Number: 2400
Proto-Semitic: *lVʔ-, lVʔ-at-
Meaning: head of large cattle
Akkadian: littu (lītu) 'cow', pl. liātu, lâtu 'bovines (of both sexes and all ages)' OB on [CAD l 217], [AHw. 557]. Rare syllabic attestations of littu in lexical lists and bi- linguals are mostly late (but cf. utul ša li-a-ti in Proto-Diri 278 and other passages in this list); li-it-tum šalmat 'cattle is well' in the OB letter AbB 10 189:3-5 is quite exceptional. More details see in [Stol 173-4], in particular on some relevant logograms and their readings. Cf. also lû (liu) 'bull' OB on [CAD l 227], [AHw. 560] (known from literary texts and lexical lists only; note that on some occasions l. is equated to Sum. PIRIG, together with the standard Akk. term for 'lion', nēšu). Possibly related is alû (elû) 'bull (as a mythological being)' Bogh, SB [CAD a1 377], [AHw. 39] (in lexical lists /= Sum. GU4.AN.NA/ and Gilgamesh). The word-initial a/e- finds a noteworthy parallel in the Soq. form below.
Eblaitic: lí-a-núm, lí-a-nu-um = ALIM, lí-a-tum = ALIM.SAL [MEE 4 731-2] (cf. [Civil Ebla 90]). The sequence lí-a-tum can be normalized as /liattum/ (im- plying an assimilation -nt- > -tt-) but also as /liatum/ with the fem. marker attached directly to the stem. For -ān- vs. -at- as markers of masc./fem. gender in Sem. cf. [Gelb Reconstruction 37].
Arabic: lāʔan 'taureau sauvage, buffle', laʔāt- 'vache sauvage' [BK 2 954], [Fr. IV 78], [LA XV 238], 'gazelle, antilope, neat' [WKAS l 74].
Mehri: lǝháytǝn 'cows' [JM 253].
Jibbali: léʔ (pl. lhóti) 'cow' [JJ 158]. Johnstone's remark "the plural form is m. in regard to con- cord" is interesting in view of the collective meaning of Akk. liātu.
Harsusi: lǝhētǝh id. [JM 253] (not in [JH]).
Soqotri: ʔélheh (ʔeléheh, ʔeléhoh) 'vache' [LS 61].
Notes: Cf. Tgr. lulit (pl. läwällit) '(cow) with long, crooked horns' [LH 44]. The Biblical proper name lēʔā 'Leah' [KB 513] is usually thought to denote wild cow (as opposed to rāḥēl 'ewe'). [Fron. 30]: *layʔ(-at)- 'toro, vacca' (Soq., Jib., Arb., Akk.); [AHw. 557]: Akk., Hbr., Arb.; [KB 513]: Hbr., Akk., Arb.; [LS 61]: Soq., Jib., Arb., Akk. (lû), Hbr. (with discussion on possible relationship to Gez. lāhm 'cow' as well as a number of Cushitic forms).
