Sino-Caucasian etymology : List with all references

Proto-Sino-Caucasian: *mHar[G]VwV

Meaning: wild cat

Borean etymology: Borean etymology

North Caucasian: *mHarGVwV

Sino-Tibetan: [*mrāw]

Proto-North Caucasian: *mHarGVwV

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: tom-cat

Proto-Tsezian: *maʁ:ur- (~-χ-)

Proto-Lak: q:urmaw

Proto-Lezghian: *marq:Iaw

Notes: An expressive root, liable to metatheses and irregular transformation. Seems, however, to be genuine. (In a funny way, Musayev lists a Darg. word from the Muir. dialect: q̇urmaIw 'mouse' (sic!)).

Proto-Tsezian: *maʁ:ur- (~-χ-)

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: tom-cat

Bezhta: maʁurdi (Khosh)

Gunzib: maʁurdi (Gunz.)

Comments: PGB *maʁurdi.

Lak root: q:urmaw

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: tom-cat

Lak form: q:urmaw (Khosr.)

Comments: The word q:uIrmaw in literary Lak. is used only in a euphemistic sense as "dirty creature, slut" (colloq.), although it is obviously the same word as Khosr. q:urmaw 'tom-cat'.

Proto-Lezghian: *marq:Iaw

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: tom-cat

Agul: marR̀u (Bursh.)

Rutul: marq̇Iaw

Comment: An expressive root, with irregular glottalisation in Rut. Ag. (Rich.) q:Iurmaw 'tom-cat' reveals the same metathesis as in Lak. and must be a Lak. borrowing; on the other hand, Ag. marR̀u ( < *marʁIaw) was itself borrowed in Darg. Chir. marʁIaw (which can not be genuinely related for phonetic reasons). Rather enigmatic is Kryz. ṗeʁu 'tom-cat' (perhaps it is an expressive transformation of *meʁu which would be a regular reflex of *marq:Iaw ?). Both the Rut. and the Kryz. words belong to the 3d class.

Proto-Sino-Tibetan: [*mrāw]

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: wild cat

Chinese: 貓 *mhrāw wild cat, cat.

Comments: Bodo maw-zi cat.

Character: 貓

Modern (Beijing) reading: māo

Preclassic Old Chinese: mhrāw

Classic Old Chinese: mhrāw

Western Han Chinese: mhrāw

Eastern Han Chinese: mhrāw

Early Postclassic Chinese: mhạ̄w

Middle Postclassic Chinese: mhạ̄w

Late Postclassic Chinese: mhạ̄w

Middle Chinese: mạw

English meaning : cat, wild cat

Russian meaning[s]: кошка

Comments: Also read *mhraw, MC mew id. Viet. mèo is colloquial; standard Sino-Vietnamese is miêu. For *mh cf. Xiamen miau¹, Chaozhou ŋiǝu¹, Longdu māw¹; Shaowu mau⁷, Guangzhou māu¹.

Sino-Tibetan etymology: Sino-Tibetan etymology

Dialectal data: Dialectal data

Radical: 153

Four-angle index: 1748

Karlgren code: 1159 c

Vietnamese reading: mèo

Number: 2207

Chinese etymology: Chinese etymology

Character: 貓

MC description : 效開二平肴明

ZIHUI: 6292 1289

Beijing: mau 11

Jinan: mɔ 12

Xi'an: mau 12

Taiyuan: mau 1

Hankou: mau 11

Chengdu: mau 12; miau 11

Yangzhou: mɔ 12

Suzhou: mä 12

Wenzhou: muɔ 11

Changsha: miau 12 (lit.); mau 12

Shuangfeng: miǝ 12 (lit.); mǝ 11

Nanchang: miɛu 31 (lit.); mau 31

Meixian: miau 3

Guangzhou: māu 11

Xiamen: miau 12 (lit.); miaũ 11; ma 12

Chaozhou: ŋiǝu 11

Fuzhou: mieu 12

Shanghai: mɔ 32

Borean (approx.) : MVRV

Meaning : wild cat

Afroasiatic : *mary-

Sino-Caucasian : *mHar[G]VwV

Austric : PAN *harimaw 'wild cat' (Blust: *qarimauŋ)

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *mary-

Meaning: wild cat, lion, leopard

Semitic: *namir- 'leopard' (<*na-mir- or met. <*mir-an-)

Egyptian: mꜣy (pyr) 'lion'

Western Chadic: *mur(mur)- 'cheetah' 1, 'jackal' 2, 'hyena' 3

Central Chadic: *mVrVw- 'lion' 1, 'wild cat, serval' 2

East Chadic: *muʔi- 'lion' (if <*musi)

Low East Cushitic: *mor- 'lion'

South Cushitic: *mary- 'wild cat' 1, 'leopard' 2, 'lion' 3

Omotic: Ong mirila (ST) = merнla / mirнla id., morle "serval, genet" (Fl) = Ts moralle "leopard" (ST) + NS

Notes: Cf. HSED 1760 (*mer- 'beast of prey': CCh.; SCush.) and HSED 1886 *numur-: Sem. 'leopard' (<"spotted"); W.Ch. (Ron) 'hyaena'. Cf. also EDE I 56-7: Eg.; ECush.; S.Cush.; C.Ch.

Number: 2482

Proto-Semitic: *namir-

Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology

Meaning: leopard

Akkadian: nimru (nammar) 'panther' OAkk. on [CAD n2 234], [AHw. 790]. Reliably attested in the OB Diri (PIRIG.TUR = ni-im-ru-um, OECT IV 153 IV 5). The OAkk. attestation in MDP 10 p. 57 No. 74:3 is not unproblematic ("S'agirait-il d'une image de Nergal, "panthère" ou "léopard" à laquelle on sacrifiait...?" accroding to the editor). More details on n. see in [Landsberger Fauna 77], [Salonen Jagd 226-8]. The by-form nam-mar has been known from Gilg. VIII II 8, SEE JCS 8 93 (as a variant of nim-ru) but now probably also in the OA incantation ... published in [Michel 59] (ezzat pulḫat ilat nammarat barbaratum mārat Anim 'she is fierce, she is awe(inspi- ring), she is a goddess, she is a panther, the she-wolf, the daughter of Anum'). This interpretation (suggested by Ms. E.Vorob'yova) seems preferable to that proposed by the editor since the derivation of na-ma-ra-at from namurratu 'bright, shining' seems most unlikely.

Eblaitic: na-me-lum (in the monolingual animal list [MEE 4 005], identified with the present root in [Sjöberg Ebla 11]). Probably also in в [MEE 4 0503] (na-me-ru₁₂-um, the Sum. parallel is unknown).

Hebrew: nāmēr 'leopard, panther' [KB 701], pB. 'tiger or leopard' [Ja. 914]. A relatively rare poetic term.

Aramaic: D.-Alla nmr 'panther' [HJ 733]. In a fragmentary context, meaning established from the ety- mology ([Hackett 55]). Anc. nmr 'panther' [HJ 733]. In KAI 222 A 31 and 223 A 9 (pm nmrh 'mouth of she-panter'), v. [Fitzmyer 44-5, 88]. Off. nmr 'panther' [HJ 733]. In Aḥiq 118-9 (nmrʔ pgʕ lʕnzʔ ... 'a leopard met a goat...') and Frah S₂, P 99 (see [Nyberg 119]).

Biblical Aramaic: nǝmar 'panther' [KB 1931]. Hapax in Da 7.6 (in the description of one of the animals in Daniel's visions).

Judaic Aramaic: nǝmar (nimrā) 'tiger or leopard' [Ja. 914], [Levy WTM III 401], [Levy WT II 112], nmr (nymrh) 'leopard' [Sok. 352].

Syrian Aramaic: nemrā 'pardalis' [Brock. 431], [PS 2386].

Mandaic Aramaic: namar (nimar, namr) 'leopard' [DM 283], nimria (pl.) 'leopards, cheetahs' [ibid. 298].

Arabic: nimr- 'panthère', namir-, fem. namirat-, nāmirat- 'leopard, panthère' [BK 2 1346-7], [Fr. IV 337], [Lane 2853], [LA V 234] (see further [Hommel 294ff.]).

Epigraphic South Arabian: Sab. nmr 'leopard, panther' [SD 97]. Hdr. nmr 'panthère' [Pirenne 93]. The ESA terms are treated in detail in [Sima 120-25]. Most passages deal with hunt; only in Ga 1 A/10 decorative images of leopards are mentioned (ws₂ʕrhw ʔṣlmm wʔwʕlm wʔlʔbm wʔnmrm d_hbm 'they provided it [the palace] with statues [human?] as well as ibexes, lions and leopards made of bronze'). According to some scholars, in some passages nmr denotes a kind of military title or designation ('сhieftain' according to [SD 97], rejected in [Biella 307]). For a comprehensive discussion of this difficult problem see [Sima 123-5].

Geʕez (Ethiopian): namr 'leopard' [LGz. 398].

Tigre: näbri 'leopard' [LH 330] (likely a borrowing from Tna., but see a variant form näbǝr, according to [LH], "wegen des Reimes").

Tigrai (Tigriñña): näbri 'leopardo' [Bass. 447] (in [LGz.], also nämri).

Amharic: näbǝr 'lynx' [K 1035], näbrart, näbärart id. [ibid. 1036], nämr id. [ibid. 1018].

Gurage: Sel. näwǝr, Wol. näwr 'leopard, tiger' [LGur. 465].

Harsusi: nemr 'leopard' [JH 97] (likely and Arabism).

Notes: Forms with -b- instead of -m- predominate throughout Neo-Ethiopian (likely a result of a dissimilation by nasality). [Fron. 293]: *nimr- 'leopardo' (Arb., Gez., Syr., Hbr., Akk.); [Hommel 294]: *namiru (Arb., Gez., Akk., Syr., Hbr.); [Sima 122]: ESA, Akk., Hbr., Arm., Arb., Gez. ("Die beiden For- men *nimr und *namir sind nicht auf eine gemeinsame Grundform zurückzuführen"); [KB 701]: Hbr., Arm., Arb., ESA, Gez., Akk.; [Firmage 1153]: Akk., Hbr., Arm., Gez., Arb.

Old Egyptian: mꜣy (pyr)

Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology

Meaning: 'lion'

Coptic: *muy

Akhmimic: moui

Bohairic: moui

Sahidic: moui

Notes: Otherwise <*mVʔ-, cf. ECh *muʔi- 'lion': Smr mī: [Jg], mi, mui [Lk: 80], Tum mui, Ndam mui [?]

Proto-WChadic: *mur(mur)-

Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology

Meaning: 'chetah' 1, 'jackal' 2, 'hyena' 3

Dera=Kanakuru: mūmuru 1 [NmK]

Polchi: mur 2 [Cs N 261]

Bokos: mùrûm 3 [JgR]

Sha: mùrûm 3 [JgR]

Daffo-Butura: mùrûm 3 [JgR]

Proto-CChadic: *mVrVw-

Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology

Meaning: 'lion' 1, 'wild cat, serval' 2

Lame: mereo, mēr 2 [Kr N 170, 169]

Peve: méríáǹ 2 [Kr N170]

Zime-Dari: mérēw 2 [Cpr]

Zime-Batna: mēr 2 [Sa]

Masa: múr 2 [CC] animal sauvage

Proto-EChadic: *muʔi-

Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology

Meaning: 'lion'

Somrai: mī: [Jg], mi, mui [Lk: 80]

Tumak: mui [Cp

Sokoro: mi, mui [Lk:80]

Notes: Note that ECh may originate from *mV r as well

Proto-Low East Cushitic: *mor-

Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology

Meaning: 'lion'

Oromo (Galla): Cf. marode id.

Dasenech (Geleba): mor Hohenberger 1966

Proto-South Cushitic: *mary-

Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology

Meaning: 'wild cat' 1, 'leopard' 2, 'lion' 3

Gorowa (Fiome): mariri-ka 2

Alagwa (Wasi): mariyamo 1

Asa-Aramanic: mer-ok 3

Sino-Caucasian etymology :

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Tsezian etymology :

Lak etymology :

Lezghian etymology :

Sino-Tibetan etymology :

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Chinese Dialects :

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Afroasiatic etymology :

Semitic etymology :

Egyptian etymology :

West Chadic etymology :

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Low East Cushitic etymology :

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