Biblical Hebrew words from Proto-West Semitic
10 Biblical Hebrew words with Proto-West Semitic in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
אבק
1. The dust is inherited from Proto-West Semitic *ʾabaq- (“dust, chaff”), a West Semitic noun from which a verb “to be dusty” was formed. The noun is shared by Aramaic אבקא (ʾaḇqā, “dust”) in the…
אמן
1. The verb is inherited from Proto-West Semitic *ʔmn (“to be firm, reliable”); Huehnergard lists the root as West Semitic, meaning “to be firm, confirmed, reliable, faithful”, and “to believe”. Its…
יין
It is inherited from Proto-West Semitic *wayn- (“grapes, vine, wine”), a West Semitic word kept in Ugaritic yn (“wine”), Phoenician yn (“wine”), Arabic وَيْن (wayn, “black grapes”), Sabaean wyn…
לוט
1. The verb “to wrap” is inherited from Proto-West Semitic *lwṭ (“to twist, turn”), which Kogan reconstructs on the evidence of the Hebrew verb, of Mehri and of Jibbali, where it means “to turn”…
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…
עיר
1. The origin of the word is uncertain. It has cognates in Ugaritic ʕr and in Sabaean ʿr (“mountain, fortress”), and perhaps in Phoenician. HALOT lists three explanations: a loan from Sumerian uru…
קבל
The verb “to receive” is inherited from Proto-West Semitic *qbl (“to receive”), a denominative verb of the West Semitic languages from the Common Semitic noun Proto-Semitic *qabl- (“front”). It has…
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…
ראה
It is inherited from Proto-West Semitic *rʔy (“to see”). Kogan finds the root mostly in Hebrew, Arabic رَأَى (raʾā), Sabaean rʾy and Ge'ez ርእየ (rəʾya), and in Hebrew and Arabic it is the basic verb…
רמח
It is inherited from Proto-West Semitic *rVmḥ- (“spear”), a word Kogan finds in the West Semitic languages and not in Akkadian. HALOT calls it a primary noun, and BDB a word of unknown etymology…