mark' undoubtedly derived from the latter root, but to be recognized as PSEM: AKK šimtu '(ownership) mark; branding iron' OAkk (?), OB on [CAD š3 9], [AHw 1238]; ARB sūmat- 'empreinte dont on marque les pièces de bétail' [BK 1 1170], simat- 'marque empreinte sur la peau avec un fer chaud' [ibid.], wasm- do. [ibid. 2 1538]; SAB ws1m 'brand on an animal' [Biella 133]. This root is to reconstructed as *šim-(a)t- {} *sim-(a)t-, with a variant stem *wasm- in ARB and SAB (a borrowing from one of these languages to the other is not to be excluded).
Cf. SOQ ṣéḥloh 'os', which Leslau compares with reservations
Notes:In MSA *ṣ̂alaʕ-.
Cf. a very likely meaning shift in ESA: SAB ḍlʕt 'malady affecting the chest' [SD 41], MIN ḍlʕn 'malades' (coll.) [LM 30].
Note GEZ ṣǝlle, ṣǝlla 'tablet (of metal, stone), beam' [LGz 554], TNA ṣǝllät 'slab of wood or stone on which is engraved a religious precept' [ibid.] ('lastra di pietra' in [Bass 948]) unconvincingly compared to this root (namely to HBR ṣēlāʕ 'rib, plank') in [LGz 554]; at the same time, Leslau rightly compares these ETH words to ARB (ḤḌR) ṣilāl, (YEM) ṣalla 'slab', SAB ṣlt 'paving, plastering'.
Cf. metathetic rḍʕ 'teter sa mère' [ibid. 1 873] compared in [Maizel 175]. Cf. ḍarr-at- 'base de la mamelle; mamelle' [BK 2 15]
Geʕez (Ethiopian):(?) ṣarāʕt, ṣarāʔit 'loins, thigh, cut of meat from the ventral region, groin' [LGz 563]; cf. ṣǝrʕe 'large intestine' [ibid.].
Semantically difficult
Tigre:(?) ṣärǝʕ 'udder' [LH 637].
According to [LGz 563], from ARB
Notes:A difficult case. *ṣ̂ in PSEM relies on ARB only while SYR and GEZ, where reflexes of *ṣ̂ and *ṣ differ, point to *ṣ-. An alternative reconstruction would be *ṣarʕ- {} *c̣arʕ-, with ARB ḍarʕ- to be treated as a variant root. It is, however, not as simple as that. The problem of *ṣ̂ > ṣ in ARM (SYR in particular) was extensively treated in [Steiner 149-154]; according to Steiner, most of such irregular cases occur in the vicinity of m or r. Another explanation of *ṣ̂> ṣ instead of ʕ may be a tendency to avoid two ʕ in the root; cf. an opposite way of avoiding it in *ṣ̂il(a)ʕ- 'rib, side (of chest)', No. . As for GEZ, ṣ instead of ḍ and ʔ alongside with ʕ may be due to orthographic pecularities; note, however, a difference in meaning which may imply a different origin including borrowing from CUSH (cf. BILIN ṭari, OROMO dira, SAHO ḍirō 'loins' [LGz 563]).
The TGR example is regarded by Leslau an Arabism, with no arguments presented.
See also ARB ḍarr-at- below; may this form point to a primary SEM *ṣ̂Vrr- (cf. AKK ṣerretu), with a secondary -ʕ attached to this root, however, as early as in PSEM?
Arabic:ḍirs- 'dent, surtout dent molaire' [BK 2 21]
Epigraphic South Arabian:SAB ʔḍrs1 [SD 42] (broken pl.)
Geʕez (Ethiopian):ḍǝrs [LGz 153]
Jibbali:mǝz_̂rɛ́š [JJ 327]
Soqotri:máẑrǝh [ibid].
-h <*š; cf. other forms and comments on -h in [SSL LS 1480]
Notes:See AKK ṣiršu 'protuberance' SB [CAD ṣ 209], [AHw 1093]; related by [CAD] to the verb ṣurrušu 'to grow shoots, branches' [CAD ṣ 260]. Both may be compared to 'tooth' with reservations.
Cf. ETH *ṭirs- (a variant root?): GEZ ṭǝrs 'molar tooth' [LGz 597] (alongside with ḍǝrs do.), ṭarsa 'to be set on edge, become dull (teeth)' [ibid.] (alongside with ḍarsa do.); TNA ṭǝrsi 'tooth' [LGz 153] (not in [Bass]); AMH ṭǝrs 'tusk, tooth' [K 2115], ṭärräsä 'to have chipped or broken teeth'; HAR ṭirsi 'molar tooth' [LHar 156].
Note a derived pattern in MSA. Cf. also an unusual phonetic development in MHR mǝẑrāḥ 'tooth' [JM 478], HRS mǝẑreḥ 'molar tooth' [JH 152]; though, according to [JM 478], "the correspondence of ḥ with š is rel. rare", this root can hardly be unrelated to SEM *ṣ̂irš-.
Akkadian:tulû (later also ti/elû) 'Brust, Mamma' Bab, NA [AHw 1369-70]
Geʕez (Ethiopian):tallāʕ 'breast' [LGz 574].
Cf. tǝlāʕ 'muscle of the thigh' [ibid.] (semantically difficult to compare). Note also tǝhul 'breast, cow's udder' [ibid. 572] (kind of a variant root?)
Mehri:tǝlōt 'nipple' [JM 401]
Notes:Scarcely but reliably attested; vocalism difficult to reconstruct.
Cf. a likely related ARB tlʕ 'avoir un long cou, une encolure longue', mutliʕ- 'femme belle, femme grande et qui a un beau cou' [BK 1 204]; a meaning shift 'breast' > 'neck'?
Note ARB talʕ- 'hauteur, élévation, monticule' [ibid.]; one wonders whether it may be a shift of meaning under the influence of ARB tall- 'colline, monticule' [ibid. 203] (from SEM *tall-/*till- 'hill, elevation', to which GEZ tallāʕ 'breast' [LGz 574] is also compared by some authors--see discussion [ibid.]).
[Holma 46]: AKK, GEZ, ARB (talʕ-); [LGz 574]: GEZ, AKK (ARB talʕ- and SEM *ta/ill- 'hill' are also compared)
Number:2227
Proto-Semitic:*ṭVb(w)-
Afroasiatic etymology:Afroasiatic etymology
Meaning:teat
Arabic:ṭiby-, ṭuby- 'mamelle, pis' [BK 2 58]; waṭb- 'outre à lait, sein très developpé' [ibid. 1561] is rather *waṭb- <AA *ṭab- 'container'
Geʕez (Ethiopian):ṭǝb, pl. ʔaṭbāt 'teat' [LGz 587]
Tigre:ṭub 'breast, teat' [LH 616], pl. ʔaṭbay
Tigrai (Tigriñña):ṭub 'mammella' [Bass 913]
Amharic:ṭut 'breast, nipple, teat' [K 2139]
Gafat:ṭŭwwä 'sein' [LGaf 242]
Harari:ṭōt [LHar 156] 'breast'
East Ethiopic:SEL WOL ZWY ṭub [LGur 607] do.
Gurage:MSQ ṭǝb, GOG SOD ṭǝbuyyä, EŽA END ṭǝw, MUH ṭǝwǝyyä, GOG ṭǝwuyyäč, ENN END GYE ṭu do. [ibid.]
Mehri:wōṭǝb 'teat, nipple' [JM 433]
Jibbali:ɛ́ṭǝb 'teat of a camel' [JJ 294]
Harsusi:ḥāṭeb 'teat' [JH 138] (with the ḥa-article)
Soqotri:ʔáṭab 'pis' [LS 57] (see also [SSL 4 100])
Notes:Only in Southern SEM area.
Originally a biconsonantal base (probably preserved in ETH) with various strategies of triconsonantization in individual languages; a variant stem *waṭVb-, attested in ARB, MHR and possibly other MSA, may have a common SEM status unless the MSA examples in *wa- are Arabisms. HRS and JIB forms may reflect either *waṭVb or *ʔa-ṭVb, the SOQ one is from *ʔa-ṭVb; *ʔa- may be a prefix and/or triconsonantizer.
Note a derived verb in N. ETH: GEZ ṭabawa 'to suck milk, the breast' [LGz 587], TGR ṭäba 'to suck' [LH 616], TNA ṭäbäwä 'poppare attacarsi alla mamella della madre' [Bass 912].
Gurage:MUH MSQ GOG SOD ṭala, CHA ṭar, ENN END EŽA ṭara, GYE ṭāra [ibid.]
Mehri:ṭɛlḥáym [JM 410]
Jibbali:ṭɛlḥím [JJ 277].
Cf. ṭɔlḥ 'blood and discharge with an afterbirth, diarrhoea' [ibid.]
Harsusi:ṭelḥáym [JH 130] (given with a question mark)
Soqotri:QALAN-V ṭálḥǝn, ʕELHA ṭálḥem [SSL LS 1477]
Notes:The *ṭu/alḥīm- variant is metathetic, attested in AKK and MSA only, with the *-Vm.
Note a presumably derived (if not contaminated) verb in ARB ṭḥl 'étre trouble, sale, couleur de la rate; étre gâté et sentir mauvais, et étre remplit de fange qui sent mauvais (se dit d'une eau croupissante)' [BK 2 61] and what looks a strikingly similar semantic development (from *ṭu/alḥīm- 'spleen') in ARB ṭulḥūm- 'aqua corrupta et foetens' [Fraytag III 63] (cf. also a variant root ṭalh_- 'eau fangeuse, rempli de vermine et qui n'est pas potable' [BK 2 95]) and TGR ṭǝlḥam 'disease of cattle (poisoning caused by grass or by water on the place of a fire or a forest)' [LH 607]. This parallelism, however, is problematic not only because *ṭu/alḥīm- 'spleen' is retained neither in ARB nor in TGR, but also because the very meaning shift 'spleen' > 'putrid water' is not easy to explain.
Arabic:t_ady-, t_idy- 'mamelle, téton (de femme)' [BK 2 220].
-i- in t_idy- due to -y; also t_ud- marked as "rare" in [BDB 994, apud Lane 333]
Mehri:t_ódi 'breast, bosom' [JM 415]
Jibbali:t_ɔ́dɛʔ 'bosom, breast, nipple and breast' [JJ 283]
Harsusi:t_ōdi 'breast' [JH 132]
Soqotri:tódi et al. 'sein' [LS 439] (see also [SSL LS 1477; SSL 4 98])
Notes:Biconsonantal root with various means of triconsonantization: doubling of the second radical in ARM JUD, appending of -y as a third radical in ARB and most MSA and of -ʔ in JIB.
Cf. t_kmn 'Bezeichnung des deifizierten Himmelsberges' [ibid.] (cf. HBR below)
Hebrew:šǝkäm 'oberer Teil des Rückens, Schulter, Nacken, Rücken, Bergrücken' [KB deutsch 1384]
Tigre:(?) šäkäm 'beard' [LH 222], šäkǝm 'menton' [ibid., apud Munzinger].
a meaning shift 'neck' > 'chin' > 'beard' is feasible (cf. also šǝkmät 'halter' [ibid.])
Notes:Scarcely attested as an anatomic term (only UGR, HBR and probably TGR, with a meaning shift).
Note a derived verb to be recognized as common SEM: UGR t_km 'auf den Schultern tragen' [Aist 334] and ETH: GEZ sakama 'to carry on shoulders' [LGz 496], TGR šäkǝm 'fardeau' (very likely a deverbal noun) [LH 222, apud d'Abbadie], TNA täsäkkämä 'portare, mettrsi sulle spalle' [Bass 365], AMH täsäkkämä 'to carry, to bear' [K 560].
Cf. ARB t_uknat- 'collier en perles; collier en laine teinte qu'on suspend comme ornament au cou du chameau'; presumably related with assimilation of *m > n after the velar. As for the semantic shift, see SEM *ʕun(a)ḳ- 'neck' and 'necklace', No. .
Note SAB t_kmt interpreted as 'subjects' and 'first year of eponymous office' in [Biella 544] and compared to this root; the argumentation is not quite convincing.
[KB deutsch 1384]: HBR, UGR
Number:2231
Proto-Semitic:*t_apr- {} *čapr-
Meaning:perineum; vagina; anus
Akkadian:šapru 'thigh' OB on [CAD i 480], [AHw 1175].
Though in both dictionaries it is translated as 'thigh' and 'Schenkel', the contexts available rather point to the meaning 'perineum', e.g. "if a woman suffers in her š." (š. is explained in a gloss as a "prolapse of the uterus"). Cf. šub/purru 'buttocks, rectum, anus' in *ŝVbVr- 'buttocks, hind parts', No.
Arabic:t_afr-, t_ufr-, 'vagin, canal du vagin' [BK 1 226]
Cf. t_fr II 'mettre une croupière, une courroie qui pass sous la queue d'une bête de somme et maintient la selle', X 'passer les bouts de la chemise ou de la robe entre les cuisse et les attirer sur le bas-ventre' [ibid. 226-7]
Mehri:QISHN mǝtfī́r 'derrière (bottom)' [SS L 2 243].
Given under t_fr (in QISHN *t_ > t [ibid. 196]). Meaning shift 'perineum' > 'anus' > 'bottom'?
Notes:Based on a very hypothetic comparison with rather diverse meanings.
Note HBR PB šǝpīr, ARM JUD šǝpīr(ā) 'membraneous bag, sac of a foetus; in gen. foetus' [Ja 1616], which may be a semantic development from 'vagina'.
One wonders whether GEZ sǝfr 'stomach ache, colic' [LGz 489] may be compared semantically. Note also TGR ʔašfärä 'to manure, to dung (animals); to have an inflammation of the spleen' [LH 231] and MSA: MHR t_ǝfǝrīt 'camel-dung, dung in pellet form' [JM 416], HRS t_eferét 'camel-dung' [JH 132], JIB t_fírét 'camel-dung, dung in pellet form' [JJ 283], SOQ tǝfèrǝh 'dung' [JJ 283]. May all these examples be related with a semantic development 'perineum' > 'inflamed perineum' > 'special kind of defecation caused by a disease affecting the perineum area'? Or, alternatively, 'perineum, prolapse' > 'anus' > 'defecation'? Otherwise, a separate SEM root *t_Vp(V)r- 'dung; to dung' is to be reconstructed based on MSA and TGR (and GEZ?)
Number:2232
Proto-Semitic:*t_arb- {} *čarb-
Afroasiatic etymology:Afroasiatic etymology
Meaning:fat (animal)
Akkadian:(?) sarbu 'tallow, fat' LL [CAD s 175] (translated as 'Nässe' in [AHw 1029])
AKK s- is irregular and could in principle point to a borrowing from W. SEM.
Tentatively compared to MOD ETH *sar(a)b- 'calf of leg' implying a meaning shift 'fat' > 'fatty part of leg'. According to Leslau, all EAST and GUR forms are from E. CUSH (OROMO sarbā, SAHO AFAR sarba, KAMB sarbé-ta, ALABA sarabi) [LGur 559]; if our comparison is correct, the direction of borrowing is reverse.
Note TNA särbada 'muscolo dei fianchi vicino alla coscia' [Bass 177], with enigmatic d.
East Ethiopic:SEL tifǝr, WOL ZWY ṭǝfǝr [LGur 514]
Gurage:CHA EŽA GYE MUH MSQ GOG SOD (GOG also ṭäfǝr with -a-), ENN END ʔǝ̃fǝr (ʔ <*ṣ ??) [ibid.]
Mehri:d_̣fēr 'nail of a finger or toe, claw' [JM 83]
Jibbali:d_̣ífɛ́r [JJ 48]
Harsusi:d_̣efīr [JH 29]
Soqotri:ṭífer (ṭífher) [LS 207] (see also [SSL LS 1477; SSL 4 98])
Notes:Also *t_̣up(V)r- {} *č̣up(V)r- where -u- of the first syllable can possibly be explained as an independent development in individual languages under the influence of -p-.
Notes:Possibly contaminated with *ṣyʔ {} *c̣yʔ 'to be filthy, dirty' (note that the AKK, HBR and ETH forms quoted below under *t_̣ayVʔ-(at-) may alternatively belong to *ṣyʔ): ARM JUD ṣā(ʔ)tā 'filth, turpitude' [Ja 1257], SYR ṣyʔ 'impurus evasit' [Brock 619], MND ṢAA 'to be filthy, foul, pollute, defile' [DM 385]; ARB ṣīʔat- 'lavage, ablution imparfaite, telle que toutes les saletés restent sur la tête' [BK 1 1388], ṣayyaʔa 'laver très-imparfaitement, ne faire que mouiller (la tête), de manière qu'elle n'est pas bien nettoyée' [ibid.], also wṣʔ 'être sali d'ordures' [ibid. 2 1546]; SAB ṣyw (in: ys1tṣyn) 'to stink of, be contaminated with' [SD 147].
Cf. what are likely derived verbs in ESA: SAB (?) ẓyw 'to putrefy' [Biella 224] (alternatively 'to be held captive' [ibid.]; the meaning proposed by [SD 173] is 'clean, ritually pure') and ETH (unless <*ṣyʔ): GEZ ṣēʔa (ḍēʔa) 'to rot, putrefy, have a bad smell, stink', etc. [LGz 567], TGR ṣäyʔa 'to spoil, to stink' [LH 647], TNA č̣äʔe 'ammuffirsi cereale perchè mietuto ancora fresco' [Bass 939] (cf. ṣäʕe 'imputrirsi' [ibid. 978]), GUR: CHA MUH MSQ SOD čǝyä, GYE č̣ǝyǟ, EŽA č̣ǝyyä, GOG č̣iyä, END č̣iyä 'to smell bad, to stink' [LGur 192].
Cf. a MSA root likely related with a semantic shift 'stench, bad odor' > 'odor, smell': MHR d_̣āy 'smell, scent' [JM 85], HRS d_̣ayʔ 'smell, perfume' [JH 30], JIB d_̣éʔ 'smell, odour' [JJ 50], SOQ ṭay 'odeur' [LS 197]. Note what may be a derived form in MSA with suffixed -n preserving the original meaning: MHR d_̣ōnēt 'bad-smelling, malodorous sweat' [JM 85], HRS d_̣enwēt 'bad-smelling sweat' [JH 30]; compare, however, TNA č̣äna 'odore puzzo' [Bass 936], č̣änäwä 'odorare, puzzare' [ibid. 939] (to make a separate SEM root?).
Arabic:warīd- 'veine; veine jugulaire (de chaque côté du cou)' [BK 2 1519]
Tigre:wärid 'throat' [LH 436], warid 'gorge' [ibid., apud Munz].
Note a meaning shift
Notes:The initial w- in HBR PB and SYR instead of the expected y- is strange and makes one think of an ARB loan, though a relatively early attestation of both forms rather speaks against this assumption.
The TGR examples also look very much Arabisms, but are hardly so in view of difference in meaning.
Modern Aramaic:MAL werka 'Hüfte' [Berg 76: "arab."] yerk-e ṭalʕt_a 'Beginn des Anstiegs' [ibid.] LDK
Arabic:wark-, wirk- 'hanche, partie supérieure de la cuisse' [BK 2 1524], warak- 'l'os même de la hanche', warik- 'le haut du fémur, hanche' [ibid.]
Epigraphic South Arabian:SAB wrk 'hip, thigh' [SD 162]
Tigre:wärkät 'side, heap' [LH 434]
Tigrai (Tigriñña):wäräkät 'l'osso degli animali uccisi, secialmente dei polli, che è un boccone riservato alla padrona di casa' [Bass 642]
Amharic:wärč 'foreleg of an animal' [K 1507]
Gurage:CHA EŽA GYE GOG SOD wärčä, MUH MSQ wärǝččä, ENN wäčä, END wäččä 'front leg of animals' [LGur 662]
Mehri:wǝrkīt 'hip, hip-bone and flesh' [JM 430]
Jibbali:irs̃ét 'hip' [JJ 292]
Harsusi:wǝrkēt 'thighbone, hip' [JH 136]
Notes:Note a derived meaning '(rear) side' in AKK, UGR and HBR.
Palatalization of *k > č in AMH and GUR is usually explained by the dual suffix *-ē (<*-ay) lost in AMH and probably becoming -ä in GUR (cf. [LGur LIX, footnote 37]).
Cf. SOQ rokt 'plant du pied, talon' [SS L LS 1469], [SS L 2 231], rǝkɔt, rɔkt 'camels hoof' [JM 323] (cf. also [SS L 2 245]); probably related with a loss of *w- and a meaning shift.
Arabic:wuṣl-, pl. ʔawṣāl- 'articulation, jointure' [BK 2 1549].
<*wiṣl; *i > u assimilated to w? Cf. examples compared by Maizel with HBR ʔaṣṣīl as variant roots ([Maizel 158; 156]): ʔasal-at- 'avant-bras' [Belot 9] (but 'pénis, verge' in [BK 1 33]) with ṣ/s, and ʔiṭl- 'côté, flanc' [ibid. 38] with ṣ/ṭ
Notes:As a nominal anatomic term, C. SEM only.
Traditionally regarded (for exam ple, in [KB 82]) as deverbal of SEM *ʔ/wṣl: HBR ʔṣl (nif.) 'to be linked with' [ibid.], ARB wṣl 'joindre' [BK 2 1548].
Cf. a variant stem *ʔaṣil- {} *ʔac̣il- attested in HBR and ARM JUD (probably influenced by the HBR form).
Note doubling of a second radical in HBR and SYR which may be due to reinterpretation as the adjective pattern parrīs-.
Cf. a very likely meaning shift from 'joint (n.)' > 'shoulder' > 'to shoulder' > 'to help' (to a similar semantic development cf. [Maizel 218-19]) in MSA: MHR wīṣǝl 'to help' [JM 431], JIB éṣǝl, iṣilót 'to manage to shoulder a burden' [JJ 293], SOQ ǝ́ṣal 'to help' [JJ 293].
Arabic:watar- 'tendon; corde' [BK 2 1480]; cf. also watar-at- 'nerf des lombes; frein de la langue, etc.' [ibid.]
Geʕez (Ethiopian):watr 'sinew, cord' [LGz 622]
Amharic:wätär 'Achilles' tendon' [K 1537]
Harari:wɔtär 'nerve, vein, gut, sinew' [LHar 162]
Gurage:wätär 'nerve, sinew, gut, tendon' [LGur 670] (dialects not specified)
Notes:Cf. a related stem *witr- with a non-anatomic meaning 'cord, strap' in AKK id/t/ṭru 'a strap or band' EA, SB [CAD i 10], [AHw 364], ARM JUD yitrā 'strong cord; the cord of the bow' [Ja 605], MND iatra, iatira 'bowstring' [DM 188], and the same meaning accompanying the anatomic term in ARB and ETH; note also a derived verb 'to stretch (a bow)' in ARB and ETH and another cultural meaning of the noun in ETH: GEZ watr 'string (of musical instrument' [LGz 622], TGR wätär 'tune of the harp' [LH 439], TNA wätär 'chant accompanied by the harp' [LGz 622].
Deserve mention MOD ETH variant roots with -ṭ- (cf. -ṭ- in AKK iṭru (above): (1) TNA wäṭär kǝsad 'muscolo della parte posteriore del collo' [Bass 664], (2) TNA wäṭṭärä 'stendere, stirare una pelle' [ibid.], AMH wäṭṭärä 'to stretch (a string, a hide)' [K 1594], ARG weṭṭära 'to stretch by pulling' [LGz 622].
[KB 452]: HBR, ARM, ARB, GEZ, TGR; [Brock 313]: SYR, ARM, ARB, HBR, GEZ; [LGz 622]: GEZ, ETH, ARB, ARM, HBR (incl. ARM, ARB and ETH verbal and nominal forms related to 'bow')
Number:2239
Proto-Semitic:*yad- ~ *ʔid-
Afroasiatic etymology:Afroasiatic etymology
Meaning:hand
Akkadian:idu OA on [CAD i 10], [AHw 363].
Though the shift *ya- > i is common in AKK, idu may as well reflect *ʔidu
Ugaritic:yd [Aist 127]
Phoenician:yd [T 123]
Hebrew:yād [KB 386]
Aramaic:SML DAL OLD OFF NBT PLM yd [HJ 435]
Biblical Aramaic:*yad (the attested forms are det. yǝdā, du. yǝdayin, etc.) [KB deutsch 1717]
Epigraphic South Arabian:SAB yd [SD 164], QAT yd [Ricks 81], MIN yd [LM 108]
Geʕez (Ethiopian):ʔǝd [LGz 7].
Note st. pron. ʔǝde where -e (<*-ay) may represent an old dual ending
Tigre:ʔǝde [LH 383]
Tigrai (Tigriñña):ʔid [Bass 562]
Amharic:ǝǯǯ [K 1313]
Harari:iǯi [LHar 22]
East Ethiopic:SEL ǝnǯe, WOL ǝnǯ, ZWY ǝn~ǯi [LGur 28-29]
Gurage:CHA EŽA END ENN GYE MUH MSQ GOG SOD äǯ 'hand, arm, handle' [ibid.]
Mehri:ḥayd 'hand, arm' [JM 460] (with the ḥ- article)
Jibbali:éd 'arm (from fingertip to shoulder), hand' [JJ 313]
Harsusi:ḥayd [JH 146] 'hand, arm, forepaw' (with the ḥ- article)
Soqotri:ʔed [LS 52].
Cf. QALAN-B hēd, HADIBO ʔǝʔǝd and other dialectal variants in [SSL LS 1450]
Notes:Note a variant stem *ʔid- in ARM, ETH, MSA and probably AKK; one wonders whether it implies two original stems or one to be reconstructed as *ʔayad- or *yaʔid-.
The noun often forms part of compound prepositions, occasionally with the loss of y-: UGR b-d 'en manos de, destinado a, para' [DLU 104]; AMARNA ba-di-ú 'in his hand' [HJ 433], HBR ʕimmād-ī 'with me' [KB 842]; ARB ʕinda 'auprès de' [BK 2 382], ladā 'chez, auprès de' [ibid. 984]).
ETH *ʔide- <*ʔiday- may reflect a dual form; cf. SOUTH ETH wärč <*warke <*warkay, see *warik-(at-), No. (in some of GUR *-i- > ä after *ʔ- ?). [Fron 48] (*yad- 'braccio (con la mano)' /GEZ,ESA,ARB,HBR,SYR,UGR,AKK/); [Holma 110]: HBR, SYR, ARB, GEZ; [KB 386]: HBR, ARM, ARB, UGR, GEZ, ESA, AKK; [LGz 7]: GEZ, ETH, HBR, ARB, ARM, ESA, SOQ, AKK, PHO
