Semitic etymology : Query result

Number: 2023

Proto-Semitic: *biŝr-/*baŝar- {} *biĉr-/*baĉar-

Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology

Meaning: flesh, (human) body

Akkadian: bišru 'small child' [CAD b 270], [AHw 131] (found in one SynList only: bišru=še-e-ru)

Ugaritic: bšr 'carne' [DLU 119]

Phoenician: bšr 'type of sacrifice' [T 57]; PUN bšr 'enfant, descendant' [HJ 204]

Hebrew: bāŝār 'flesh' [KB 163]

Aramaic: BIB bǝŝar 'Fleisch' [KB deutsch 1684], OFF bšr 'flesh' [HJ 204]

Judaic Aramaic: bǝsar, bisrā 'body, flesh, meat' [Ja 199], [Sok 115]

Syrian Aramaic: besrā 'caro' [Brock 82]

Modern Aramaic: MAL besra 'Fleisch' [Berg 15] MLH besro 'Fleisch' [J Mlah 170] HRT besra 'Fleisch' [J Hert 183] NASS bịsrɔ, busra 'meat' [Tser 031] MMND besrā 'flesh, meat' [M MND 503, 511] GZR písṛa 'meat' [Nak 82] IRAN bçeßsrâ 'la carne' [Pen 65]

Mandaic Aramaic: bisra 'flesh, meat' [DM 62]

Arabic: bašar- 'peau extérieure (chez l'homme), épiderme; homme, genre humain' [BK 1 129]; cf. also bašār-at- 'beauté des formes, du corps' [ibid. 129]

Epigraphic South Arabian: SAB bs₂r 'flesh' [SD 33].

MIN bs₂r 'toute chaire, les hommes' [LM 24]

Geʕez (Ethiopian): (?) bāsor (-s- instead of the expected ŝ) 'flesh' [LGz 110]; according to Leslau, from HBR

Gafat: bäsärä 'viande' [LGaf 191]

Harari: bäsär 'meat' [LHar 47]

Gurage: bäsär 'meat, flesh' [LGur 159] (without quoting individual dialects)

Mehri: bǝŝǝrēt 'skin, complexion, maiden head' [JM 56]

Jibbali: bǝŝǝrɛ́t 'skin, complexion' [JJ 30]

Notes: From *biŝar-?

The meanings 'child' (the only one preserved in AKK and PHO PUN) and 'mankind' (preserved in ARM BIB, ARB and MIN) may be explained by the notion of common origin, or consanguinity, associated with flesh. "And our arm will not be upon him, - Judas says about Joseph to his brothers, - for he is our brother, our flesh (bǝŝārēnū)" [Gen. 37:27]; for a similar semantic connection see another word for 'flesh', šǝʔēr, rendering the same idea of consanguinity ("Do not disclose bareness of your father's sister: she is of the same blood (šǝʔēr, lit. flesh) as your father" [Lev. 18:12]).

Note the meaning 'skin' attested in ARB and MSA, which could suggest the PSEM meaning 'flesh with skin', if not for MSA examples suspected of being ARB loan-words, in which case a meaning shift in ARB is to be regarded as an ARB semantic innovation.

[Fron 41] (*baŝar- /ESA,ARB,SYR,HBR,UGR,AKK/); [DRS 89]: UGR, HBR, PUN, ARM, ARB, ESA, GEZ, HAR, GUR (*baŝar- 'peau, chair'); [KB 164]: HBR, ARB, UGR, PHO, ARM, ESA, ETH; [DLU 119]: UGR, HBR, PUN, ARM, ESA, ARB; [LHar 47]: HAR, GUR, HBR; [Holma 1]: AKK, HBR, ESA, ARB