Reconstruction:Proto-Afroasiatic/dab-

This Proto-Afroasiatic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Afroasiatic

Alternative reconstructions

• *dub-

Etymology

Perhaps from Proto-Afroasiatic *dăr- (“to enlarge”) + *-b ("harmful animal").

Noun

*dab-

1. large harmful animal

Descendants

• Proto-Berber: ("bear")
  • Central Atlas Tamazight: ⴰⴱⴰⴱⴱⵓⵥ (ababbuẓ, “bear”)
  • Tachawit: abubaz (“bear”)
• Proto-Cushitic: ("taurus")
  • Somali: dibi (“taurus”)
  • Jiiddu: dow (“taurus”)
• Egyptian: db (“hippopotamus”)
• Proto-Semitic: *dubb- (“bear”)

References

• Orel, Vladimir E., Stolbova, Olga V. (1995) Hamito-Semitic Etymological Dictionary: Materials for a Reconstruction (Handbuch der Orientalistik; I.18), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill, page 139.