Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/ʔarḫ-

This Proto-Semitic 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-Semitic

Noun

*ʔarḫ- f

1. cow

Inflection

Declension of *ʔarḫ-

case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*ʔarḫum	*ʔarḫāna	plural stem + *-ūna
accusative	*ʔarḫam	*ʔarḫayna	plural stem + *-īna
genitive	*ʔarḫim
possessive forms
1st person	*ʔarḫī / *ʔarḫVya	—	*ʔarḫVni
2nd person m	*ʔarḫVka	*ʔarḫVkumā / *ʔarḫVkumay	*ʔarḫVkum(ū)
2nd person f	*ʔarḫVki		*ʔarḫVkin(ā)
3rd person m	*ʔarḫVšu	*ʔarḫVšumā / *ʔarḫVšumay	*ʔarḫVšum(ū)
3rd person f	*ʔarḫVša		*ʔarḫVšin(ā)

the endings -m and -na are dropped in the bound form, which may also undergo syncopation of an unstressed final vowel where possible. Note: the ending -V before the possessive endings responds to case: *ʔarḫuya for nom. case, *ʔarḫiya for gen. case, *ʔarḫaya for acc. case, etc.

Descendants

• East Semitic:
  • Akkadian: 𒀖 (arḫum)
• West Semitic:
  • Central Semitic:
    • Arabic: أَرْخ (ʔarḵ), إِرْخ (ʔirḵ)
      • Maltese: erħa
    • Northwest Semitic:
      • Ammonite: 𐤀𐤓𐤇 (ʾrḥ)
      • Imperial Aramaic: [Demotic needed] (ʔrḫ)
      • Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎗𐎃 (ảrḫ)
  • Modern South Arabian:
    • Soqotri: ʔarḥ
  • Ethiopian Semitic:
    • Tigrinya: ኣርሒ (ʾarḥi), ኣርሓ (ʾarḥa)

References

• Militarev, Alexander, Kogan, Leonid (2005) “*ˀarḫ-”, in Semitic Etymological Dictionary, volume II: Animal Names, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 16–17, Nr. 12