Forms with the initial sibilant, whose primary nature cannot be doubted in view of the data of non-Semitic Afroasiatic languages, are found in Akk., ESA (except for Sabaic) and, to a greater or lesser extent, in MSA. In Ug., Heb., Arm., Arb. and Sab. *š- shifts to h- (Kogan 2009:66).