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
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