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Semitic etymology :

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\data\semham\semet
Number: 2581
Proto-Semitic: *ṭap(a)ḥ-
Afroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology
Meaning: span, palm of hand
Hebrew: ṭäpaḥ (also ṭōpaḥ, ṭapḥā) 'hand-breadth, span' [KB 378]
Judaic Aramaic: ṭpḥ 'handbreadth' [Sok 229].

    Borrowed from, or influenced by, HBR ?

Amharic: ṭǝffi 'palm of the hand' [K 2192]
Soqotri: ṭáfaḥ 'bord (du pied, de la main)' [SSL LS 1477].

    Cf. the authors' comment: "selon un de nos informateurs ṭ. désigne un "bord" en général" [ibid.]; in [LS 207] ṭófḥoh is rendered as 'côté' (with a reference to ARB ḌOFAR ṭofḥ 'der Rücken, die stumpfe Seite der einseitigen Schwertklinge' [Rhodokanakis 36]). Note QALAN-V ṭā́faɣ di-ŝāf (di-hēd) 'dessus du pied (de la main)' [SSL 4 92] where -ɣ in ṭā́faɣ is hard to explain. Cf. also ṭayif 'stretch (hand)'

Notes: Rather scarcely attested; diverse meaning shifts.

    The connection with a widespread verbal root *ṭpḥ 'to spread' (cf., for instance, [KB 378]) is not quite clear; it is evident, however, that the assumption of a denominative verb in this case is no less tenable than that of a deverbal noun.

    There is AKK ṭappu 'sole of the foot' quoted without reference in [KB 378] (not in [AHw]), most probably based on [Holma 138].

    Note a derived verb to be recognized as common SEM, in ARM: JUD ṭpḥ (paʕ) 'to slap, strike with the hand; to clap hands' [Ja 546], [Sok 229], SYR ṭǝpaḥ 'pugnis cecidit; complosit (manus)' [Brock 285] and ETH: GEZ ṭafḥa 'to clap the hands' [LGz 588], (?) AMH ṭäffa 'to slap, give a slap' [K 2192] (the latter may alternatively go back to *ṣpʕ, cf. TGR ṣäfʕa 'to slap in the face' [LH 650]). Cf. also JIB ṭéfaḥ 'to scoop a little water' [JJ 274], with a presumed meaning shift 'palm of hand' > 'to scoop by hand'. Cf. another meaning shift in ARB ṭāfiḥ- 'trop grand pour tenir dans la main' (e.g. rukbatun ṭāfiḥatun 'genou dont la rotule est tellement grande que la main ne peut pas l'embrasser') [BK 2 88].

    One wonders whether MSA: MHR ṭáfḥ 'mountain side' [JM 407], JIB ṭafḥ 'steep mountain side' [JJ 275] may be a semantic development from 'palm, sole'

semet-proto,semet-prnum,semet-meaning,semet-hbr,semet-jud,semet-amh,semet-soq,semet-notes,

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