Indo-European and Semitic Two-Way Traffi

Archaism and Innovation in the Semitic Languages
Selected Papers
Edited by
Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala & Wilfred G. E. Watson
CNERU – DTR
__________________________________
Oriens Academic
CNERU – DTR
Series Semitica Antiqva
1
Chief Editors
Wilfred G. E. Watson • Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala
Advisory Board
Riccardo Contini • Federico Corriente • Olga Kapeliuk
Gregorio del Olmo • Andrzej Zaborski
Archaism and Innovation in the Semitic Languages
Selected Papers
Edited by
Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala & Wilfred G. E. Watson

Archaism and Innovation in the Semitic Languages. Selected Papers. Edited by Juan Pedro
Monferrer-Sala & Wilfred G. E. Watson. – Cordoba : CNERU (Cordoba Near Eastern
Research Unit) – DTR (Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University UK) –
Oriens Academic, 2013
(Series Semitica Antiqva ; vol. 1)
ISBN : 978-84-695-7829-2
Publisher: Oriens Academic – CNERU (University of Cordoba) – DTR (Durham

University)
Cordoba Near Eastern Research Unit

Facultad de Filosofía y Letras Universidad de Córdoba
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Cover design by Manuel Marcos Aldón & Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala
ISBN: 978-84-695-7829-2
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CONTENTS
Preface ........................................................................................... vii
BULAKH, Maria
The diachronic background of the verbs wīda and ġerōb ‘to know’ in
Mehri ..................................................................................................... 1
CORRIENTE, Federico
Again on the classification of South-Semitic ................................................ 33
KALININ, Maksim & Sergey LOESOV
Encoding of the Direct Object throughout the History of Aramaic
(Part 1) ................................................................................................. 45
KAPELIUK, Olga
Innovation within Archaism in Modern Ethio-Semitic .................................. 59
MARTÍNEZ DELGADO, José
On the phonology of Hebrew in Alandalus as reflected by the
adaptation of Arabic grammar and poetry ................................................... 73
MILITAREV, Alexander
The importance of external lexical comparison for today’s
comparative Semitics and the main problems and immediate tasks of
Afrasian comparative linguistics ............................................................... 87
MONFERRER-SALA, Juan Pedro
A king amongst kings: On the term mlk in the context of the North
Arabian Aramaic inscriptions .................................................................... 93
OLMO LETE, Gregorio del
The Linguistic Continuum of Syria-Palestine in the Late II
Millennium BC. Retention and Innovation ............................................... 113
RÍO SÁNCHEZ, Francisco del
Influences of Aramaic on dialectal Arabic ................................................. 129
TAKÁCS, Gábor
Archaisms and innovations in the Semitic consonantal inventory .................. 137
VERNET, Eulalia
New considerations on the historical existence of a West Semitic
‘yaqattal’ form ..................................................................................... 145
WATSON, Wilfred G. E.
Indo-European and Semitic: Two-way Traffic ........................................... 163
ZABORSKI, Andrzej
Towards a reconstruction of verbal derivation in Afroasiatic/
Hamitosemitic: R3/D3 or iqtalla Class .................................................... 195
Indo-European and Semitic: Two-way Traffic
Wilfred G. E. Watson
Northumberland, Great Britain
Introduction
It is generally accepted that Semitic words were borrowed by Indo-European

languages, notably by Hittite and Greek and similarly, that Akkadian, Aramaic,
Hebrew, Phoenician, Syriac and Ugaritic have loanwords from Indo-European.
This is a preliminary attempt to determine the scale and direction of borrowing
by answering the following three questions: How can we determine which words
in Greek are loans from Semitic? To what extent can it be said that there are
Greek loanwords in the various Semitic languages? Which words have been
borrowed from a completely different language group? The survey includes a
number of previously unnoticed Indo-European–Semitic equivalents, with
particular emphasis on classical Greek.
The interaction between the Semitic and Indo-European languages has been
studied for many years, but only a brief survey is required here since the main
focus of this paper is how to determine the direction of borrowing or influence
between the two families.1 One of the first studies was by Bérard,2 followed
several years later by Masson, on the earliest Semitic loanwords in Greek.3 Other
studies have been published, too many to list here.4 Chantraine’s Dictionnaire5
1
I wish to thank Professor Juan Pedro Monferrer Sala and his team for inviting me to the
fifth meeting of the International Association for Comparative Semitics, held in Córdoba
(Spain) in June, 2012, and in particular for their efficient organisation and generous
hospitality.
2
Victor Bérard, Les Phéniciens et l'Odyssée, 2 vols, Paris: Armand Colin, 1902-1903.
3
Emilia Masson, Recherches sur les plus ancient emprunts sémitiques en grec, «Études et
commentaires» 58, Paris: Librairie C. Klincksieck, 1967. My thanks to Sergio Ribichini
(Rome) for supplying me with this book. Also to Riccardo Contini (Naples), who suggested
additional bibliography, to Juan Pablo Vita (Madrid), who helped with articles on Greek
words and Nicolas Wyatt (London), who lent me Bérard’s weighty tomes.
4
For example, Heinrich Zimmern, Akkadische Fremdwörter als Beweis für babylonischen
Kultureinfluss, Leipzig: J. C. Heinrichs’schen Buchhandlung, 1917, which also considered
loans to and from Greek. See also Günther Neumann, ‘Lehnwörter als Indizien für
Kulturkontakte. Essay zur Geschichte der frühgriechischen Sprache’, in Eva A. Braun-
Holzinger & Hartmut Matthäus (eds), Die nahöstlichen Kulturen und Griechenland an der Wende
vom 2. zum 1. Jahrtausend v.Chr, Möhnesee: Bibliopolis, 2002, pp. 39-45.
takes Semitic borrowings into account and, most recently, the etymological
dictionary of Classical Greek by Beekes6 includes many, but not all possible
references to the Semitic languages in respect of Greek.7
Unfortunately, for several words there is no agreement on the direction of
borrowing. A prime example is Greek μᾶζα ‘barley-cake’, which many scholars
derive from μάσσω ‘to knead (dough)’, etymologically from Indo-European
*menk- or *meh2ǵ-, ‘to knead’.8 In fact Beekes states that μᾶζα is ‘[n]ot a Semitic
loan word’ adding: ‘Hebr. maṣṣāh ‘unsoured bread’ is rather from Greek’.9 Instead,
Griffith argues that Greek μᾶζa is not from μάσσω ‘to knead’ but a loan from
Hebrew maṣṣāh, ‘type of flat bread, baked quickly from barley meal and water,
with unleavened dough’.10 The issue remains undecided. For other words, there
are plausible etymologies from both Semitic and Indo-European, making it
difficult to establish which is correct. For instance, Greek Σειρήν (variant Σιρήν),
‘Siren’, may derive from Greek σειρά ‘cord, rope, lasso’ and mean ‘Ensnarer’11 or
else it may come from Common Semitic *šīr, ‘to sing’ and mean ‘(Captivating)
Songstress’.12 Here some attempt is made at setting out criteria to settle such
issues, although they are no more than guidelines, mostly using examples that
had not been identified previously.
1. Known Loans
Many Semitic words have been borrowed by Greek, in translation, most notably
the names of the signs of the zodiac,13 since the Greeks depended on the
5
Pierre Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Histoire des mots, Paris:
Librairie C. Klincksieck, 1968-1980.
6
Robert Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, 2 vols, «Indo-European Etymological
Dictionary Series» 10, Leiden: Brill, 2010.
7
For a brief history of research up to and including Michael C. Astour, Hellenosemitica: an
ethnic and cultural study in West Semitic impact on Mycenaean Greece, with a foreword by Cyrus
H. Gordon, Leiden: Brill, 1965, see E. Masson, Recherches sur les plus ancient emprunts
sémitiques en grec, pp. 11-18. She concludes (p. 113): ‘Les plus anciens emprunts sémitiques
en grec sont essentiellement des vocables qui désignent des objets matériels, utilisés dans
la vie quotidienne : tissus et vêtements, ingrédients destinés à l’alimentation, récipients,
etc.’
8
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 910.
9
10
Robert Drew Griffith, ‘Maza, “Barley-Cake”’, Glotta 83 (2007), pp. 83-88.
11
12
Heinrich Lewy, Die semitischen Fremdwörter im Griechischen, Berlin: R. Gaertners
Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1895, p. 205.
13
See most recently, L. Bobrova & Alexander Militarev, ‘From Mesopotamia to Greece: to the
Origin of Semitic and Greek Star Names’, in Hannes D. Galter (ed.), Die Rolle der Astronomie in
164
Indo-European and Semitic: Two-way traffic
Babylonians for astronomy. An example is ‘Scorpion’, Greek Σκορπίος, which is a

translation of Akkadian zuqāqīpu, ‘scorpion’, the name of a constellation.
However, here we are concerned with loanwords rather than calques. It is
generally recognised that the Greek language borrowed a number of Semitic
words, even quite early. In her study,14 Masson accepted some 36 as certain, 12 as
possible and rejected about 10 others. It is also true that Indo-European words
have been borrowed by the Semitic languages, as noted in the various
dictionaries. A recent study has looked at several Anatolian loanwords in
Akkadian.15 Furthermore, it is recognised that a number of Greek words found
their way into Aramaic and Syriac, many in the form of transliterations.16
2. Criteria to determine the presence of loans
The two main problems are to establish whether a word has been borrowed and
then to determine the direction of borrowing.17 For this, a set of criteria needs to
be established and then applied to the words under scrutiny. The criteria
proposed here are as follows:
1. A word with a variety of spellings is probably a loanword.

2. A word with no clear etymology may be a loan.
3. A clear etymology helps to determine the direction of borrowing.
In addition, certain lesser criteria need to be applied in respect of etymology, as

follows:
4. The simplest explanation for an etymology is probably the most likely.

5. Onomatopoeia is the last resort.
6. Semantic shift, if invoked, should not be forced.
den Kulturen Mesopotamiens, «Grazer Morgenländische Studien» 3, Graz: R. M. Druck- und

Verlagsgeselleschaft m.b.H, 1993, pp. 307-329.
14
E. Masson, Recherches sur les plus ancient emprunts sémitiques en grec.
15
Gerrit Dercksen, ‘On Anatolian Loanwords in Akkadian Texts from Kültepe’, Zeitschrift für
die Assyriologie 97 (2007), pp. 26-46; see also Wilfred G. E. Watson, ‘A Hittite Loanword in
Ugaritic?’, Ugarit-Forschungen 36 (2004), pp. 533-538; ‘Some Akkadian and Hittite
equivalences’, Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires 2008/4, pp. 95-96 and ‘More
Akkadian and Hittite equivalences’, Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires 2009/2, pp.
27-28.
16
Discussed below (in section 8).
17
Loans from a third language are discussed in section 4, below.
165
In the following paragraphs these criteria are illustrated by clear examples.
2.1. A word with a variety of spellings is probably a loanword
Variation in spelling may indicate that a word does not belong to the inherited
lexicon. An example is Greek κασᾶς ‘horse-cloth’ which also appears as κασῆς and
κάσσος.18 As Masson noted, in respect of κασᾶς: ‘C’est un exemple typique
d’emprunt qui n’a pas réussi à s’acclimatiser en grec d’une manière definitive et
présente par conséquence des flottements dans la forme’.19 As generally accepted,
it was borrowed from Semitic terms derived from the verb KSY, ‘to cover’,20 such
as Akkadian kusītu, ‘robe’.21 More specifically, note Akkadiankussû, ‘saddle’,22
which matches the meaning in Greek: ‘Le mot κασᾶς désigne essentiellement la
couverture de cheval (en peau ou en fourrure)’.23 Several other examples can be
listed, as follows.
2.1.1. Akkadian elmeštu, elmeru, elmeltu, elmessu, ‘a grass’,24 has no cognates. It can
be compared to Greek ἒλυμος ‘millet’.25 As Chantraine notes: ‘Comme
beaucoup de noms des plantes, sans étymologie’.26
2.1.2. Akkadian gulēnu, gulīnu, gulānu, ‘an over-garment’,27 has equivalents in
other Semitic languages, e.g. Hebrew gelōm, ‘wrap’,28 and Aramaic and Syriac
18
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 653.
19
E. Masson, Recherches sur les plus ancient emprunts sémitiques en grec, p. 22.
20
Eulália Vernet i Pons, Origen etimològic dels verbs làmed-he de l’hebreu masorètic: Un estudi sobre
la formació de les arrels verbals en semític, «Publicacions de la Societat Catalana d’Estudis
Hebraics» 2, Barcelona: Societat Catalana d’Estudis Hebraics, 2011, pp. 210-211, further
suggests that PS *kasiy- ‘to cover’ is from Afro-Asiatic **kuc- ‘robe’.
21
Jeremy Black, Andrew George & Nicholas Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian,
«SANTAG Arbeiten und Untersuchungen zur Keilschriftkunde» 5, Wiesbaden: Otto
Harrassowitz, 20002, p. 170a.
22
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 170 (literally,
‘chair’) and perhaps Ugaritic ksn, ‘saddle pad’, on which cf. Wilfred G. E. Watson, ‘Semitic
and Non-Semitic Terms for Horse-Trappings in Ugaritic’, in G. del Olmo Lete (ed.),
Proceedings of the III Symposium on Comparative Semitics, Turin 10/3-4/2008, Aula Orientalis 29
(2011), p. 165, with discussion.
23
E. Masson, Recherches sur les plus ancient emprunts sémitiques en grec, p. 23.
24
A. Leo Oppenheim et al. (eds), The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University
of Chicago, Chicago IL: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1958, IV p. 107a.
(Henceforth CAD for the several volumes).
25
26
P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, p. 343.
27
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 96a.
166
gelī/aimā, ‘cloak, mantle, wrapper’,29 but is without an etymology. Greek

γλαυνός [m.], ‘a kind of chiton’,30 may be related, although its etymology is
also unknown.
2.1.3. Semitic words for ‘arrow’ have a range of spellings: Ugaritic ḥẓ, ḥd and ḫẓ,
‘arrow’,31 Akkadian ūṣu, uṣṣu, ‘arrow(head)’,32 Hebrew ḥēṣ, ‘arrow’,33 Aramaic ḥṭ,
‘arrow’ and Phoenician ḥṣ, ‘arrow’,34 Arabic ḥaẓwat, ‘a small arrow’35 and
Ethiopic ḥaṣṣ, ‘arrow’.36 Here, I tentatively suggest that it can be compared
with Greek ἰός ‘arrow’, which is from Indo-European *(H)isu, Sanskrit íṣu-.37
2.1.4. Akkadian laqlaqqu, raqraqqu, laqalaqa, raqraqqu, ‘stork’,38 is clearly a
loanword. Here, I propose that it may have been borrowed from Indo-
European via Greek λóκαλος ‘stork’,39 as indicated by the equivalents laglagi,
28
Ludwig Koehler & Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament
(translated and edited under the supervision of Mervin E. J. Richardson), Leiden: Brill,
1994, I, pp. 192-193.
29
Michael Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University
Press – Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2002, p. 287b; Carl Brockelmann, Lexicon
Syriacum, Berlin: Reuther & Reichard – Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1895, p. 237.
30
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 275, or ‘espèce de tunique’ in P. Chantraine,
Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, p. 226.
31
G. del Olmo Lete & J. Sanmartín, A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic
Tradition, I, p. 382; see Josef Tropper, Ugaritische Grammatik, «Alter Orient und Altes
Testament» 273, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2000, p. 115.
32
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 428b.
33
L. Koehler & W. Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1994, I, p.
342.
34
Jean Hoftijzer & Karel Jongeling, Dictionary of the North-West Semitic Inscriptions, with
appendices by R. C. Steiner, A. Mosak Moshavi and B. Porten, «Handbuch der Orientalistik»
I/21, 2 vols, Leiden – New York: Brill, 1995, I, p. 397.
35
Edward William Lane, Al-Qamūsu: an Arabic-English Lexicon, London – Edinburgh: Williams
and Norgate, 1863-1893, p. 596.
36
Wolf Leslau, Concise Dictionary of Ge’ez (Classical Ethiopic), Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz 1989,
p. 247.
37
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 595. This is preferable to the comparison of
the Semitic words with Greek ὑσσος ‘javelin’, as mentioned in R. Beekes, Etymological
Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1538.
38
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 178b. Borrowed as
Arabic laqlaq-, laqlāq-, ‘stork’; cf. Hans Wehr, edited by J. Milton Cowan, A Dictionary of
Modern Written Arabic, Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1971, p. 874b. See also Leonid Kogan &
Alexander Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. II, Animal Names, «Alter Orient und
Altes Testament» 278/2, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2005, p. 199, No. 146.
39
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 871, but with no mention of Akkadian. There
is no reference to Greek in Leonid Kogan & Alexander Militarev, Semitic Etymological
Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 199, No. 146, nor is there mention of Semitic equivalents in R. Beekes,
Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 871.
167
laqlaqi and lakvi in Georgian and lägläg in East Caucasian, all also meaning
‘stork’.40
2.1.5. Akkadian lipium, lipû(m), līpum, lēpu, ‘adipose tissue, (rendered) fat, tallow’,41
has no etymology and is isolated in Semitic. It may have been borrowed from
Greek λίπα ‘fat, gleaming’, which derives from Indo-European *leip-, ‘to
stick’.42
2.1.6. Akkadian pīlu, pēlu, pūlu, ‘limestone’,43 also has no cognates. Its nearest
equivalent is Greek πηλóς ‘loam, clay, mud, dung, bog’, which also has no
etymology.44
2.1.7. Akkadian tarbu’(t)u(m), turbu’/ttu, tur(u)bu, turba’u, tarbû, tarbūtu, ‘dust
(storm)’,45 of unknown origin, evokes Greek τύρβη [f.], ‘confusion, noise,
tumult’.46
2.1.8. Akkadian tibbuttum, timbuttu/ūtu, ti(b)buttu/ūtu, tambūtu, timbu’u, tibu’u,
‘drum’,47 clearly corresponds to Greek τύμπανον ‘kettledrum, hand drum’.48
2.1.9. Akkadian urnīgu, urningu, urnīqu, ḫurnīqu, ‘crane’,49 and Arabic ğirnīq-,
ğurnūq-, ğurnayq-, ‘eagle’,50 exhibit a variety of spellings51 indicating a
loanword. Kogan and Militarev comment: ‘Could we be dealing with a
borrowing from an Indo-European source independently into Akk[adian] and
Arab[ic]?’.52 Possibly this corresponds to Greek γέρανος (Mycenaean ke-re-na-
i), ‘crane’, which has a good Indo-European etymology.53
40
Cited in R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 871.
41
A. Leo Oppenheim (ed.), CAD IX, 1973, p. 102
42
43
Martha T. Roth et al. (eds), CAD XII, pp. 380-382.
44
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1186; P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique
de la langue grecque, p. 896.
45
46
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1520. ‘Le radical τυρβ- n’a pas un aspect
indo-européen tant à cause du vocalisme que du b final’, according to P. Chantraine,
Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, p. 1146, which may suggest that both sets
come from a third (unknown) language.
47
48
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1518, with discussion, although there is no
reference to Akkadian there. This is preferable to comparison with Hebrew top, Aramaic
tuppa, ‘drum’, as in E. Masson, Recherches sur les plus ancient emprunts sémitiques en grec, pp.
94-95.
49
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 426.
50
E. W. Lane, Al-Qamūsu: an Arabic-English Lexicon, p. 2253.
51
L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. II, pp. 131-132, No. 91, although
with no reference to Greek.
52
L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 132.
53
168
2.1.10. Greek σινίον, σεννίον, κόσκιον ‘sieve’ has various spellings but no
etymology.54 I propose that it may be a loan from Semitic, as exemplified by
Syriac snwn, ‘membrane’55 and Akkadian sannu, ‘(a fishing net)’.56 Possibly, the
root in Semitic is *SNN, ‘to filter’, as in Syriac snn, ‘to percolate, strain’.57
2.2. A word with no clear etymology may be a loan
2.2.1. Greek ἂκολος ‘bit, morsel’ has no etymology and is ‘[p]ossibly of foreign
origin’.58 Evidently it can be explained by Common Semitic ’KL, ‘to eat’, from
which are derived Akkadian akalu, ‘bread, food, etc.’,59 Ugaritic akl, ‘food’,60
Hebrew ’okel, ‘food’,61 Arabic ’ukla, ‘bite, morsel’,62 etc.
2.2.2. Greek κόμη [f.], ‘hair’, has an uncertain etymology.63 Instead, Akkadian
qimmatu(m), ‘tuft, lock (of hair)’,64 is from q/kamāmu, ‘to stand up, to dress
(hair)’.65 It is possible, therefore, that the Greek word may be a loan. It is not
clear whether Aramaic qwmy [f.], ‘a gentile hair style’, is also Semitic or was
borrowed from Greek.
2.2.3. Greek πέλεκυς [m.], ‘axe, double axe, hatchet’ may come from quasi-Proto-
Indo-European *peleku-,66 but this seems somewhat hypothetical. Both Greek
54
55
C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 423.
56
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 316b; Erica Reiner
et al. (eds), CAD XV, p. 147b. Cf. also Egyptian šnw, ‘net’, in Leonard H. Lesko, A Dictionary of
Late Egyptian, Providence: B. C. Scribe Publications, II, 2004, p. 126; ‘Netz’, in Adolf Erman &
Hermann Grapow, Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1926-1963,
Vol. 4, p. 508.8-9.
57
58
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 53. It is translated ‘bouchée’ by P. Chantraine,
Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, p. 48, who mentions but rejects an explanation
from Sanskrit aśnᾱti, ‘to eat’.
59
60
Tradition, I, p. 44.
61
47a.
62
H. Wehr, edited by J. M. Cowan, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, p. 22a. The root may
be Hamito-Semitic (Afro-Asiatic): cf. Vladimir E. Orel & Olga V. Stolbova, Hamito-Semitic
Etymological Dictionary. Materials for a Reconstruction, «Handbuch der Orientalistik» I/18,
Leiden: Brill, 1995, p. 37, §148.
63
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, pp. 743-744.
64
65
M. T. Roth et al. (eds), CAD XII, pp. 76a, 252-254.
66
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, pp. 1166-1167.
169
πέλεκυς and Skr. paraśu had been considered as borrowed from Akkadian
pilaqqu (or pilakku), but since that word does not mean ‘axe’ but ‘spindle’,67 this
proposal is now acknowledged as incorrect.68 Instead, as a new suggestion, I
propose that it is a loan from Aramaic/Syriac plq [m.], ‘axe’, which clearly
derives from Aramaic plq, ‘to split, smash’.69 Confirmation comes from Arabic
flq, ‘he split, clave it’.70
2.2.4. Greek σελις ‘crossbeam of a building or ship, etc.’, has no etymology71 but I
propose that it is clearly from Semitic. It is the term for ‘rib’ used
metaphorically for a beam or strut. Semitic equivalents include Akkadian ṣēlu,
‘rib; side of ship’,72 Hebrew ṣēlāc, ‘rib; side; supporting beam’,73 Ugaritic ṣlc,
‘rib’.74 The word was also borrowed as Egyptian drct, ‘plank’.75
2.2.5. Greek σηκός (var. σακός), ‘enclosure, fence, pen, stable, enclosed sacred
space’,76 has no clear etymology.77 It may be a loan from Hebrew śok,
enclosure’,78 which derives from Hebrew skk, ‘to shut off as protection, to
make inaccessible’,79 which has cognates in Old South Arabic swk, ‘to enclose,
fence in’,80 and Akkadian sakāku, ‘to block’.81
67
68
See E. Masson, Recherches sur les plus ancient emprunts sémitiques en grec, p. 117.
69
M. Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, p. 914a;
70
71
72
73
L. Koehler & W. Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1996, III,
p. 1030.
74
Tradition, II, p. 783. Note also Geez ṣəlle, ṣəlla, ‘beam’ cited in L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic
Etymological Dictionary, Vol. I, pp. 243-244, No. 272, as well as other Semitic languages,
although neither Greek nor Egyptian (see next note) is mentioned there.
75
James Hoch, Semitic Words in Egyptian Texts of the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period,
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994, p. 394, §592.
76
77
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1322; P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique
de la langue grecque, p. 998.
78
p. 1326a.
79
L. Koehler & W. Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1995, II,
p. 754a.
80
Joan Copeland Biella, Dictionary of Old South Arabic. Sabaean Dialect, «Harvard Semitic
Studies» 25, Chico CA: Scholars Press, 1982, p. 503.
81
170
2.2.6. Greek σίσαρον ‘parsnip’,82 is a ‘technical word without etymology’,83 so it

cannot be excluded that it may be a loan from Akkadian šušrātu, uššurātu,
plural only, ‘(a type of) leek’.84 Both are terms for vegetables.
2.2.7. Akkadian ma’išu, ‘a breed of sheep’,85 is of unknown origin,86 whereas Hittite
(SÍG)
maišta-, ‘fibre, flock or strand of wool’,87 has a good Indo-European
derivation. It is likely, therefore, that the Akkadian word is a loan.
2.3. A clear etymology determines the direction of borrowing
If a word has a well-established etymology in Semitic, but seems to occur in Indo-

European, then it can only be a loanword in that language. Similarly, words with
a good Indo-European etymology belong to the inherited lexicon, but may have
been borrowed by Semitic. This can be illustrated by a number of examples from
both sets.
2.3.1. Akkadian dūru, ‘lance’,88 is probably a loan from Indo-European, possibly via
Greek δόρυ ‘wood, tree-(trunk), spear’, from Indo-European *doru-, ‘tree,
wood’,89 which in turn derives from Hittite tāru, ‘wood’, and comes from
Proto-Indo-European *dóru-.90
2.3.2. Akkadian tīlu, ‘a fish’,91 has an equivalent in Greek τίλων, ‘a fish’, the name
of a fish in the Thracian Sea Prasias.92 The inner-Greek derivation, from τίλος
‘thin stool, diarrhoea’, may indicate a loan in Akkadian, possibly via an Indo-
European language.
82
83
84
85
M. T. Roth (ed.), CAD X/1, p. 116b.
86
Wolfram von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1972, II, p.
586b.
87
Alwin Kloekhorst, Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, «Leiden Indo-
European Etymological Dictionary Series» 5, Leiden: Brill, 2008, p. 543; Hans G. Güterbock
et al. (eds), The Hittite Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Chicago IL:
The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2006, Š/2, p. 119.
88
89
90
A. Kloekhorst, Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, pp. 849-850.
91
M. T. Roth (ed.), CAD XVI, p. 416a.
92
171
2.3.3. Ugaritic yḥmr, ‘roebuck’,93 Hebrew yaḥmūr, ‘roebuck; a species of deer,

fallow-deer’,94 Aramaic and Syriac yaḥmūrā, ‘antelope’,95 and Arabic yaḥmūr,
‘espèce d’antilope’,96 have no etymology. Perhaps, these words may
correspond to Greek χίμαιρα ‘goat’, with the later derived form χίμαρος ‘goat’,
which is from Indo-European *ġhei-m-, ‘winter, snow’.97
2.3.4. Greek ἀβαλῆ ‘useless, foolish’,98 may be from Hebrew hebel, ‘breath,
vanity’,99 Aramaic and Syriac hbl, ‘vapour, vanity’.100
2.3.5. Greek ἀρκάνη ‘thread with which the warp is intertwined, when they are
setting it up in the loom’ is ‘Probably a loanword, perhaps Pre-Greek’.101
Hebrew ’rg, ‘to weave’ and ’ereg, ‘weaver’s bobbin’, as well as Punic ’rg,
‘weaver’,102 may indicate an underlying root *’rg, ‘to weave’,103 which seems to
be Afro-Asiatic.104
2.3.6. Greek κασύτας ‘mustard plant’105 is borrowed from Akkadian kasûtu,
‘mustard plant’,106 which in turn is derived from Akkadian kasū, ‘mustard’.107
2.3.7. Greek ὄλπη [f.], ‘oil flask’,108 seems to be Semitic: cf. Akkadian ulbû (or ulpû),
‘a container’,109 Arabic culbatun, ‘a milking-vessel of skin or wood, like a large
93
Tradition, II, p. 960.
94
407.
95
Michael Sokoloff, Dictionary of the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, Ramat
Gan: Bar Ilan University Press, 1990, p. 573b; C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 241.
96
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1634. For references and further equivalents
see L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. II, pp. 318-319, No. 249,
although Greek is not mentioned there.
97
Realised as Hittite gimm-, ‘winter’; cf. A. Kloekhorst, Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite
Inherited Lexicon, pp. 475-476.
98
99
L. Koehler & W. Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1994, I,
pp. 236-237.
100
M. Sokoloff, Dictionary of the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, p. 158b; C.
Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 170.
101
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 132; cf. also ἄρκυς “net” (p. 133).
102
J. Hoftijzer & K. Jongeling, Dictionary of the North-West Semitic Inscriptions, I, pp. 102-103.
103
For Semitic g = Greek κ see Greek κάμηλος = Hebrew gāmāl, ‘camel’ and Greek παλλακή =
Hebrew plgš, ‘concubine’, both well-known examples.
104
See V. E. Orel & O. V. Stolbova, Hamito-Semitic Etymological Dictionary. Materials for a
Reconstruction, p. 38, §152.
105
106
107
108
Not connected with ἔλπος ‘olive oil’; instead, ‘ὄλπη indicates a bottle, and therefore has
nothing to do with the word for “oil, fat”’ - R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p.
416, II, p. 1073.
172
bowl’110 and modern Arabic culba, ‘box, case, can’111 and cf. Aramaic cwlb’ [f.],
‘sack’.112
2.3.8. Greek σίνᾱπι, ‘mustard, mustard plaster’ (Pre-Greek synāpV) derives from
Greek νᾶπυ ‘mustard’113 and was borrowed by Akkadian sanapu, ‘a plant’,
possibly mustard.114
2.3.9. Greek σαργάνη [f.], ‘plaited basket’ is an ‘instrument term without
etymology’.115 However, a clear etymology can be supplied by several Semitic
languages: Hebrew śrg (hitp.), ‘to be woven, braided together’,116 Aramaic and
Syriac srg, ‘to plait’,117 Syriac sārāg, ‘weaver, net-plaiter’118 and Ethiopic
sargawa, ‘to plait, comb’.119 Perhaps it was borrowed back from Greek as Syriac
srīgāh, ‘a basket’.120
2.3.10. Greek στορύνη [f.], ‘lancet’,121 has no etymology but can be explained by
Syriac sṭwr [m.], ‘large chef’s knife’;122 cf. Syriac sṭr, ‘to slice’.123
109
M. T. Roth (ed.), CAD XX, p. 72b.
110
111
H. Wehr, edited by J. M. Cowan, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, p. 633.
112
113
114
As noted in W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, II, p. 1020b.
115
Also as ταργάναι πλοκαί, ‘twinings’. According to Beekes, ‘The variation σ-/τ- is Pre-Greek
… and points to a pre-form *tyarg-an-’ (R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1308).
Instead, it may simply be a loanword, as suggested in P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire
étymologique de la langue grecque, p. 988.
116
p. 1353b.
117
C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 496; M. Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian
Aramaic, p. 830a; Marcus Jastrow, Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi
and the Midrashic Literature, London: Luzac & Co – New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1903, p.
1023.
118
M. Jastrow, Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi and the Midrashic
Literature, p. 1023.
119
Christian Friedrich Augustus Dillmann, Lexicon linguae aethiopicae cum indice latino, Leipzig:
T. O. Wiegel, 1865, p. 348.
120
C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 496, with a reference to σαργάνη. See already
Francesco Aspesi, ‘Conferme semitiche al confronto sarcina – σαργάνη’, La Parola del Passato
195 (1980), pp. 434-435.
121
122
123
C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 468. For North-West Semitic sṭr, to cut’, cf. J. Hoftijzer
& K. Jongeling, Dictionary of the North-West Semitic Inscriptions, II, p. 783.
173
2.4. The simplest explanation for an etymology is probably the most likely
A convoluted explanation for the derivation of a word seems less convincing than
one that is simple. An example is provided by Greek ἀνία ‘grief, distress’, for
which three possible, but complex etymologies have been proposed:
1. *an-is-yā derives from *ṇ-is-io, which is from Sanskrit iṣ-, ‘to desire’
2. *ṇ-(h1)is(h2)-iyo- is from *h1eis(h2)-, ‘to refresh, etc.’
3. Pre-Greek *anihja is from *n-His-ih2, a collective form.124
Instead, it is less complicated to suggest that the word was borrowed from
Semitic, either from Hebrew ’aniyyāh, ‘mourning’125 or from Syriac ’wnh,
‘mourning, grief’.126 Similarly, Greek τᾶλις, τᾶλιδος ‘young, nubile girl, bride’, has
been considered an Aeolic form of τῆλις ‘fenugreek’,127 which seems unlikely.
Instead, it is a loan from Aramaic ṭlyh, ṭlyt’, ‘young girl’,128 which has a good Afro-
Asiatic etymology, namely *ṭal-, ‘to give birth’,129 and many cognates.130
2.5. Onomatopoeia is the last resort
Often, in the absence of other explanations, scholars resort to onomatopoeia for

words of unknown derivation. While this applies in some cases,131 it should not be
124
With the variants ἀνῑα, ἀνῐα and ἀνῐη. It is neither from *h2eis-, ‘to search’ nor from
Sanskrit ámīvā, ‘disease, pain’; see R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 106.
125
71b.
126
C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p, 7. Also Ugaritic ’ny, ‘to sigh, groan’; cf. G. del Olmo
Lete & J. Sanmartín, A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition, I, p. 85,
and Old South Arabic ’ny, ‘to mourn’, J. C. Biella, Dictionary of Old South Arabic. Sabaean
Dialect, p. 22.
127
128
M. Sokoloff, Dictionary of the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, p. 225b; M.
Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, p. 504b.
129
V. E. Orel & O. V. Stolbova, Hamito-Semitic Etymological Dictionary. Materials for a
Reconstruction, p. 515, §2457.
130
See also V. E. Orel & O. V. Stolbova, Hamito-Semitic Etymological Dictionary. Materials for a
Reconstruction, p. 515, §2458 and L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol.
II, pp. 297-299, No. 232; neither work mentions Greek.
131
For example, Greek γαργαρεών ‘uvula, trachea’ (R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I,
p. 261) is from the onomatopoeic verb γαργαρίζω ‘to gargle’. This is clearly like Common
Semitic *gwar(gw)ar(-at)-, ‘gullet’, as reconstructed in L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic
Etymological Dictionary, Vol. I, pp. 96-98, No. 102. E.g. Hebrew gargārôt, ‘pharynx, neck’, L.
174
used as an indiscriminate solution. For example, Hebrew šršrt, ‘chain’ has been
termed an ‘onomatopoeic, primary noun’.132 It has cognates in Ugaritic ššrt,
‘(gold) chain’,133 Akkadian šeršerratu(m), šeršerretu, šaršarratu(m), ‘chain, set of
rings’,134 etc. Rather than invoking onomatopoeia, perhaps all these Semitic terms
may be explained by the Indo-European verb *ser-, ‘to string together’.135
2.6 Semantic shift, if invoked, should not be forced
Occasionally, in order to establish an etymology, a shift of meaning is presumed

which in some cases seems implausible. It is better to avoid such tenuous
semantic changes, particularly when a good alternative is available. An example
is provided by the set Akkadian pilaqqu(m), pilakku(m), ‘spindle’,136 Ugaritic plk,
‘spindle’,137 Hebrew pelek, ‘spindle’,138 Phoenician plk, ‘spindle’139 and Arabic
falkatun, ‘whirl (of a spindle)’.140 No Semitic root *plk with the requisite meaning is
known and Arabic falaka, ‘it became round [of a girl’s breast]’,141 cited as a
possible cognate for Hebrew,142 seems forced. It seems preferable to refer to
Koehler & W. Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1994, I, p.
201, although the similarity between Semitic and Greek words has not been noticed before.
132
L. Koehler & W. Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1996, IV,
p. 1661.
133
134
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 368 Also Wolfram
von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1981, III, p. 1218a; M. T.
Roth (ed.), CAD XVII/2, pp. 320b, 321b.
135
For this verb see R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 392, under εἴρω ‘to string,
attach’.
136
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 274; cf. W. von
Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, II, p. 863.
137
138
p. 933a.
139
J. Hoftijzer & K. Jongeling, Dictionary of the North-West Semitic Inscriptions, II, p. 915.
140
E. W. Lane, Al-Qamūsu: an Arabic-English Lexicon, p. 2444. The Arabic word may be a late loan.
141
142
p. 933a.
175
Greek πλέκω ‘to braid, knit, wind, twine’, which is from Indo-European *pleḱ-, ‘to
twine’.143
3. Equivocal Etymologies
In several cases, very similar Semitic and Indo-European words each seem to
have their own independent etymologies. Whether there is any connection
between the sets remains uncertain and coincidence may be a factor.
3.1. ‘calf’
Indo-European: Greek πόρις ‘calf, heifer, metaphorically, ʽyoung girlʼ ’, derives

from Indo-European *por-i-, ‘bull’.144
Common Semitic: *parr-, ‘young of small or large cattle’, is found in Akkadian,
Aramaic, Hebrew, Ugaritic, etc.,145 e.g. Hebrew pārāh, ‘cow’.146
3.2. ‘eagle’
Common Semitic: Akkadian urinnu, ‘eagle’, has a good Semitic equivalent in

Arabic ğaran, ‘aigle’.147
Indo-European: Likewise, both Greek ὂρνεον ‘bird’,148 and Hittite ḫāra(n)-,
‘eagle’,149 are from Indo-European *h3er-n-, ‘bird’.150 These equivalences are
well-known.151
143
However, Beekes comments: ‘The thematic root present πλέκω < *pleḱ-e/o- has no parallels
in other I[ndo]-E[uropean] languages...’ (R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p.
1207).
144
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1222. However, according to P. Chantraine,
Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, pp. 928-929, there is no clear etymology.
145
L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. II, pp. 239-242, No. 181, with
discussion and references to Afro-Asiatic equivalents, but no reference to Greek.
146
p. 964.
147
L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 131, No. 90. See also pp. 58-
59, No. 40, on *carw/y-, *cawr, ‘bird of prey, e.g. Aramaic cr, ‘a type of eagle’, M. Jastrow,
Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi and the Midrashic Literature, p.
1109.
148
149
176
3.3. ‘flea’
Common Semitic: *pVl(y)- ‘kind of insect, louse’,152 e.g. Akkadian uplu, ‘parasite,
louse’.153
Indo-European: *p/bl(o)u-s-, ‘flea’, from which comes Greek ψυλλα ‘flea’.154
3.4. ‘foal’
Common Semitic: *pVlw/y-, ‘yearling foal, young of domestic animals’,155 is

probably from Proto-Semitic *plw/y, ‘to separate, to wean’.
Indo-European *pōlH-, plH-, ‘foal’ is realised as Greek πῶλος ‘young horse, foal,
filly’ and Mycenaean po-ro.156
3.5. ‘rind’
Indo-European: Greek κέλῦφος ‘husk or skin of fruit, skin of an onion, eggshell’.157

Common Semitic: *ḳVlVp(-at)-, ‘scale; shell; (hard) skin; foreskin; peel; bark of
tree’,158 e.g. Akkadian qilpu, ‘rind, skin (of grain, date, onion)’,159 from Akkadian
qalāpu, ‘to peel’.160
150
See Sylvie Vanséveren, Nisili. Manuel de langue hittite, Volume I, «Lettres Orientales» 10,
Leuven: Peeters, 2006, pp. 49, 51, 77, 163. Note also Luwian ḫarrani-, ‘a bird’, cf. A.
Kloekhorst, Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, pp. 301-303.
151
See Benno Landsberger, ‘Einige unerkannt gebliebene oder verkannte Nomina des
Akkadischen. Anzû = “(mythischer) Riesenvodel (Adler)”’, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des
Morgenlandes 57 (1961), pp. 1-23.
152
L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. II, pp. 231-233, No. 175.
153
M. T. Roth (ed.), CAD XX, pp. 180-181.
154
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1671. For Egyptian p3, ‘flea’ see Gábor
Takács, Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian. Volume Two: b–, p–, f–, «Handbuch der
Orientalistik» I/48, Leiden – Boston – Köln: Brill, 2001, pp. 411-412, although Indo-
European equivalents are not mentioned there.
155
L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 230, No. 174.
156
157
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, pp. 670-671. Cf. Greek καλύπτω ‘to cover, hide’
(pp. 628-629).
158
L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. I, pp. 147-148, No. 162; the root
is not found in Ethiopic.
159
160
W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, II, pp. 893b-894a.
177
3.6. ‘to sip’
Common Semitic: Akkadian sarāpu, ‘to sup’,161 ‘to sip’,162 has good Semitic
cognates: Syriac srp, ‘to suck’,163 Arabic šariba, ‘to drink, to sip’.164
Indo-European: Hittite ša/ārab-hi, šarib-, ‘to sip’, derives from Indo-European
*srebh-/*srobh-, *sṛbh-/*sorbh-, ‘schlürfen’.165 Note also Hittite šarupp-, with a
similar meaning.166
4. Words derived from a third language
In other cases, the direction of borrowing is uncertain as neither set of words has
an etymology. In one example, both branches have orthographic variations, so
that it is not clear which language did the borrowing. Greek σιᾱγών, ‘jawbone,
jaw, cheek’, has the alternative forms σιηγών, σεαγών and συαγών. While the
ending –ων occurs in other words for body parts, the element σιᾱγ- is
unexplained.167 Similarly, Akkadian usukku(m), ‘temple, upper cheek’;168 ‘upper
cheek, cheekbone’,169 also occurs as asukku and in Babylonian as sukku. Possibly,
both sets come from a third language. This is in contrast with Greek ἀγορά,
‘gathering, assembly, market, trade, traffic’,170 which is definitely from Sumerian
161
162
M. T. Roth (ed.), CAD XV, p. 172b.
163
C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 500; cf. R. Payne Smith, A Comprehensive Syriac
Dictionary: Founded upon the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903,
p. 392.
164
H. Wehr, edited by J. M. Cowan, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, p. 462. For Geez säräṗä,
‘to sip’ see L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. I, p. CXII.
165
For discussion and references cf. Alexei Kassian & Ilya S. Yakubovich, ‘The Reflexes of IE
Initial Clusters in Hittite’, in V. Shevoroshkin & P. Sidwell (eds), Anatolian Languages, «AHL
Studies in the Science and History of Language» 6; Canberra: Association for the History of
Language, 2002, pp. 10-49, 18-19 (§2.9). See also Hittite šara(p)-, šarip-, ‘to sip’ (Hans G.
Güterbock et al. (eds), The Hittite Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago,
Chicago IL: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2006, Š/2, pp. 243-244; A.
Kloekhorst, Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, p. 731. See already
Francesco Aspesi, ‘Sciroppare e sorbire sorbetti’, Contributi di orientalistica, glottologia e
dialettologia, Milan: Cisalpino-Goliardico, 1986, pp. 53-59.
166
H. G. Güterbock et al. (eds), The Hittite Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of
Chicago, Š/2, p. 299.
167
It is not Indo-European but Pre-Greek (R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1326).
168
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 428b; cf. Wolfram
von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1981, III, p. 1439a.
169
M. T. Roth (ed.), CAD XX, pp. 283-285.
170
178
É.KUR, ‘temple’, via Akkadian ekurru, ‘temple’, as has been demonstrated

recently.171 Several other words in Semitic and Indo-European may have been
borrowed from a third source, as the following list indicates.
4.1. from an Anatolian language
Hebrew sadîn, ‘vest’,172 Aramaic sdyn, ‘sheet (of fine linen)’,173 Syriac sdwn, ‘muslin
wrap or towel’,174 Akkadian saddinu, šaddi(n)nu, ‘a tunic?’,175 Ugaritic sdn, ‘(finely
woven horse) blanket’,176 and Greek σινδών ‘fine woven cloth, fine linen,
garment; blanket’,177 are probably Anatolian in origin.
4.2. from an Indic language
Akkadian lābišu, ‘a plant’,178 and Greek λάβυζος ‘unknown spice plant’,179 both
come from Pāli labuja-, an Indic plant name.180
4.3. from Egyptian
Greek βύνη [f.] ‘malt (for brewing)’181 and Syriac bwn’ [m.], ‘soaked barley’,182 are
from Egyptian bn.t, ‘eine Frucht oder Getreide’, already occurring as early as the
Old Kingdom period.183 Is this a Kulturwort?
171
Francesco Aspesi, ‘Lessico e architettura sacrale: continuazioni semito-indeuropee di un
nome sumerico’, in G. Bernini & V. Brugnatelli, (eds), Atti della 4a giornata di Studi Camito-
semitici e indeuropei, Milan: Edizioni Unicopli, 1987, pp. 15-31.
172
L. Koehler & W. Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1995, II,
p. 743.
173
M. Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, p. 788a.
174
175
176
177
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, pp. 1333-1334; E. Masson, Recherches sur les plus
ancient emprunts sémitiques en grec, pp. 25-26; Paul V. Mankowski, Akkadian Loanwords in
Biblical Hebrew, «Harvard Semitic Studies» 47, Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns, 2000, pp. 109-
110.
178
M. T. Roth (ed.), CAD IX, p. 33b; W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, I, p. 526a.
179
180
For discussion and references see R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 819
(although the Akkadian word is not mentioned).
179
4.4. from Sanskrit
Akkadian karpassu, ‘cotton’,184 Hebrew karpas, ‘linen’185 and Syriac karpas, ‘fine
linen’,186 like Greek κάρπασος ‘a kind of fine flax, cotton’,187 are all from Sanskrit
karpāsa, ‘cotton plant’.
4.5. from an unknown language
Greek σκόροδον ‘garlic, allium sativum’,188 appears as Syriac sqwrdwn, ‘garlic’.189

The Greek word is not Indo-European and is either Pre-Greek or comes from a
language in the Pontic region.190
Greek ταῦρος ‘bull’, has equivalents in several Semitic languages, e.g. Akkadian
šūru, ‘bull’,191 Ugaritic ṯr, ‘bull’,192 Arabic ṯawr-, ‘a bull’.193 As Beekes notes: ‘Comp-
arable forms are found in Semitic… If the similarity is not accidental, there must
181
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 248; P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de
la langue grecque, p. 202a: ‘origine inconnue’.
182
183
Cf. Rainer Hannig, Die Sprache der Pharaonen (2800-950 v.Chr.). Großes Handwörterbuch
Ägyptisch-Deutsch, «Kulturgeschichte der antiken Welt» 64, Mainz: Verlag Philip von
Zabern, 1995, p. 252; A. Erman & H. Grapow, Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, Vol. 1, p.
445.19 and Gábor Takács, Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian. Volume Two: b–, p–, f–,
«Handbuch der Orientalistik» I/48, Leiden – Boston – Köln: Brill, 2001, p. 195 (where Afro-
Asiatic roots are also listed).
184
185
500a.
186
M. Jastrow, Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi and the Midrashic
Literature, p. 673.
187
188
189
190
191
W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, III, p. 1287; M. T. Roth (ed.), CAD XVII/3, p. 369.
192
193
E. W. Lane, Al-Qamūsu: an Arabic-English Lexicon, p. 364. See L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic
Etymological Dictionary, Vol. II, pp. 307-310, No. 241 with Afro-Asiatic equivalents, but no
reference to Greek.
180
have been a loan, either from Indo-European into Semitic or vice versa, or from a
third common source.’194
Greek τοπάζιον ‘topaz’,195 with the variant ταβάσιος, is a loanword and was
borrowed as Syriac ṭwp’zywn, ‘topaz’.196 It may be related to Sanskrit tapas, ‘heat,
fire’, but this is uncertain.
5. Differentiating homographs
Certain words with the same spelling can have very different meanings and one
way to differentiate between them is to establish their etymology, which in some
cases may be from another language family. Here, two sets of homographs are
discussed, first in Semitic and then in Indo-European.
5.1 Differentiating homographs in Semitic
5.1.1 Semitic gbl: (a) ‘limit’ and (b) ‘head’
(a) Ugaritic gbl, ‘limit’,197 Hebrew gebûl, ‘boundary’198 and gebûlāh, ‘border’,199
Aramaic gbwl, ‘border, territory’,200 Phoenician gbl, ‘boundary, territory’.201
This word is Common Semitic.202
194
195
196
197
198
171.
199
172a.
200
M. Sokoloff, Dictionary of the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, p. 18b; J.
Hoftijzer & K. Jongeling, Dictionary of the North-West Semitic Inscriptions, I, p. 209. M. Jastrow,
Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi and the Midrashic Literature, p. 204.
201
Richard S. Tomback, A Comparative Semitic Lexicon of the Phoenician and Punic Languages,
«Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series» 32, Missoula MT: Scholars Press, 1978, p.
61.
181
(b) Ugaritic gbl, ‘summit, mountain’,203 Arabic ğabal, ‘mountain, rocky

elevation’,204 Hebrew gebûl, ‘mountain’,205 Old South Arabic gblt, ‘(hill)
country’.206 On the equivalence between Arabic ğabal and Ugaritic gbl, Renfroe
commented: ‘The question of whether the semantic development of Semitic
gbl was ‘border’ → ‘mountain’ or ‘mountain’ → ‘border’ cannot, regrettably,
be resolved with the help of this supposed Ugaritic-Arabic isogloss’.207 In fact,
the solution may be that gbl (a) ‘limit’ is Common Semitic whereas Semitic gbl
(b), ‘summit’, comes from Greek κεφαλή ‘head, the uppermost or top part,
source’, which in turn is derived from Indo-European *ghebh-l-, ‘head’.208
5.1.2. Semitic gp: (a) ‘cavity’and (b) ‘shore’
(a) Ugaritic gp [f.], ‘cavity’, in one text:

ib. bcl. tiḫd ycrm. The enemies of Baal took refuge in the forest,
šnu. hd. gpt ġr. those hating Hadd (in) the cavities of the mountain.209
It is possible that Ugaritic gp corresponds to Greek γύπη [f.] ‘cavity in the earth,
den, corner’,210 which is a European word,211 but the comparison is uncertain.
(b) Ugaritic gp, ‘shore’, in the expressions gp thm, ‘shore of the ocean’ and gp ym,
‘shore of the sea’,212 like Aramaic gêp, ‘bank, shore (of river)’,213 is Semitic.214
202
Possibly even Afro-Asiatic: cf. V. E. Orel & O. V. Stolbova, Hamito-Semitic Etymological
Dictionary. Materials for a Reconstruction, p. 225, §996 *gVbVl-, ‘edge’; cf. Egyptian. gb3, ‘side
(of room)’, in Raymond O. Faulkner, A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith
Institute, 1962, p. 288; A. Erman & H. Grapow, Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, Vol. 5, p.
163.13).
203
204
205
171b.
206
J. C. Biella, Dictionary of Old South Arabic. Sabaean Dialect, p. 65.
207
Fred Renfroe, Arabic-Ugaritic Lexical Studies, «Abhandlungen zur Literatur Alt-Syrien-
Palästinas» 5, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 1992, p. 104.
208
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, pp. 682-683. Cf. also Greek κεβλή [f.], ‘head’ (p.
662).
209
Text: Manfried Dietrich, Oswald Loretz & Joaquín Sanmartín, The Cuneiform alphabetic texts
from Ugarit, Ras Ibn Hani and other places. (KTU: second, enlarged edition), «Abhandlungen zur
Literatur Alt-Syrien-Palästinas» 8, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 1995, p. 21 (1.4 vii 35-36).
210
211
Borrowed by Arabic ğawf, ‘a hollow; an interior empty, vacant, or void; space’ in E. W. Lane,
Al-Qamūsu: an Arabic-English Lexicon, p. 488.
182
5.2. Differentiating homographs in Greek
5.2.1. Greek ὂσχη (a) ‘branches’ and (b) ‘scrotum’
(a) Greek ὂσχη [f.], ‘branches (full of bunches of grapes)’,215 may be Pre-Greek.216
However, it does evoke Akkadian isḫunnatu(m), išḫunnatu(m), isḫunnu, ‘bunch
of grapes’,217 which remains isolated within Semitic. The direction of loan is
uncertain, but the variant spellings suggest borrowing by Akkadian.
(b) Greek ὂσχη [f.], ‘scrotum’, may be a metaphorical use of ὂσχη with meaning
(a) or it may be Pre-Greek.218 In fact, it is undeniably like Common Semitic
*’i/ušk(-at)/*’i/usk(-at)-, ‘testicle’, which occurs in a range of languages219 and
like the Greek word, is occasionally of feminine gender. The question is: are
these words really related?
5.2.2. Greek κακκάβη (a) ‘cooking pot’ and (b) ‘partridge’
(a) Greek κακκάβη [f.], ‘cooking-pot’,220 has the variants κακάβη and κακάβος and
may have been borrowed from Akkadian ku(k)ku(b)bu, kukkupu, quqqubu,
‘rhyton’.221 It is also a loanword in Hurrian kukkubi, ‘pot’,222 and probably as
Syriac qqb [m.], ‘pot’.223 It seems to be a technical word of unknown origin.224
212
213
M. Sokoloff, Dictionary of the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, p. 128a; M.
Jastrow, Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi and the Midrashic
Literature, p. 241.
214
A form of Afro-Asiatic *gab-, ‘side, bank, beach’; cf. V. E. Orel & O. V. Stolbova, Hamito-
Semitic Etymological Dictionary. Materials for a Reconstruction, p. 193, §856.
215
See also Greek ὤσχη κληματίς ‘vine-branch’, R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p.
1122.
216
217
218
219
Including Akkadian, Ugaritic, Hebrew, Syriac and Geez; see L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic
Etymological Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 13, No. 11 (although Greek is not mentioned there).
220
Usually taken to mean ‘three-legged pot’, e.g. R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p.
619, but according to E. Masson, Recherches sur les plus ancient emprunts sémitiques en grec, p.
83 n. 5) this is a late definition from Photius. She adds: ‘Il semble plutôt que la marmite
était elle-même posée sur un trépied pour être suspendu au-dessus du feu’.
221
222
‘Kanne’: cf. V. Haas et al., Die hurritischen Ritualternmini in hethitischen Kontext, «Corpus der
Hurritischen Sprachdenkmäler, I. Abteilung. Die Texte aus Boğazköy», 9, Rome: CNR –
Istituto per gli Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici, 1998, p. 230. It also occurs as an
183
(b) Greek κακκάβη (var. κακκαβις) [f.], ‘partridge’, may be related to Hittite
kakkapan-, ‘partridge’,225 and was borrowed by Akkadian kakkabānu, ‘a bird’,226
and Syriac qaqbānā [m.], ‘partridge’.227 It would seem that (a) is Semitic and (b)
is Indo-European.
6. Correct Meanings
Greek can refine the vague meanings of words in Semitic and the converse is also
true.228 Several of the examples given here concern names of plants or trees.
6.1. ‘apple tree’
Akkadian samullu(m), samallu(m) or sama(n)num, denotes a tree of some kind.229As

proposed by Beckman230 it may be the same as Hittite GIŠšam(a)lu-, ‘apple (tree)’,231
although the exact meaning of the word is not certain.232
Akkadogram in Hittite; cf. Johannes Friedrich, Hethitisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl

Winter 1952, p. 309.
223
Aramaic, p. 580a. Previously unnoticed in this connection.
224
Cf. E. Masson, Recherches sur les plus ancient emprunts sémitiques en grec, pp. 83-85; R. Beekes,
225
S. Vanséveren, Nisili. Manuel de langue hittite, Volume I, p. 39, although it is not listed in A.
Kloekhorst, Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, 2008.
226
227
C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 688. See already H. Zimmern Akkadische Fremdwörter
als Beweis für babylonischen Kultureinfluss, p. 51.
228
This may also apply to Akkadian elmeštu (discussed above in 2.1.1.), which may mean
‘millet’ if it is related to Greek ἒλυμος ‘millet’.
229
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 315b; M. T. Roth
(ed.), CAD XV, 1984, pp. 112-113.
230
Gary Beckman, Hittite Birth Rituals, «Studien zu den Boğazköy-Texten», 29, Wiesbaden: Otto
Harrassowitz, 1983, p. 197 n. 537; however, see Hans G. Güterbock et al. (eds), The Hittite
Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Chicago IL: The Oriental Institute
of the University of Chicago, 2006, Š/1, 112.
231
232
For the meaning see Harry A. Hoffner jr, Alimenta hethaeorum. Food Production in Hittite Asia
Minor, «American Oriental Series» 55, New Haven CT: American Oriental Society, 1974, p.
114.
184
6.2. ‘elm tree’
Akkadian tiālu(m), ti’ālu(m), ti(’)āru(m), liāru, has been considered to mean ‘ein
Weißzeder’,233 ‘a conifer’,234 or simply ‘a tree and its wood’.235 It is recognised to be
a foreign word and if it can be compared with Greek πτελέα ‘elm tree’,236 the tree
in question may be the elm.
6.3. ‘mallow’
Syriac hrn’, ’rn’, ‘mallow’,237 may indicate the meaning of Greek ἄρον ‘a plant’,238
which has no etymology.239
6.4. ‘pestle’
Akkadian taruallinnu is a household utensil of some kind,240 which may be

borrowed from Hittite GIŠtaruyāli-, ‘pestle’,241 derived from Indo-European tāru-,
‘wood’.242 If so, the Hittite word may identify the utensil taruallinnu as a pestle.
6.5. ‘pomegranate tree’
Akkadian si’du (var. se’du) has been considered to be some sort of mistletoe,
which has white berries,243 although the meaning given in one dictionary is
233
W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, II, pp. 552b, 1981, III, 1353.
234
M. T. Roth (ed.), CAD XVIII, p. 399.
235
236
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1247. A Pre-Greek word also borrowed by
Armenian tcełi, ‘elm’; P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, p. 946.
237
238
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 136a. Also, incidentally, of Akkadian arūnu, ‘a
plant’, J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 25a.
239
240
M. T. Roth (ed.), CAD XVIII, p. 279a; W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, III, p. 1336b;
241
A. Kloekhorst, Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, p. 849.
242
As noted by Gerrit Dercksen, ‘On Anatolian Loanwords in Akkadian Texts from Kültepe’,
Zeitschrift für die Assyriologie 97 (2007), pp. 39-43, the ending –innu seems to show Hittite
origin, although he does not discuss these particular words.
243
Translated ‘(kind of mistletoe)?’, in J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise
Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 321b and ‘eine Mistel ?’ in W. von Soden, Akkadisches
Handwörterbuch, II, p. 1039b.
185
simply ‘a plant’,244 and so is less specific. The reference to Akkadian sēdu, ‘red’,245
may indicate that Akkadian si’du/se’du has an equivalent in Greek σίδη
‘pomegranate (tree)’,246 and perhaps have the same meaning.
6.6. ‘sweet pea’
Greek λάθυρος ‘a kind of pulse, chickling, Lathyrus sativus’,247 has no etymology

but has been equated with Akkadian ladiru, laṭiru or aladiru, a fodder plant of
some kind,248 also used in medicine.249 If correct, the Greek word would determine
the somewhat vague meaning of the Assyrian term.
7. Equivalences in Lexical Texts
Many Akkadian-Greek equivalences are to be found in Mesopotamian lexical

texts, but they are not totally reliable. As Kaufman noted: ‘The Akkadian lexical
lists warrant … caution, for in their zeal for completeness the compilers of these
materials ranged far and wide for their synonyms’.250 In several cases, no exact
meaning can be determined. The following equivalents are only a sample:
7.1. Akkadian burziburzi, ‘a leather belt’,251 may correspond to Greek βύρσα ‘skin,
hide’,252 a technical term without etymology.
7.2. Akkadian garûm ‘cream’,253 occurring in Old Babylonian lexical texts, is
borrowed from Sumerian. This may be the source of Greek γάρος ‘sauce or
paste made of brine and small fish’.254
244
M. T. Roth (ed.), CAD XV, p. 234.
245
W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, II, p. 1034a.
246
247
248
‘I would like to suggest that the Greek word láthuros is the same as Assyrian ladiru (laṭiru)…
It is unusual to discover a relationship between Akkadian and Greek words, but in the case
of Wanderwörter this might be permitted’ - Marten Stol, ‘Beans, peas, lentils and vetches in
Akkadian texts’, Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 2, Cambridge: Faculty of Oriental Studies,
1985, p. 132.
249
Cf. J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 10b; M. T. Roth
(ed.), CAD IX, p. 36a.
250
Stephen Kaufman, The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic, «Assyriological Studies» 19, Chicago
IL - London: The University of Chicago Press, 1974, pp. 27-28.
251
252
253
M. T. Roth (ed.), CAD V, p. 51b.
186
7.3. Akkadian kirinnu/û, ‘clay lump (of potter)’,255 has an equivalent in Greek
κέραμος (Mycenaean ke-ra-me-u), ‘potter’s earth, tile, earthen vessel’.256 The
Akkadian word may be a loan from Sumerian, whereas the Greek term has no
certain etymology.
7.4. Akkadian kurkurru, ‘a bird’,257 is equivalent to Greek κορκόρας ‘a bird’,258
neither yet identified.
7.5. Akkadian nēru, ‘a tree’,259 is equivalent to Greek νήρις ‘a plant; savin,
Juniperus Sabina’.260
7.6. Akkadian siyû, ‘a plant’,261 is equivalent to Greek σίον ‘name of several marsh-
or meadow-plants’.262
7.7. Akkadian sumāšum, sumāsum, ‘a seafish’,263 seems to be equivalent to Greek
σῖμος ‘a fish’.264
8. Transliterations
Some words, especially in Aramaic, Syriac and Phoenician, are simply

transliterations of their Greek equivalents and are therefore not loanwords.
8.1. Semitic words in Greek
8.1.1. Aramaic ’yl’ [m.], ‘a parasitic worm’,265appears as Greek εὐλή [f.], ‘worm,
maggot’.266
254
255
256
257
258
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 754. See also Akkadian karkarru, ‘a bird’, J.
Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 149b, possibly
comparable to Greek κέρκηρις ‘water-bird’ or Greek κερκίων ‘mynah’ (R. Beekes,
259
260
261
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 325a; M. T.
Roth(ed.), CAD XV, p. 243a.
262
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, «Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series»
10, Leiden: Brill, 2010. II, p. 1335.
263
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, pp. 327-328; W. von
Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, II, p. 1057b.
264
265
266
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 480. Note difference in gender.
187
8.1.2. Syriac ’nṭwby’, ‘endive’,267 appears as Greek ἔντυβον ‘endive’.268

8.1.3. Syriac ṭyhwg (ṭayhuwg) [m.], ‘kind of partridge’,269 appears as Greek ἀτταγᾶς
(var. ἀτταγήν and ταγήν) [m.], ‘kind of partridge, francolin, Tetrao
francolinus’.270
8.1.4. Syriac ṭṭnws [m.], ‘chalk’.271 appears as Greek τίτανος [f.], var. τέτανος,
‘chalk, plaster, crayon, marble-scrapings’. It is Pre-Greek and ‘like most
expressions for ‘chalk’, the word must be a loan’.272
8.1.5. Aramaic krwšy, krwšt’ [f.], ‘type of bread or cake’,273 appears as Greek ἐγκρίς
[f.], ‘cake made of oil and honey’.274
8.1.6. Akkadian pagalu, pagulu, ‘libation vessel’275 and Syriac bwql’, ‘a cup’,276 appear
as Greek βαυκάλιον ‘a vase with a narrow neck’.277
8.1.7. Aramaic qls, ‘palm rope’,278 appears as Greek κάλως ‘rope’.279
8.1.8. Syriac rqn’ (riqnā) [m.], ‘plane’,280 appears as Greek ῥῠκάνη ‘plane’ [f.], which
is Pre-Greek in origin.281
8.1.9. Aramaic šwmšwq, šymšq, ‘marjoram’,282 appears as Greek σάμψ(ο)υχον
‘marjoram’, a ‘[f]oreign word of unknown origin’.283
267
268
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I. p. 432.
269
270
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 165, but with no reference to Syriac.
271
C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 209. See also Akkadian ṭīdu, ṭīṭu, ṭiddu(m), ṭīṭṭu(m),
‘clay, mud (for bricks, mortar, plaster)’, J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise
Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 414b, Hebrew ṭīṭ, ‘wet loam, mud; potter’s clay’, L. Koehler & W.
Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1994, I, p. 374b, Aramaic
ṭīn, ‘clay, mud’, C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 274; M. Sokoloff, Dictionary of the Jewish
Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, p. 224; J. Hoftijzer & K. Jongeling, Dictionary of the
North-West Semitic Inscriptions, I, p. 412). There is no reference to these Semitic words in the
Greek dictionaries.
272
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1488, although there is no reference to
Semitic.
273
274
275
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, p. 260a and M. T.
Roth (ed.), CAD XII, p. 10b.
276
C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 87. Previously unnoticed as related to Greek
βαυκάλιον.
277
278
M. Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, p. 991b.
279
280
281
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1393, previously unnoticed.
282
M. Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, p. 1120b.
283
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, p. 1305, but with no reference to Aramaic.
188
8.2. Greek words in Semitic
8.2.1. Greek ἀδίαντον ‘a plant’,284 appears as Syriac ’dynṭwn, ‘maidenhair’.285

8.2.3. Greek ἀσίκαρος [m.], ‘locust’, is a substrate word, not an Egyptian
loanword,286 and appears as Syriac/Aramaic ’sqr’ [m.], ‘locust’.287
8.2.4. Greek ἒλπος ‘olive oil, rendered fat, abundance’,288 appears as Syriac clp,
‘fat’.289
8.2.5. Greek ἔποψ, ἔποπος [m.], ‘hoopoe’,290 appears as Syriac ’pwpws [m.],
‘hoopoe’.291
8.2.6. Greek ἴγδις, ‘mortar’,292 appears as Syriac ’gdyn, ‘mortar’.293
8.2.7. Greek θυλάκιον, a diminutive of θύλακος [m.], ‘sack, bag’, mostly of
leather,294 appears as Syriac twlqyn[m.], ‘sack’.295
8.2.8. Greek θυλ(λ)ις ‘small bag’,296 is the short form of the previous word, also
borrowed as Syriac tlys, ‘bag, small sack’.297
8.2.9. Greek καλλίᾱς [m.] ‘monkey’,298 appears as Syriac gls [m.], ‘ape’.299
8.2.10. Greek κάρπος ‘(wild) boar’,300 appears as Syriac qpr (qaprā’), ‘boar’,301 with
metathesis.
284
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 21, literally, ‘what cannot be irrigated’.
285
286
287
Aramaic, p. 150b; M. Jastrow, Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi and
the Midrashic Literature, p. 97.
288
It is not from *selp-, contra L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. I, p.
CXII, nor is it related to Greek ὄλπη, ‘bottle’; cf. R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I,
p. 416.
289
290
291
292
293
294
P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, p. 445. R. Beekes, Etymological
Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 560. Etymology unknown, but there is no mention of Syriac in
either dictionary.
295
296
297
C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 825; R. Payne Smith, A Comprehensive Syriac Dictionary:
Founded upon the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903, p. 613.
298
P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, p. 485. Possibly related to Greek
κάλλος ‘beauty’, R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, pp. 625, 626.
299
300
301
189
8.2.11. Aramaic and Syriac qrṭl, ‘basket’,302 is borrowed from (Pre-)Greek

κάρταλλος (var. κάρταλος) [m.], ‘basket with pointed bottom’,303 which in turn
is from Hittite GI/GIŠkurtalli- (var. kurtal-), ‘container’;304 ‘crate’.305 Note the same
variation of single and double /l/ in both Hittite and Greek.
8.2.12. Greek κίσσα, Attic κίττα [f.], (1) ‘jay, magpie etc.’ (possibly from Pre-Greek
*kikya); (2) morbid longing of pregnant women’,306 appears as Syriac qyṭṭ [m.],
(1) ‘jay’; (2) ‘craving of women’.307 The two meanings in Syriac are clearly
borrowed from Greek.
8.2.13. Greek λύχνος [m.] ‘(portable) light, lamp’, is an Indo-European word,308
that appears as Aramaic lkn [m.], ‘lamp’.309
8.2.14. Greek μῆνις [f.] ‘wrath’,310 appears as Syriac mny [m.], ‘fury’.311
8.2.15. Greek σπυρίς [f.], ‘basket’, has the diminutive form σπυρίδιον,312 and was
borrowed as Syriac ’spryd [m.] ‘basket’.313
8.2.16. Greek ζώνη, ‘girdle, waist’,314 appears as Aramaic and Syriac zwn’, ‘girdle,
belt’.315
8.2.17. Greek σκάρος [m.], ‘parrot-fish’, is from σκαίρω ‘to hop, etc.’,316 and
appears as Syriac sqrws [m.], ‘a fish’.317
8.2.18. Greek σκόροδον ‘garlic, allium sativum’,318 appears as Syriac sqwrdwn,
‘garlic’.319
302
M. Sokoloff, Dictionary of the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, p. 505a; C.
Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 695.
303
304
S. Vanséveren, Nisili. Manuel de langue hittite, Volume I, p. 93.
305
Jan Puhvel, Hittite Etymological Dictionary Volume 4: Words Beginning with K, «Trends in
Linguistics. Documentation» 14, Berlin – New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1997, pp. 276-277.
306
Inner-Greek derivation from κίσσαω which in turn derives from κίσσα, ‘jay, magpie’, R.
Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 704.
307
308
309
M. Sokoloff, Dictionary of the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, p. 284a.
310
P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, pp. 696-697: (‘colère durable’).
311
312
313
314
315
M. Sokoloff, Dictionary of the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, p. 373; M.
Jastrow, Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi and the Midrashic
Literature, p. 388.
316
317
318
319
190
8.2.19. Greek σφῦρα [f.], ‘hammer’,320 appears as Syriac ’spyr’ [m.], ‘hammer’.321
8.2.20. Greek τέττιξ, τέττῑγος [m.], ‘tree-cricket, cicada’,322 appears as Syriac
ṭyṭykws [m.], ‘cricket’.323
8.3. Direction uncertain
In some cases, the direction of borrowing cannot be established.
8.3.1. Greek λεκάνη (var. λακάνη), ‘basin, dish’,324 is a substrate word that was
borrowed as Syriac lqn, ‘platter, basin, flask’,325 and as Arabic lakan, ‘(copper)
basin’.326 However, it may be Semitic, if it is the same as Akkadian liknu (lignu),
‘a wooden container’.327
8.3.2. Greek χελῖδών ‘swallow’, often metaphorically of a flying fish,328 appears as
Syriac gldn, ‘a small fish’.329
8.3.3. Greek χῡλός [m.], ‘juice (of plants), gruel, broth’,330 appears as Syriac kwlws
[m.], ‘juice’.331 Note the match in gender.
8.3.4. Aramaic and Syriac gwrgh, gwrgt’, ‘snare, fish-basket’, a bucket or basket for
catching fish,332 seems to be the same as Greek γυργαθός ‘wicker-basket,
creel’.333
8.3.5. Syriac pprwn [m.], ‘papyrus’,334 is identical with Greek πάπῡρος ‘papyrus
shrub, linen, paper’,335 and possibly both are loanwords.
320
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, 1433-1434.
321
322
323
Aramaic, p. 633b.
324
325
C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum, p. 370;
326
H. Wehr, edited by J. M. Cowan, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, p. 877a.
327
328
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, pp. 1622-1623.
329
Aramaic, p. 280b; M. Jastrow, Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi and
the Midrashic Literature, p. 246.
330
331
332
Aramaic, p. 272b.
333
A ‘technical word. Connected with ger- (‘[to] plait’?) ... The word looks Pre-Greek’ - R.
Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, I, p. 293.
334
335
191
8.4. Enigmatic equivalences
Some equivalences are striking, but remain perplexing. Two examples can be
given, the second being particularly unusual since it involves the name for a part
of the body.
8.4.1. Ugaritic hmlt, ‘multitude’,336 and Hebrew hamullāh, ‘crowd’,337 seem to

correspond to Greek ὃμῖλος (var. ὄμιλλος), ‘throng, band of warriors, crowd,
turmoil of battle’.338 This seems preferable to comparison with Arabic hml, VII,
‘to pour down (rain)’,339 as has been proposed.340
8.4.2. Common Semitic *šāḳ-/*sāḳ-, ‘thigh, leg’,341 occurs as Ugaritic šq, ‘thigh,
leg’,342 Hebrew šôq, ‘thigh, fibula’,343 Aramaic šāq, ‘thigh’,344 Akkadian sīqu, sāqu,
‘thigh’,345 etc. These are curiously like Greek ἰσχίον ‘hip-joint, haunches’346 –
which has no definite etymology, but may be from ἰξῡς ‘waist, loins’347– and
Hittite šakuttai-, ‘thigh’.348
Conclusions
It is important to put these all inter-language loans in perspective. No-one is

suggesting that Greek is a Semitic language, for example, or that any Semitic
336
337
251a.
338
R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, II, pp. 1076-1077. P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire
étymologique de la langue grecque, p. 797.
339
H. Wehr, edited by J. M. Cowan, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, p. 1043b.
340
In Francis Brown, S. R. Driver & Charles A. Briggs (eds), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the
Old Testament, with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic, based on the lexicon of
William Gesenius as translated by Edward Robinson, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1906, p. 242b.
341
L. Kogan & A. Militarev, Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. I, pp. 212-213, No. 241.
342
Tradition, II, 839.
343
L. Koehler & W. Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1999, IV,
pp. 1448-1449.
344
M. Sokoloff, Dictionary of the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, p. 564.
345
J. Black, A. George & N. Postgate (eds), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, pp. 325a, 317b. See
the comment: ‘Note unexpected s- instead of *š- in Akk[adian]’, in L. Kogan & A. Militarev,
Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 213.
346
347
348
Cf. A. Kloekhorst, Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, pp. 703-704.
192
language is Indo-European. The number of loanwords and other terms that do

not belong to the inherited lexicon is relatively small. Besides explicit inter-
language loans, there were also words that travelled (Wanderwörter) and others
that were specific to a particular civilisation (Kulturwörter). These have been
tentatively defined as follows:349 Wanderwort: ‘a word that travels beyond the
boundaries of any concrete language contact setting and spreads throughout a
number of languages, many of them being substantially separated by geography
and time’; Kulturwort: ‘a word attested in more than one language but without a
clear and specific etymology or language source’. It is not easy to differentiate
between them.350 An example is the word for ‘cumin’, which occurs in several
Semitic languages, as well as in Linear A (as ku-mi-na), Linear B (as ku-mi-no),
Greek (κύμινον), Hittite (as kappani-) and even in a bilingual lexical list from Ebla.
Is it a Wanderwort, a Kulturwort or simply a Semitic loan in Greek?351
It is evident that the criteria set out above overlap to some extent. This is true
of the second and third criteria given above: ‘A word with no clear etymology
may be a loan’ and ‘A clear etymology helps to determine the direction of
borrowing’. Also, the criterion regarding various spellings does not always apply
and is largely indicative. Similarly, it is not clear whether some equivalences are
transliterations or really loans, for example, Greek σκόροδον = Syriac sqwrdwn,
‘garlic’.352 The best approach is to collect as many such possible equivalences and
probable loans as possible and then to evaluate them critically, without
preconceptions as to provenance.353 Most of the proposals examined here are
new354 and are intended to stimulate discussion in this difficult area, in order to
establish which words in the various languages have been inherited, and
differentiate them from loanwords and cultural or wandering words. This would
make a significant contribution to comparative Semitics.
349
G. Rubio, ‘On the Linguistic Landscape of Early Mesopotamia’, in Wilfred H. van Soldt (ed.),
Ethnicity in Ancient Mesopotamia. Papers Read at the 48th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale,
Leiden, 1–4 July 2002, Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 2005, pp. 316-332
(p. 330 n. 80). See also Stephen Kaufman, The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic, «Assyriological
Studies» 19, Chicago IL - London: The University of Chicago Press, 1974, pp. 15-19.
350
See also in general, P. V. Mankowski, Akkadian Loanwords in Biblical Hebrew, pp. 7-8.
351
Amalia Catagnoti, ‘Il lessico dei vegetali ad Ebla, 3. Piante aromatiche (parte I): cumino e
timo’, Quaderni del Dipartimento di Linguistica – Università di Firenze 20 (2010), pp. 143-149.
352
See §4.4. above. Of course, one cannot rule out chance similarities. It is important to stress
the tentative nature of most of these proposals.
353
A further aspect to consider, as Andrzej Zaborski (Warsaw) reminded me, is the reason for
any loan.
354
Excluding Greek κάμηλος, κασᾶς, κύμινον, μᾶζα, παλλακή, σάμψ(ο)υχον, σαργάνη, Σειρήν,
σίνᾱπι, σινδών, ταῦρος and τοπάζιον, the Semitic equivalents of which were already
known.
193

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Archaism and Innovation in the Semitic Languages

Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala & Wilfred G. E. Watson

Publisher: Oriens Academic – CNERU (University of Cordoba) – DTR (Durham

Cordoba Near Eastern Research Unit

Printer: Imprentatecé, S.C.A.

Cover design by Manuel Marcos Aldón & Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala

© Cordoba Near Eastern Research Unit

Preface ........................................................................................... vii

It is generally accepted that Semitic words were borrowed by Indo-European

Babylonians for astronomy. An example is ‘Scorpion’, Greek Σκορπίος, which is a

2. Criteria to determine the presence of loans

1. A word with a variety of spellings is probably a loanword.

In addition, certain lesser criteria need to be applied in respect of etymology, as

4. The simplest explanation for an etymology is probably the most likely.

den Kulturen Mesopotamiens, «Grazer Morgenländische Studien» 3, Graz: R. M. Druck- und

In the following paragraphs these criteria are illustrated by clear examples.

2.1. A word with a variety of spellings is probably a loanword

gelī/aimā, ‘cloak, mantle, wrapper’,29 but is without an etymology. Greek

2.2. A word with no clear etymology may be a loan

2.2.6. Greek σίσαρον ‘parsnip’,82 is a ‘technical word without etymology’,83 so it

2.3. A clear etymology determines the direction of borrowing

If a word has a well-established etymology in Semitic, but seems to occur in Indo-

2.3.3. Ugaritic yḥmr, ‘roebuck’,93 Hebrew yaḥmūr, ‘roebuck; a species of deer,

2.5. Onomatopoeia is the last resort

Often, in the absence of other explanations, scholars resort to onomatopoeia for

2.6 Semantic shift, if invoked, should not be forced

Occasionally, in order to establish an etymology, a shift of meaning is presumed

Indo-European: Greek πόρις ‘calf, heifer, metaphorically, ʽyoung girlʼ ’, derives

Common Semitic: Akkadian urinnu, ‘eagle’, has a good Semitic equivalent in

Common Semitic: *pVlw/y-, ‘yearling foal, young of domestic animals’,155 is

Indo-European: Greek κέλῦφος ‘husk or skin of fruit, skin of an onion, eggshell’.157

3.6. ‘to sip’

4. Words derived from a third language

É.KUR, ‘temple’, via Akkadian ekurru, ‘temple’, as has been demonstrated

4.1. from an Anatolian language

4.2. from an Indic language

4.3. from Egyptian

4.4. from Sanskrit

4.5. from an unknown language

Greek σκόροδον ‘garlic, allium sativum’,188 appears as Syriac sqwrdwn, ‘garlic’.189

4.6. from an unknown language

4.7. from an unknown language

5.1 Differentiating homographs in Semitic

5.1.1 Semitic gbl: (a) ‘limit’ and (b) ‘head’

(b) Ugaritic gbl, ‘summit, mountain’,203 Arabic ğabal, ‘mountain, rocky

5.1.2. Semitic gp: (a) ‘cavity’and (b) ‘shore’

(a) Ugaritic gp [f.], ‘cavity’, in one text:

5.2. Differentiating homographs in Greek

5.2.1. Greek ὂσχη (a) ‘branches’ and (b) ‘scrotum’

5.2.2. Greek κακκάβη (a) ‘cooking pot’ and (b) ‘partridge’

6.1. ‘apple tree’

Akkadian samullu(m), samallu(m) or sama(n)num, denotes a tree of some kind.229As

Akkadogram in Hittite; cf. Johannes Friedrich, Hethitisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl

6.2. ‘elm tree’

Akkadian taruallinnu is a household utensil of some kind,240 which may be

6.5. ‘pomegranate tree’

6.6. ‘sweet pea’

Greek λάθυρος ‘a kind of pulse, chickling, Lathyrus sativus’,247 has no etymology

7. Equivalences in Lexical Texts

Many Akkadian-Greek equivalences are to be found in Mesopotamian lexical

Some words, especially in Aramaic, Syriac and Phoenician, are simply

8.1. Semitic words in Greek

8.1.2. Syriac ’nṭwby’, ‘endive’,267 appears as Greek ἔντυβον ‘endive’.268