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Semitic etymology :

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\data\semham\semet
Number: 2600
Proto-Semitic: *kun/m(V)d-
Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology
Meaning: forearm, cubit, fist, thumb
Hebrew: gōmäd 'a linear measure, short cubit' [KB 196]
Judaic Aramaic: kurmēdā 'fist' [Ja 625]; garmīdā 'arm, elbow, cubit' [Ja 270].

    Jastrow's note "(=gammīdā)" is not clear since no such form is quoted in his dictionary

Syrian Aramaic: garmīdā, gūrmīdā 'cubitus, ulna' [Brock 133]
Mandaic Aramaic: garmidia 'two cubits' [DM 79] (singular not found).

    Note also gurmaiza 'fist' compared in [KB 196], but thought to be an Iranian loanword in [DM]. If cognate, -z requires explanation

Arabic: kumudd-at- 'verge, pénis' [BK 2 929].

    Likely a semantic shift; for a similar shift, cf. UGR yd and HBR yād 'hand' and 'penis'

Amharic: kǝnd 'cubit (distance from the elbow to the tip of of the middle finger, appr. 48 cm.); arm, forearm' [K 1445]
Gafat: kǝndä 'bras' [LGaf 209]
Mehri: mǝkǝndēt 'big toe, thumb' [JM 212]
Jibbali: mis̃ǝndɔ́t 'thumb, big toe' [JJ 132]
Notes: Though an intricate case, a coincidence of a very specified meaning in HBR and ARM, on the one hand, and AMH, on the other, can hardly be accidental.

    A phonetic diversity throughout SEM can be explained by (1) low compatibility of a voiced and voiceless stop in HBR and ARM, and (2) change of *-m- > -n- in contact with -d (for a similar phonetic evolution cf. *p/ban/md-(aw-)at-, No. ).

    Cf. AKK gamatu 'a measure' SB in LL [CAD g 32], [AHw 278]; one wonders whether it can be explained from *gamattu < *gamad-t-u or from *gamadu, with -ad- mistaken for the -at- suffix, developed from *kamadu because of low compatibility of k and d.

    Cf. ARM *garmīdā, with -r- inserted probably by contamination with some similar term; could it be ARM and SEM *garm- 'bone' (No. )?

    The AMH and GAF examples were alternatively identified by Leslau with AMH kǝrn, TNA kʷǝrnaʕ 'elbow' [LGur 347] (see *kʷirnāʕ-, No. ), which is also possible. A more obscure case is END h_ǝtnä, hǝtnä 'arm, cubit, arm below the elbow' [ibid.]; it is hard to say whether this may derive from the present root or from *kʷirnāʕ-, in either case with a series of unusual phonetic transformations.

    Note a derived pattern and a meaning shift in MSA.

    [KB 196]: HBR, ARM (-r-); [Brock 133]: SYR, ARM, HBR, GEZ (gʷǝnd 'baculus').

    Comparison with ETH and MSA forms denoting 'stick, wood' (TNA gʷämäd, JIB gend) suggested in [Leslau 15] is unconvincing

semet-proto,semet-prnum,semet-meaning,semet-hbr,semet-jud,semet-syr,semet-mnd,semet-ara,semet-amh,semet-gaf,semet-mhr,semet-jib,semet-notes,

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