Biblical Hebrew words from Proto-Semitic
36 Biblical Hebrew words with Proto-Semitic in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
אב
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʔabw- (“father”), a noun found in all the Semitic languages. The cognates include Akkadian abu, Ugaritic ảb, Phoenician ʾb, Aramaic אַבָּא (ʾabbā), Classical…
אבן
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʔabn- (“stone”), one of the basic words of Proto-Semitic. The noun is kept in Akkadian abnu, Ugaritic ảbn, Phoenician ʾbn, Aramaic אֶבֶן (ʾeḇen), Classical Syriac…
איש
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʔinš- (“man, person”) in Wiktionary's reconstruction. Kogan, who finds the form only in Central Semitic, reconstructs it for Proto-Central Semitic from Ugaritic…
אלף
1. The numeral is inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʔalp- (“cattle; thousand”). It is found in Ugaritic ảlp (“thousand”), Phoenician ʾlp, Aramaic אֲלַף (ʾălap̄), Classical Syriac ܐܳܠܶܦ (ʾālep̄), Arabic…
ארץ
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʔarṣ́- (“earth”), one of the basic words of Proto-Semitic. The noun is kept in Akkadian erṣetu, Old Akkadian arṣatu, Ugaritic ảrṣ, Phoenician ʾrṣ and Moabite…
אתון
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʔatān- (“she-ass”). The word is Akkadian atānu (“she-ass; also mare”), attested since Old Akkadian, Ugaritic ảtn (“she-ass”), Aramaic אֲתָנָא (ʾăṯānā), Classical…
בית
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *bayt- (“house”), one of the Proto-Semitic nouns whose form and meaning can be reconstructed precisely. It is kept in Akkadian bītu (“house”), Ugaritic bt (plural…
בן
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *bin- (“son”), a Common Semitic noun. Kogan reconstructs it for Proto-West Semitic from Ugaritic bn, Aramaic בַּר (bar), Classical Syriac ܒܪܐ (brā), Arabic ابن…
גוי
The origin is uncertain. In StarLing it is inherited from Proto-Semitic *gaw(V)y- (“community group sharing a territory”), and Huehnergard reconstructs a Central Semitic *gāy- (“tribe”). The nearest…
גמל
1. The camel is inherited from Proto-Semitic *gamal- (“camel”). The noun is common to the Semitic languages: Phoenician gml, Aramaic גמלא (gamlā), Classical Syriac ܓܡܠܐ (gamlā), Arabic جَمَل…
גן
According to Wiktionary, the garden is inherited from Proto-Semitic *g-n-n (“to protect, defend”), a noun meaning “a protected place”. HALOT also places it under the root of the verb “to protect”…
דבר
1. The noun is formed on the root of the verb דִּבֵּר (dibbēr, “to speak”). HALOT puts both under its second root דבר, “to speak”, kept apart from a root דבר meaning “to turn the back, drive away”…
היה
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *haway- (“to fall, happen, be, become”). The same verb is Aramaic הֲוָא (hăwā) and Classical Syriac ܗܘܳܐ (hwā), with ⟨w⟩ as the middle consonant, and Hebrew has…
הלך
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *halak- (“to go”). The verb is shared by the Northwest Semitic languages: Ugaritic hlk, with the imperfect ylk, Phoenician hlk, Moabite, Aramaic הלך (hlk), whose…
הלל
1. The verb of praise is inherited from Proto-Semitic *hll (“to shout, boast; in a derived stem, to praise”). It has cognates in Ugaritic hll (“to cheer”), Classical Syriac ܗܠܠ (hallel, “to praise…
יד
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *yad- (“hand”), one of the basic words of Proto-Semitic. The word is kept in Ugaritic yd, Phoenician yd, Aramaic יַד (yaḏ), Classical Syriac ܐܝܼܕܵܐ (ʾīḏā), Sabaean…
יובל
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *wabil- (“ram”). The animal name is kept in Phoenician ybl (“ram”), in a Punic priestly tariff, in Jewish Aramaic “ram, bell-wether”, and in Akkadian yabilu…
יום
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *yawm- (“day”), with the diphthong /aw/ contracted to /ô/ in Hebrew. HALOT and BDB give the cognates: Akkadian ūmu, Ugaritic ym, Phoenician ym, Aramaic יוֹם (yôm)…
יצא
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *wḍʾ (“to go out”), the original form of the root that HALOT gives after Brockelmann. The verb is Ugaritic yṣả, Phoenician yṣʾ (“to march out”), Akkadian waṣû…
ישב
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *wṯb (“to sit”), one of the basic verbs of Proto-Semitic, the Hebrew verb coming from an earlier *waṯaba. HALOT gives the basic form with /ṯ/, and the cognates…
כף
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *kapp- (“palm of the hand”). HALOT infers the older Hebrew pronunciation /kapp/ from the Greek letter name Ancient Greek κάππα (káppa). The word is Akkadian kappu…
כשר
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *kṯr (“to succeed, be suitable”), a Semitic root whose /ṯ/ became /š/ in Hebrew. Its cognates are Aramaic כשר (kəšar, “to be fitting, useful”), Classical Syriac…
מלאך
It is a noun with the prefix ⟨ma-⟩ from Proto-Semitic *lʔk (“to send”), a root that has no verb in Hebrew. HALOT explains it as first “mission”, then “messenger”. The verb is Ugaritic lảk (“to send…
מלך
1. The noun for “king” is inherited from Proto-Semitic *malk- (“king”). Kogan sets up Proto-West Semitic *mal(i)k- (“king”) beside the verb *mlk (“to rule”), and Gesenius–Buhl explains the segolate…
מר
1. The adjective belongs to the root of מָרַר (mārar, “to be bitter”) and has the same form in Akkadian marru (“bitter”) and Ugaritic mr (“bitter”), which DULAT lists in “bitter almonds”. Other…
עבד
1. The noun “servant” is inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʕabd- (“slave”), as StarLing reconstructs it, though Kogan and Wiktionary find it only in the Central Semitic languages and so reconstruct it…
עז
1. Strength is a noun from Biblical Hebrew עָזַז (ʿāzaz, “to be strong”). The noun has close matches in Ugaritic ʿz (“strength”),^(DULAT 2015|s.v. ʕz (I)) Phoenician ʿz, Arabic عِزّ (ʿizz, “might…
עלה
1. The verb “to go up” is inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʕaly- (“high”), the root of words for height in most Semitic languages. It is kept in Ugaritic ʿly (“to go up, rise”), whose causative stem…
עם
1. The noun “people” is inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʕamm- (“paternal kinsman, relative”). Kogan explains the sense “people”, found in Classical Syriac ܥܲܡܵܐ (ʿammā), Arabic عَمّ (ʿamm) and…
פנה
1. The noun “face” is inherited from Proto-Semitic *pan- (“face”). HALOT derives it from a two-consonant root and lists the plural noun in Ugaritic pnm, with the preposition lpn, in Phoenician pnm…
קנה
1. The verb is inherited from Proto-West Semitic *ḳny (“to acquire, to possess”). Its cognates are Ugaritic qny (“to acquire; to create”), Phoenician qny (“to acquire”), Biblical Aramaic קְנָא…
רב
1. The adjective is inherited from Proto-Semitic *rabb- (“big, great”). Kogan treats the root ⟨rbb⟩ “to be large, numerous” as a Central Semitic formation, whose agreement across the languages is…
שם
1. The noun “name” is inherited from Proto-Semitic *šim- (“name”), one of the words found throughout Semitic. It is Akkadian šumu, Ugaritic šm, Phoenician šm, Aramaic שְׁמָא (šəmā), Classical Syriac…
שמע
1. It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *šamiʕ- (“to hear”), and the root *šmʿ (“to hear”) is found all through Semitic. The verb is kept in Akkadian šemû (Assyrian šamāʾu), Ugaritic šmʕ, Phoenician…
שפן
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *ṯapan- (“hyrax”), kept in Hebrew and in the Modern South Arabian languages, with Mehri ṯōfən and a Jibbali form. The first consonant is the interdental /ṯ/ that…
שק
It is inherited from Proto-Semitic *śaqq- (“sack”), a noun common to the Semitic languages. It is kept in Akkadian saqqu (“sack, sackcloth”), Ugaritic ṯq, Old and Imperial Aramaic ⟨šq⟩, later…