PCS

*bayṣ̂-at- - egg (SED I No. 43, Kogan 2015:175)

Usually unseparated from Akk. peṣû and Arb. byḍ ‘to be white’, which are likely to form a different root *payṣ̂-­ including also Gez. beṣā, bəṣā ‘yellow’, byṣ ‘to become white, yellow’ [LGz. 116] (­ṣ being a graphic variant of the expected *-ḍ?), Amh. bəč̣a, bič̣a ‘yellow’ [K 950] and Tgr. bäyyäṣä ‘to be bright, brilliant’ [LH 295]. According to a widespread opinion, goes back to the color term *byṣ̂ ‘to be white, bright, yellow’. If this etymology is correct, we are faced with a PCS semantic innovation, but the opposite way of derivation (“egg” > “white”) has also been suggested (F. Rosenthal apud CDG 116). In any case, this wide-spread opinion formulated by Leslau as «the root byṣ 〈erroneously for byḍ. - A. M. /L. K.〉 ‘become white’ is the origin of the noun ‘egg’ in ... various Semitic languages» [LGz. 116] should probably be revised in the light of W. Chad. parallels: Geji mbuuŝì, Buli mbiŝ, Tule mbòòŝə, Zaar buùŝ ‘egg’ [Stolb. 1996 122] (reconstructed as *m-buy/ˀVŝ­ [ibid.] corresponding to Afras. *buyač̣­ after [OS 86]). In HSED 86, PCS *bayŝ-̣ at- has been compared to hypothetical West Chadic cognates, which would mean that the PCS term is a retention from PAA. Cf.

Hebrew
bēṣā - egg (HALOT 123)
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
byˁh - egg (DJPA 96)
Jewish Babylonian Aramaic
bayˁṯā, bēṯā - egg (DJBA 204)
Syriac
bīˁtā - egg; (pl.) testicles; skull, bald portion on head; (pl.) arch (LSyr. 69, SL 143)
Mandaic
bita - egg (DM 64)
< *bīˁ-t-; M. Mnd. biyya [Macuch 501]­
Maalula
bēˁṯa - egg (GNDM 10)
Mlḥ. biˁe (pl.) [J Mlaḥ. 171]; NAssyr. bītä [Tser. 027]; Gzr. bíˀta [Nak. 69]; Azr. beta [Garb. 299]; Iran. *bītā [Pen. 66].
Turoyo
bəḥto - Ei (egg) (RW 66)
Arabic
bayḍat- - egg (BK 1 184, Lane 283)
Arb. bayḏ̣ ‘oeuf de fourmi’ “ant egg” [Belot Arb.-Fr. 50] (not in [BK 1 185], where bayḏ̣ means ‘liqueur nécessaire à la génération; sperme’). One wonders whether a variant Sem. root *bayṯ̣-­ with *ṯ̣ vs. *ṣ̂ can be reconstructed on the latter Arb. and MSA parallels.
Tigre
bäyəč̣ - egg (WTS 295)
The only Eth. parallel attested, may be an Arabism (cf. [Leslau Loanwords 150]). Clear Arabism (Kogan 2015: 175)/
Mehri
bīḏ̣ayt - egg (ML 60)
The word for “egg” in MTO is ḳáwḥəl, but only bīẓ̂áyt is attested in each of the three SAE volumes (see Kogan 2015: 499). Clear Arabism (Kogan 2015: 175) Probably Arabism (MSA form) with ḏ̣ (< *ṯ̣) instead of the expected ẑ/ẓ̂ (< ṣ̂) (SED I – A. Militarev, L. Kogan; 2000). həbyōḏ̣ ‘to lay an egg’ [JM 60]
Jibbali
béḏ̣ - egg (JL 60)
Probably Arabism (MSA form) with ḏ̣ (< *ṯ̣) instead of the expected ẑ/ẓ̂ (< ṣ̂) (SED I – A. Militarev, L. Kogan; 2000).
Harsusi
bēḏ̣eh - egg (HL 21)
Probably Arabism (MSA form) with ḏ̣ (< *ṯ̣) instead of the expected ẑ/ẓ̂ (< ṣ̂) (SED I – A. Militarev, L. Kogan; 2000).