Semitic etymology : Query result

Number: 101

Proto-Semitic: *ŝa(n)p-(at-)

Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology

Meaning: lip

Akkadian: šaptu OAkk on [CAD š1 483], [AHw 1176]

Eblaitic: sa-ba-tum, sa-íb-tum /s^yap(a)tum ?/ [Kr 11; Bl E No. 25]

Ugaritic: špt [Aist 313]

Hebrew: ŝāpā [KB 1346].

Cf. ŝāpām 'moustache' [ibid. 1348], otherwise from *ŝa(ʕ)p-at- (No. ). Note the translation 'upper lip' given for PB ŝāpām in [Ja 1618]

Aramaic: OLD OFF špt [HJ 1181]

Judaic Aramaic: siptā 'border, lip, hem' [Ja 985] (also orthographic variants with ŝ [ibid. 1620]).

Note the forms with no fem. suffix -t and with -w as a "complementary" third radical: sipwā 'lip' [ibid. 985], sypwwh, det. sypwwth, pl. sypwwn, sypwwyn 'lip, border, bank' [Sok 376]. Cf. sǝpāmā 'upper lip' [Ja 1618], ŝpmh 'border of a garment, upper lip' [Sok 572] (metathetic <*ŝamp- <*ŝanp-? or to be compared directly to HBR ŝāpām 'moustache'?)

Syrian Aramaic: septā [Brock 489]

Modern Aramaic: MAL sefft_a 'Lippe' [Berg 79] MLḤS sepso 'Lippe' [J Mlah 189] HRT septa 'Lippe' [J Hert 198] NASS siptä 'shore, border' [Tser 0150] URM si..ppat 'face, facial expression' [R Urmi 102] MMND seftā 'lip' [M MND 509] IRAN *siptā 'il labbro, la risa' (c.suff. sipwātíhçyß 'le mie labbra' [Pen 122]

Mandaic Aramaic: sipta [DM 329]

Arabic: šafat- (šifat-), pl. šifāh-, šafawāt- [BK 1 1251]

Tigre: šanǝf 'mouth (of animals)' [LH 221]

Notes: See -n- in TGR and derived verbs in ARB and TNA; note -at- everywhere except TGR.

Probably < *ŝa(n)ṗ-(at-) {} *ĉa(n)ṗ-(at-). Cf. examples with -b as a third radical: ARB šnb 'avoir des belles dents et la bouche fraîche' [BK 1 1274], šawānib- 'moustache' [ibid. 1275] and SOQ ŝébǝh 'lèvre' [LS 424], [SSL LS 1472] (see also [SSL 1 287]); note also EBL.

Of interest is a meaning shift in ESA: SAB s₂ft 'promise; vow; instruction, order' [SD 131], QAT s₂ft 'to promise' [Ricks 170].

Note a derived verb *ŝnp (common SEM or, less likely, an Arabism in TNA?): ARB šnf 'avoir la lèvre supérieure relevée, retroussée' [BK 1 1277], TNA šänfäwä 'avere le labbra sproporzionante, p. e. il superiore essere più lungo dell inferiore o vicersa' [Bass 234].

Cf. AKK sapsapu 'lower lip' MA, SB [CAD s 167], [AHw 1027]; a reduplicated stem with s instead of š or a variant root? Cf. EGYP МHЕ

[Fron 44] (*ŝap-at- 'labbro' /TNA šänfäf 'labbro', not in [Bass], ARB, SYR, HBR, UGR, AKK/); [Holma 32]: AKK, HBR, ARB, SYR; [KB 1346]: HBR, ARM, UGR, AKK, ESA, ARB, TNA