Semitic and Egyptian Comparisons

Semitic and Egyptian ComparisonsAuthor(s): Wolf LeslauSource: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Jan., 1962), pp. 44-49Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/543552 .

Accessed: 24/10/2013 05:51

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journalof Near Eastern Studies.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 87.77.170.133 on Thu, 24 Oct 2013 05:51:34 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucpress

http://www.jstor.org/stable/543552?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


SEMITIC AND EGYPTIAN COMPARISONS

WOLF LESLAU

HE existence of a Hamito-Semitic family is firmly established.' The

comparative studies going back to the beginning of the nineteenth century sufficiently prove that Semitic, Egyptian, Cushitic, and Berber have common features in morphology and in vocabulary.2 The roots common to Egyptian and Semitic are presented in a useful manner in A. Ember, Egypto-Semitic Studies

(Leipzig, 1930), and in F. Calice, Grund-

lagen der dgyptisch-semitischen Wortver-

gleichung (Wien, 1936). An excellent sum- mary of the morphological features with lists of words common to Hamito-Semitic

arranged according to phonetic corre-

spondences is given by Marcel Cohen in his Essai comparatif sur le vocabulaire et la

phonologie du chamito-semitique (Paris, 1947). The present article gives additional

comparisons between Semitic and Egyp- tian, with a few occasional Cushitic roots. There is no need to insist on the complexity of etymological work, particularly in a

group of languages in which we compare different stages of their development, as is the case in Egyptian and Semitic. In my review on M. Cohen's Essai I stated:3 "Some of the comparisons proposed by Cohen might seem improbable at first

sight. If we consider, however, that in Hamito-Semitic we operate with some languages documented for nearly 6000

years (Egyptian and some of the Semitic languages) while others (like Berber and Cushitic) are known only for the last 200- 300 years, we realize the difficult task which awaits the Hamito-Semitist. To demonstrate how a Hamito-Semitic pho- neme can change or disappear completely in a given language I shall cite some South

Ethiopic words of Semitic origin. The Semitist will have some difficulties, if he does not know the continuous phonetic development of the language, in connect- ing South Ethiopic in 'stone' or sUt, 'eight' with any Semitic root. If he knows, however, that the labials and the

liquids became weakened and disappeared in South Ethiopic he will recognize in in the Hebrew eben 'stone' and in sfit the Semitic root for 'eight,' namely Amn/tmn. A still more drastic example is Argobba hayu, Gurage eb 'milk.' It would seem a tour de force to connect these two words with the Semitic root hlb 'milk,' but the relation is quite normal. The laryngeal either became zero (thus eb) or h (thus hayu); the 1 was prepalatalized in hayu and

disappeared in eb; the labial b remained in Gurage, but became u in Argobba hayu. These few examples are intended to show that many Hamito-Semitic etymologies would be more plausible if we had all the

missing links in the phonetic development." In order to avoid pitfalls of that kind I submit here only comparisons that are reasonably obvious from the phonetic and semantic points of view and do not require any explanation through special phonetic developments. Also, it is not my

1 The books and the languages are abbreviated as follows. Books: Calice = F. Calice, Grundlagen der dgyptisch-semitischen Wortvergleichung (Wien, 1936); Cohen = M. Cohen, Essai comparatif sur le vocabulaire et la phonologie du chamito-simitique (Paris, 1947); Vycichl = W. Vycichl, "Grundlagen der digyptisch- semitischen Wortvergleichung," Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archdologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo, XVI (1958), 367-405.

Languages: Akk. = Akkadian, Amh. = Amharic, Ar. = Arabic, Eg. = Egyptian, G. = Geez, Hebr. =

Hebrew, Sem. = Semitic, Soq. = Soqotri, Te. =

Tigre, Tna. = Tigrinya. 2 For a bibliography, see Cohen, pp. 3 ff. 3 Language, XXV (1949), 316.

44



SEMITIC AND EGYPTIAN COMPARISONS 45

intention to give here the roots of all the Semitic languages.

The comparisons are arranged according to phonetic correspondences, so as to present at the same time a comparison between the phonetic systems of Semitic and

Egyptian. The arrangement of the article is as follows: comparisons according to

phonetic correspondences between Egyp- tian and Semitic taking Egyptian as basis; list of phonetic correspondences between Semitic and Egyptian taking Semitic as basis; index of Egyptian roots; index of Semitic roots. The transcription of the

Egyptian roots and their arrangement in the index are taken from A. Erman and H. Grapow, W6rterbuch der igyptischen Sprache.

Since there is no index of Hamito- Semitic comparisons except those of Em- ber, Calice, and Cohen (see above),4 I am unable to verify whether any of the etymologies mentioned here have already been

proposed elsewhere. Occasionally a Cush- itic etymology will also be given.

PHONETIC CORRESPONDENCES BETWEEN

EGYPTIAN AND SEMITIC

LABIALS

Egyptian m = Semitic m

1. Eg. mdd "measure for wine" (late Egyptian); Hebr. m&1dad "measure," Akk. madddu, Ar. madda "stretch," unless the

Eg. mdd is a loanword. 2. Eg. gmgm "break (utensil, member

of body)"; Gurage (Eia) gamiiggdmd-m "chip off the rim of a utensil."

3. Eg. tmm "close"; is undoubtedly the same root as Egyptian tm "finish" and is to be compared with Ar. tamma "accomplish," Hebr. tam, as against Cohen who

separated Eg. tmm (No. 33) from tm

(No. 322).

For other examples of Egyptian m = Semitic m, see smn (No. 8),

.ms' (No. 11),

dm' (No. 25), hm (No. 29). See also Cohen, p. 189.

Egyptian b = Semitic b

4. Eg. bw "place"; Hebr. b&(a) "come," Akk. bdau, G. boDa "enter"; cp. also Sidamo

(Cushitic) ba'-i io "place." 5. Eg. bw "not" (a negative auxiliary

verb); Soq. be "without, before," for which see, however, W. Leslau, Lexique Soqotri, p. 80.

6. Eg. dbdb "attack, lay hands on"; Amh. ddbidddib "hit."

For other examples of Egyptian b = Semitic b, see dbn (No. 17), nbd (No. 18), belle (No. 22), qgb (No. 23), qb (No. 32). (See also Cohen, p. 173.)

Egyptian p = Semitic p/f 7. Eg. wpw.t "message, charge, work";

G. Da-wfdyd "transmit, consign," Ar. wafa (root wfy) "accomplish." See also Cohen, p. 167.

Egyptian f = Semitic f See sTrf (No. 19), nfC (No. 28). See also

Cohen, p. 169.

DENTALS

Egyptian d = Semitic d

See mdd (No. 1), dbdb (No.6), (Sdj No. 13), dbn (No. 17), dm' (No. 25).5 See also Cohen, p. 152.

Egyptian d = Semitic t See nbd (No. 18). See also Cohen, p. 155.

Egyptian t = Semitic t See tmm (No. 3). See also Cohen, p. 150.

4 A list of phonetic correspondences is also found in Vycichl, pp. 367-79.

5 The error of comparing Eg. wdh "pour out" with a G. wdh "pour" found in A. Ember, Egypto-Semitic Studies, ?26b.2, in Calice No.30 is taken up by Vycichl, p. 273. The G. wsh (with s) was misread by these authors as wdh (with d).



46 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

SIBILANTS

Egyptian s = Semitic t 8. Eg. gmn "value, price of corn"; Ar.

taman "price" unless Eg. smn is a loanword. Calice No. 799 compares Eg. swn

(in Calice written swn) "price" with Ar. tmn.

9. Eg. snsn, 'ns'j "praise, worship"; Ar.

tannd (root tny) "praise."

Egyptian g = Semitic s

(Arabic, Ethiopic), ? (Hebrew) 10. Eg. 4hr "advice, counsel"; perhaps

Ar. sihr "sorcery, magic," Hebr. aahar "charm." The passage of meaning could

be explained by the fact that advice or counsel can be given with the help of

magic. 11. Eg.

h.m "phallus"; perhaps G.

hams "womb," Amh. ams "female genital parts."

12. Eg. 4k "complaint"; Ar. sak7 "com-

plain." For other examples of Egyptian

' =

Semitic s/s, see rs (No. 21). See also Cohen, p. 141.

Egyptian s' = Semitic s/s' 13. Eg. sdj "field"; Hebr. k&d1(h) "field,"

Ugaritic sd "acre" unless it is a loanword in one or another language.

For Egyptian s = Semitic s/s, see also

Cohen, p. 133.

LIQUIDS

Egyptian n = Semitic n

14. Eg. nnj "child"; Soq. nin-hin "elder brother," Hebr. nin "offspring, posterity." For the Soqotri and Hebrew roots, see

Leslau, Lexique Soqotri, p. 268. For other examples of Egyptian n =

Semitic n, see Amn (No. 8), ngn (No. 9), nfC (No. 28), 1hn (No. 34). See also Cohen, p. 185.

Egyptian n = Semitic 1

15. Eg. nhj "lament"; G. lahawd "lament." Calice No. 670 expresses doubts about Ar. anaha, Hebr. anah "sigh" proposed by Albright for the Egyptian root

nhj. For Eg. h = Sem. h, see 8 hr (No. 10), h.t (No. 33).

16. Eg. nw.t "rope, cord"; Ar. lawd (root lwy) "twist a rope," Te. Idwla "wind around."

17. Eg. dbn "ring, circle"; Calice No. 362

compares Ar. dibla "ring"; cp. also Amh. dabulbul "spherical, round."

18.Eg. nbd "be covered with metal"; Tna. Amh. lbt "cover with metal." For Sem. t and Eg. d, see Cohen, p. 155. The

validity of the comparison depends on the

problem of usage of metal at a time when

Egyptian and Ethiopic could have had a common root.

For the correspondence n:1, see also

Cohen, p. 182.

Egyptian r = Semitic r

19. Eg. sdrf "take a rest" is perhaps a

secondary formation with the s-morpheme of the causative from *crf for which com-

pare G. a-crdfd "take a rest." The mor-

pheme of the Geez causative became

agglutinated into the root of Amharic

arrdfd "take a rest" (for *'arrdfd from

*Da-carrdfd) as is the case in Egyptian grf from *s-crf.

20. Eg. wcr.t "leg"; Gurage (Naha, Eza, Ennemor) wdr "leg." Note, however, that the r of Gurage could represent the liquid n or 1. Brockelmann, ZSem. VIII(1932), 103 compares Eg. wcr.t with Ar. wcr "run

away." For other examples of Eg. r = Sem. r,

see .hr (No. 10), kr.tj (No. 31). (See also Cohen, p. 178.)

Egyptian r = Semitic n

21. Eg. rd (rji) "be awake," 4-rsj "wake up"; G. tii-ndga "wake up," Amh. ta-nassa,




from the Semitic root nFs, n42 (Hebr. na-s(a) "lift.")

Coptic 1 = Semitic 1

22. Coptic balle "blind"; Selti (Gurage) illi bilo "blind," lit. "blind of eye," Darasa

(Sidamo) balla'a. The comparison of the

Coptic root with Bilin carab proposed by Cohen No. 66 is considered by the author himself as doubtful.

LARYNGEALS

Egyptian = Semitic

23. Eg. qib "be double"; G. kacdab "be double" rather than Ar. qalaba "turn over

upside down" proposed by Calice No. 323. The correspondence ::' is perhaps to be

explained as a dissimilation process due to the presence of an emphatic in Egyptian. See also Cohen, p. 90.

Egyptian ' = Semitic 1

24. Eg. k) "say"; perhaps to be com-

pared with Ar. qdla "say," Hebr. q5l "voice," Ethiopic qal. For Egyptian k: Semitic q, see also kr.tj (No. 31).

Egyptian ' = Semitic r

25. Eg. dm) "tie together"; G.Amh. ddmmdrd "insert, unite, mingle."

26. Eg. h' "behind, after"; Te. har "behind, after," from the Semitic root 'hr "be last, be behind" with loss of the glottal stop.

For other examples of Eg. : Sem. r, see also Cohen, p. 181.6

Egyptian c = Semitic r

27. Eg. wC "one"; Te. woro "one," perhaps of Cushitic origin.

28. Eg. nfc "chase away clouds"; Ar.

nafara "disperse, flee." Calice No. 58 compares Ar. nafaga "jump up."

For other examples of Eg. c = Sem. r.

see also Cohen, Nos. 510, 512.

Egyptian h = Semitic h

29. Eg. hm "calumniate"; G. hamdiyd "calumniate."

See also Cohen No. 104, who states that Semitic h (g) corresponds to Egyptian h, but gives no examples for the correspondence.

Egyptian h = Semitic h 30. Eg. ghwj "comprise, include," forms

with the g-morpheme of the causative from the root hwj; Ar. hawd (root hwy) "include."

For other examples of Egyptian h = Semitic h, see hms' (No. 11), 4h (No. 26). See also Cohen, p. 98.

VELARS

Egyptian g = Semitic g See gmgm (No. 2); see also Cohen, p. 118.

Egyptian k = Semitic k

See gk (No. 12); see also Cohen, p. 112.

Egyptian k = Semitic q 31. Eg. kr.tj "horns"; is perhaps to be

compared with Semitic qrn "horn" that has the form qdr in some Gurage dialects, an Ethiopian group of dialects in which the liquids are as unstable as in Egyptian.

For the correspondence of Egyptian k: Semitic q, see also kE (No. 24).

Egyptian q = Semitic q 32. Eg. qb "be humble, be humiliated";

perhaps Te. qdba (root qby) "contemn, re- vile," if the basic meaning can be con- nected with that of "humiliate."

For other examples of this regular correspondence, see also Cohen, p. 124.

6 Eg. j-C "donkey" compared by Vycichl, p. 380, with G. awal "young of donkey" could also be compared with Ar. cayr "donkey" as suggested by Cohen No. 62.



48 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

Egyptian q = Semitic k

See q:b (No. 23).

Egyptian h = Semitic .h 33. Eg. h.t "fire"; G. haw "fire" rather

than G. hatdwd "burn" proposed by Cohen No. 142. In the Geez root htw, t is a radical of the root whereas in Egyptian h.t the t is a suffixed morpheme.

For other examples of Egyptian h = Semitic h, see ghr (No. 10), nhj (No. 15).

Egyptian h = Arabic g 34. Eg. An "play music"; Ar. Oannd

"sing." For the correspondence of Ar. Oanna with Berber and Cushitic, see Cohen No. 83.

SEMI-VOWELS

Egyptian i = Semitic'

35. Eg. iw (ij) "come"; Ar. 'awd "set out for." Calice No. 461 compares Eg. iwj "be long" with Ar. )awa "set out for"; Cohen No. 25 speaks of "l'absence d'un correspondent simitique."

Egyptian i = Cushitic w

36. Eg. irj "make, do"; perhaps Bedja wir "make, do" rather than Ethiopic hlw "be" proposed by Cohen No. 20. Calice No. 502 expressed doubts about Akk. warfi "drive" proposed by Albright for Egyptian irj.

Egyptian w = Semitic w

See wpw.t (No. 7), nw.t (No. 16), w' (No. 27),

h.wj (No. 30), iw (No. 35). See

also bw (Nos. 4, 5) and Cohen, p. 196.

PHONETIC CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN

SEMITIC AND EGYPTIAN

For the benefit of the Semitist I am giving below a list of phonetic correspondences between Semitic and Egyptian taking Semitic as basis.

LABIALS

Sem. m= Eg. m (Nos. 1, 2,3, 8, 11, 25,29); Sem. b=Eg. b (Nos. 4, 5, 6, 17, 18, 22, 23, 32); Sem. p/f=Eg. p (No. 7); South Sem.

f= Eg. f (Nos. 19, 28).

DENTALS

Sem. d=Eg. d (Nos. 1, 6, 13, 17, 25); Sem. t=Eg. t (No. 3); Sem. t=Eg. d (No. 18).

SIBILANTS

Sem. t=Eg. 4 (Nos. 8, 9); Sem. s/8= Eg. 4 (Nos. 10, 11, 12, 21); Sem. 4/8=Eg. ?

(No. 13).

LIQUIDS

Sem. n=Eg. n (Nos. 8, 9, 14, 28, 34); Sem. n=Eg. r (No. 21); Sem. 1=Eg. n

(Nos. 15, 16, 17, 18); Sem. 1=Eg.' (No. 24); Sem. t=Coptic 1 (No. 22); Sem. r=Eg. r (Nos. 10, 19, 20, 31); Sem. r= Eg.

: (Nos. 25, 26).

LARYNGEALS

Sem. '=Eg. i (No. 35); Sem. '=Eg. (No. 23); Sem. h= Eg. h (No. 29); Sem. h =

Eg. 4 (Nos. 11, 26, 30); Sem. h= Eg.. (Nos. 10, 15, 33).

VELARS

Sem. g= Eg. g (No. 2); Sem. k=Eg. k (No. 12); Sem. k = Eg. q (No. 23); Sem. q= Eg. q (No. 32); Sem. q=Eg. k (Nos. 24, 31); Sem. q=Eg. h (No. 34).

SEMI-VOWELS

Sem. w=Eg. w (Nos. 7, 16, 27, 30, 35); Cushitic w= Eg. i (No. 36).

INDEX OF THE EGYPTIAN ROOTS

iw (35), irj (36), w' (27), wcr.t (20), wpw.t (7), bw (4), bw (5), balle (22), mdd (1), nw.t (16), nbd (18), nfc (28), nnj (14), nhj




(15), rs (21), hm (29), h4 (26), hm8 (11), h.t

(33), hn (34), gmn (8), 4nsn, 4ndj (9), grf (19), dhwj (30), Shr (10), 8k (12), dj (13), q:b (23), qb (32), k: (24), kr.tj (31), gmgm (2), tmm (3), dbn (17), dbdb (6), dm) (25).

INDEX OF THE SEMITIC ROOTS

ams (Amh. 11), arrdfd (Amh. 19), "awd (Ar. 35), a-crdfd (G. 19), be (Soq. 5), *b~' (Hebr. 4), bd'u (Akk. 4), bo'a (G. 4), belo (Selti 22), ddbddddbd (Amh. 6), dabulbul (Amh. 17), ddmmdrd (G. Amh. 25), gamdg-

gdmd-m (Gurage 2), gannd (Ar. 34), hams (G. 11). hamdyd (G. 29), har (Te. 26), haw (G. 33), hawd (Amh. 30), kacabd (G. 23), lbt (Amh. Tna. 18), lahawd (G. 15), lawd

(Ar. 16), madda (Ar. 1), madddu (Akk. 1), m&dad (Hebr. 1), nafara (Ar. 28), nin (Hebr. 14), nin-hin (Soq. 14), td-nissa (Amh. 21), *ndid: (Hebr. 21), nds:a (G. 21), qdba (Te. 32), qgal (Ethiopic 24), qdla (Ar. 24), q6l (Hebr. 24), qdr (Gurage 31), qarn (Sem. 31), sihr (Ar. 10), *kidd (Hebr. 13), sd (Ugaritic 13),

ah.ar (Hebr. 10),

8akd (Ar. 12), tam (Hebr. 3), tamma (Ar. 3), taman (Ar. 8), tanna (Ar. 9), woro (Te. 27), waffd (Ar. 7), 'a-wfdyd (G. 7).

CUSHITIC ROOTS

balla'a (Darasa 22), wir (Bedja 36).

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Los ANGELES



Semitic and Egyptian Comparisons

Documents

Transcript of Semitic and Egyptian Comparisons