Common Vocabulary
Due to the Semitic languages' common origin, they share many words and roots. For example:
| English | Proto-Semitic | Akkadian | Arabic | Aramaic | Hebrew | Ge'ez | Mehri |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| father | *ʼab- | ab- | ʼab- | ʼaḇ-āʼ | ʼāḇ | ʼab | ḥa-yb |
| heart | *lib(a)b- | libb- | lubb- | lebb-āʼ | lēḇ(āḇ) | libb | ḥa-wbēb |
| house | *bayt- | bītu, bētu | bayt- | bayt-āʼ | báyiṯ, bêṯ | bet | beyt, bêt |
| peace | *šalām- | šalām- | salām- | šlām-āʼ | šālôm | salām | səlōm |
| tongue | *lišān-/*lašān- | lišān- | lisān- | leššān-āʼ | lāšôn | lissān | əwšēn |
| water | *may-/*māy- | mû (root *mā-/*māy-) | māʼ-/māy | mayy-āʼ | máyim | māy | ḥə-mō |
Sometimes certain roots differ in meaning from one Semitic language to another. For example, the root b-y-ḍ in Arabic has the meaning of "white" as well as "egg", whereas in Hebrew it only means "egg". The root l-b-n means "milk" in Arabic, but the color "white" in Hebrew. The root l-ḥ-m means "meat" in Arabic, but "bread" in Hebrew and "cow" in Ethiopian Semitic; the original meaning was most probably "food". The word medina (root: m-d-n) has the meaning of "metropolis" in Amharic and "city" in Arabic and Hebrew, but in Modern Hebrew it is usually used as "state".
Of course, there is sometimes no relation between the roots. For example, "knowledge" is represented in Hebrew by the root y-d-ʿ but in Arabic by the roots ʿ-r-f and ʿ-l-m and in Ethiosemitic by the roots ʿ-w-q and f-l-ṭ.
For more comparative vocabulary lists, see Wiktionary appendices:
- List of Proto-Semitic stems
- Swadesh lists for Afro-Asiatic languages
Read more about this topic: Semitic Languages
Famous quotes containing the words common and/or vocabulary:
“It is with deep grief that I learn of the death of your kind and brave Father; and, especially, that it is affecting your young heart beyond what is common in such cases.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“Institutional psychiatry is a continuation of the Inquisition. All that has really changed is the vocabulary and the social style. The vocabulary conforms to the intellectual expectations of our age: it is a pseudo-medical jargon that parodies the concepts of science. The social style conforms to the political expectations of our age: it is a pseudo-liberal social movement that parodies the ideals of freedom and rationality.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)