Reconstructions Search

The origin of Proto-MSA *pṭˁ ‘to be naked’ is unknown. (Kogan 2015:568)

The origin of Proto-MSA *rVbṯ-at- ‘foam on milk’ is unknown. (Kogan 2015:568)

The meaning is hardly connected to that of PCS *rgm ‘to stone’. In Soq. rígɛm ‘to be stoned’ and régom ‘to cover, to protect’ to be treated as different (homonymous) roots, as actually done by Leslau in LS 394. At the same time, it is noteworthy that one of the prominent applications of rgm in Jibbali is connected with covering a dead body with stones. The same semantic nuance is attested in Arabic: raǯam- ‘stones that are placed upon a grave,’ rǯm (II) ‘to place a stone on one’s grave’. It is likely that the meaning “to cover with stones” in Arabic represents a secondary development from “to stone (as punishment),” which, in its turn, influenced Jib. rgm ‘to cover,’ originally unconnected to *rgm ‘to stone’ (Kogan 2015: 217-218)

The origin of Proto-MSA *rkt ‘to step, to tread’ is uncertain, but it may be related to semantically similar roots displaying the biconsonantal element *rk, for which cf. LS 400 under Soq. róked ‘trépigner’ and rékaẓ̂ ‘fouler le sol. (Kogan 2015:569)

While there is no doubt that the MSA designations of “sea” go back to a single prototype, its exact shape is hard to recover because of deep structural changes in individual languages. Nevertheless, it is tempting to suppose that the Proto-MSA form was close to Eastern Jibbali rέmrɛm, with full reduplication of the biconsonantal element *rVm- (cf. already Bittner 1909:128, 1914:55). The origin of this form is with all probability descriptive (onomatopoetic), but no exact parallel seems to be attested in the Semitic-speaking domain (although, as far as verbal roots are concerned, cf. Akk. ramāmu ‘to rumble, to roar, to howl, to bellow,’ CAD R 116, AHw. 949, Tna. ramram bälä ‘to be an indistinguishable, incomprehensible noise,’ TED 547). (Kogan 2015:569)