list of proto-semitic roots

  Proto-Semitic

This is a list of Proto-Semitic roots with their reflexes in several Semitic languages. Only roots attested in Akkadian, or with cognates in other Afro-Asiatic groups, can be confidently included in Proto-Semitic; others must be placed in West Semitic. There is some controversy in Semitic linguistics over the sibilants' pronunciation; see below.

Semitic Sound Correspondences

PS	Akkadian	Arabic	Canaanite	Aramaic	Geez
voiced bilabial plosive	b	b	b	b	ḇ/b	b
voiceless bilabial plosive	p	p	f	p	p̄/p	f
voiced dental fricative	ḏ	z	ḏ	z	ḏ/d	z
voiceless dental fricative	ṯ	š	ṯ	š	ṯ/t	s
emphatic voiceless dental fricative	ṱ	ṣ	ḓ	ṣ̌	ṭ	ṣ
voiced dental plosive	d	d	d	d	ḏ/d	d
voiceless dental plosive	t	t	t	t	ṯ/t	t
emphatic voiceless dental plosive	ṭ	ṭ	ṭ	ṭ	ṭ	ṭ
(see notes)	š	š	s	š	š	s
(see notes)	z	z	z	z	z	z
(see notes)	s	s	s	s	s	s
(see notes)	ṣ	ṣ	ṣ	ṣ	ṣ	ṣ
lateral approximant	l	l	l	l	l	l
voiceless alveolar lateral fricative	ś	š	š	ś	s	ś
emphatic voiceless alveolar lateral fricative	ṣ́	ṣ	ḍ	ṣ́	ʿ	ṣ́
voiced velar plosive	g	g	g	g	ḡ/g	g
voiceless velar plosive	k	k	k	k	ḵ/k	k
emphatic voiceless velar plosive	ḳ	ḳ	q	ḳ	q	ḳ
voiced velar fricative	ġ	-	ġ	ġ	ʿ	ʿ
voiceless velar fricative	ḫ	ḫ	ḫ	ḫ	ḥ	ḫ
voiced pharyngeal fricative	ʿ	-	ʿ	ʿ	ʿ	ʿ
voiceless pharyngeal fricative	ḥ	-	ḥ	ḥ	ḥ	ḥ
glottal stop	ʾ	-	ʾ	ʾ	ʾ	ʾ
voiceless glottal fricative	h	-	h	h	h	h
bilabial nasal	m	m	m	m	m	m
dental nasal	n	n	n	n	n/r	n
alveolar trill	r	r	r	r	r	r
labial-velar approximant	w	w	w	w	w	w
initial labial-velar approximant	w-	w-	w-	y-	y-	w-
palatal approximant	y	y	y	y	y	y
shut close vowel	i	-	i	i/e	-	-
prestressed close vowel	i	-	i	ə/ĕ/ē	-	-
stressed close vowel	-	/ē	-	-
long close vowel	ī	-	ī	-	-
shut open vowel	a	-	a	i/a	-	-
prestressed open vowel	a	-	a	ə/ă/ā	-	-
stressed open vowel	-	//ā	-	-
long open vowel	ā	-	ā	-	-
shut back vowel	u	-	u	u/o	-	-
prestressed back vowel	u	-	u	ə/ŏ/ō	-	-
stressed back vowel	-	/ō	-	-
long back vowel	ū	-	ū	-	-

The original value of the four sibilants here transcribed as /š, z, s, ṣ/ is controversial. The traditional values are as given, but in recent years /s, dz, ts, ṭṣ/ have been suggested, based on assimilations found in Akkadian. In the latter case, those values should be substituted into the Akkadian transcriptions as well.

Proto-Semitic Roots

PS	Akkadian	Arabic	Hebrew	Syriac	Geez	Mehri
earth	*ʾarṣ́-	erṣet-	ʾarḍ-	ʾreṣ	ʾarʿ-ā	-	-
father	*ʾab-	ab-	ʾab-	ʾāḇ	ʾab-ā	ʾab	ḥa-yb
god	*ʾil-(āh)-	il-	ʾilāh-	ʾēl (but ʾĕlōh-m)	ʾalāh-ā	-	-
house	bayt-	bītu, bētu	bayt-	byiṯ, bṯ	-	bet	beyt, bt
husband	baʿl-	bēlu	baʿl-	bʿal	bʿl	baʿāl	bl
king	malik-	malku, maliku	malik-	mleḵ	-	-	-
milk	ḥalīb-	ḫilpu	ḥalīb-, ḥalab-	ḥālāḇ	ḥalb-ā	ḥalīb	-
name	*šm-	šum-	ism-	šēm	šm-ā	səm	ham
peace	*šalām-	šalām-	salām-	šālm	šlām-ā	salām	səlōm
sun	*śamš-	šamšu	šams-	šmeš	šemš	-	-
tree	*ʿiṣ-	iṣu, iṣṣu	ʿiḍ-at-	ʿēṣ	-	ʿeḍ	-
water	may-/māy-	mū	māʾ-	myim	may-ā	māy	ḥə-mō

Body parts

PS	Akkadian	Arabic	Hebrew	Syriac	Geez	Mehri
blood	*dam-	-	dam-	dām	dm-ā	dam	-
eye	*ʿayn-	īn-	ʿayn-	ʿyin	ʿayn-ā	ʿayn	ʾāyn
hand	*yad-	id-	yad-	yāḏ	ʾīdā	ʾəd	ḥayd
heart	*libb-	libb-	lubb-	lēḇ	leb-ā	ləbb	ḥa-wbēb
tongue	lišān-/lašān-	lišān-	lisān-	lāšn	lešān-ā	ləsān	əwšēn
tooth	*šinn-	šinn-	sinn-	šēn	šenn-ā	sənn	-

Animal names

PS	Akkadian	Arabic	Hebrew	Syriac	Geez	Mehri
camel	*gam(a)l-	gammal- (gaml-)	gamal-/jamal-	gāmāl	gaml-ā	gamal	gəmmōl
dog	*kalb-	kalb-	kalb-	kleḇ	kalb-ā	kalb	?
ewe	*raḫil-	laḫru	riḫl(at)-	rāḫēl	-	-	-

Proto-West-Semitic Roots

This is a list of cognates for which no Akkadian cognate is known or attested.

PWS	Arabic	Hebrew	Syriac	Geez	Mehri
bee	*dVb(V)r-	dabr-, dibr-	dəḇōrāh	debbōr-ā, debbor-t-ā	-	-
holy	*ḳudš-	quds	ḳāḏēš	qudš-ā	-	-
son	*bn-	ibn	bēn	br-ā	-	bər, ḥə-brē
white	*laban-	laban (> "buttermilk")	lāḇān	-	-	lbōn

External links

* Akkadian dictionary

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