Reconstructions Search

The origin is unknown. Contra M. Bittner (1915b:28) and W. Leslau, hardly any connection with Arb. škk ‘to pierce with the spear’, since Arb. š does not regularly correspond to š in MSA. Note Tgr. sakyät ‘iron-chips that fall off when a sword is whetted; edge of a sword’. (Kogan 2015:571)

The etymology of Proto-MSA *šny ‘to seed, to cultivate’ is uncertain. Har. säňi ‘seed’ (EDH 141), Sel. säňe, Wol. säňňe and Zwy. säňi ‘seed, crop’ (EDG 555) are in all probability borrowed from Cushitic (Oromo saňňi, Somali šuni), but the Cushitic terms, in their turn, may be related to the MSA ones as cognates, thus pointing to a fairly archaic Afroasiatic root completely lost elsewhere in Semitic if not compared to Akk. ašnan (Militarev 1999:394). (Kogan 2015:571)

“Proto-MSA *šṣ̂r ‘to be green’ comes close to Arb. ḫḍr with the same meaning (Lane 754), but the extremely problematic correspondence *š vs. *ḫ makes a straightforward acceptance of this equation rather unappealing (see further Bittner 1915b:67, Bulakh 2004:276‒277). There is no trace of PS *wrḳ ‘to be green’ in MSA.” (Kogan 2015:542)

The origin of Proto-MSA *šVṭp-at- ‘tray for fodder’ is unknown. (Kogan 2015:572)

The origin of Proto-MSA *šaṭar- ‘female calf’ is unknown. Cf. perhaps Arb. saṭr- ‘a yearling of goats or of sheep’ (Lane 1358). (Kogan 2015:572)

The origin of Proto-MSA *šitim- ‘heaven’ is enigmatic: an eventual connection with PS *šamāy- is difficult to avoid (Bittner 1909:42), but the underlying phonological and/or structural development has never been convincingly established (none of the hypotheses listed by Leslau in LS 78 is persuasive).

Leslau is likely correct to relate Proto-MSA *ṣḥr ‘to brand’ to Hbr. ṣāḥōr ‘reddish-gray’ (HALOT 1019), Syr. ṣḥar ‘erubuit’ (LSyr. 626), Arb. ṣḥr (XI) ‘to dry up, to become yellow,’ ṣaḥīrat- ‘milk into which heated stones are thrown’ (Lane 1654), implying an original meaning “to burn,” “to be burnt” (cf. especially Ugr. ṣḥrr ‘to be burnt,’ ‘to roast,’ DUL 782). One might be tempted to relate to this root Tgr. ṣäḥarä ‘to take up and carry away coal and ashes’, Tna. ṣäḥarä ‘to stir a fire’, but the general meaning of the Tigrinya verb seems rather to be ‘to scoop up, to scrape up with the hands, to shoveľ (Kogan 2015:569-570)

The origin of Proto-MSA *ṣVlVl- ‘ravine, wadi’ is uncertain, but cf. perhaps Hbr. ṣll ‘to sink’ (HALOT 1027) and especially məṣūlā ‘depth, deep’ (ibid. 623). (Kogan 2015:570)

The origin is unknown. (Kogan 2015:570)

The origin of Proto-MSA *ṣaprir- ‘flower’ is uncertain. Leslau’s comparison with Syr. ṣaprā ‘tempus matutinum’ (LSyr. 635), implying an original meaning “s’échapper, éclater” is not easily acceptable from the semantic point of view. Hardly any connection with Arb. ˀaṣfar- ‘yellow’ (Lane 1699). Of some interest is Akk. ṣipru ‘crest, coma (of a comet), summit, excrescence’ (CAD Ṣ 204, AHw. 1104). (Kogan 2015:570)