Number: 2393
Proto-Semitic: *ḫV(n)zīr-
Meaning: pig
Akkadian: ḫuzīru 'hog' OAkk. on [CAD ḫ 266], [AHw. 362]. Reliably attested in Old Assyrian only (e.g., šumma ḫu-zi-ru lā ikabb[erū] 'if the pigs do not grow fat' BIN 6 84:35). In Malku Malku V 45 equated to the standard Akk. term for pig šaḫû. In proper names, from OAkk. on which does not necessarily pressupose that the term was vernacular and currently used in the respective dialects. Note that šaḫû seems not to be attested syllabically in the Assyrian dialects so that one wonders whether ḫuzīru was the Assyrian word for 'pig' (suggested in nuce in [CAD š1 103] where the logogram S̆AH in a Neo-Assyrian letter is said to be probably read as ḫuzīru). The word ḫuzirtu which denotes a kind of insect (in the combination ḫuzirtu ša eḳli) is thought to be derived from this term in [CAD] and [AHw.].
Ugaritic: ḫu-zi-rù /ḫuzīru/ 'pig' [Huehner. 128]. Equated to Sum. [S̆A]H_, Akk. šeḫû (sic, instead of the standard šaḫû). The term is not attested alphabetically in spite of a widespread assumption (cf. e.g. [Sasson 415]) since the terms ḫnzr and ḫzr denote a profession or an administrative function (v. [Huehner. 84-5] and [DLU 195, 204]).
Hebrew: ḥăzīr 'swine, boar' [KB 302] (from an earlier *ḥuzīr-, cf. ḥwzyr in Qumran Hebrew [DCH 184]); pB. [Ja. 443] (also ḥăzīrā 'sow'). The only passage where ḥ. explicitly denotes a wild boar is Ps 80.14 (ḥăzīr miyyāʕar 'wild boar from a thicket'). In other passages, including the well-known dietary prohibitions of Lv 11.7, Dt 14.8 ḥ. must denote, at least primarily, a domesticated pig.
Aramaic: Off. ḥzwr 'pig, swine' [HJ 357].
Judaic Aramaic: ḥăzīr (det. ḥăzīrā, f. ḥăzīrtā) 'swine' [Ja. 444], ḥazzērā 'swine-herd' [ibid.], ḥzyr (f. ḥzyrh, det. ḥzyrth) 'sow' [Sok. 194].
Syrian Aramaic: ḥzīrā, ḥzīrtā 'sus' [Brock. 225-6], [PS 1239].
Mandaic Aramaic: hizura 'pig, wild pig, boar' [DM 142].
Arabic: ḫinzīr- 'porc, cochon; sanglier', ḫinzīrat- 'cochon femelle, truie' [BK 1 639], [LA IV 260]. Cf. ḫanzuwān- 'porc, cochon mâ̂le' (also 'singe mâle') [BK 1 639], [LA V 347].
Geʕez (Ethiopian): ḫanzir (ḥanzar, ḥanzir, ḥǝnzir) 'pig, wild boar' [LGz. 263].
Mehri: ḫǝnzīr 'pig' [JM 445].
Jibbali: ḫanzír 'pig' [JJ 303].
Notes: According to [Zimmern 50] (followed by most later authorities, cf., e.g., [Jefferey 126], [LGz. 263]), the Arb. and Gez. forms are Aramaisms. While probably correct for Gez., this view needs serious argumentation in what concerns Arb., in particular because of the -n- which is not found in any attested Arm. language. As for the relationship between the Hbr. and Arm. forms and Akk. ḫumṣīru (also suggested by Zimmern and remarkably popular in Assyriological literature, see most recently [Englund 44]), it is most unlikely already for phonological reasons, not to speak about semantics (the Akk. term means 'mouse', not 'pig'). The MSA forms are likely borrowed from Arb. Cf. Tgr. ḥǝnǯur 'wasp' (d'Abb.: 'scarabée')' [LH 86], curious in view of the meaning shift 'sow' > 'kind of insect' presumably attested in Akk. (к переходу значения см. акк. выше). [Fron. 31]: *ḫa(z)zīr- 'maiale' (Arb., Syr., Hbr., Ugr. /ḫzr, ḫnzr/, Akk.); [KB 302]: Hbr., Arm., Ugr. (ḥnzr, sic!), Arb., Gez. (< Arb.), Akk. (ḫuzīru, ḫumṣīru); [Brock. 225-6]: Syr., Arm., Akk. (ḫumṣīru 'mus'); Arb. (ḫinzīr-) and Gez. are regarded as borrowings while the verbal root ḫzr 'strabo fuit' is unconvincingly posited as the true Arb. parallel for the present root; [LGz. 263]: Gez. (< Arb.), Arb., Hbr., Arm., Akk., Ugr. (ḫnzr, cf. above); [Firmage 1153]: Akk., Hbr., Ugr., Arm., Gez., Arb.
