Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/kalb-

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

Etymology

Diakonoff argues that the *-b of the root is likely a fossilized nominal class suffix pertaining to “harmful animals”, comparing Proto-Semitic *ḏiʔb- (“wolf”) as well as *ʕaḳrab- (“scorpion”), *ṯaʕlab- (“fox”), *dubb- (“bear”) and *ʔarnab- (“hare”).

Noun

*kalb- m

1. dog

Inflection

Declension of *kalb-

case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*kalbum	*kalbāna	plural stem + *-ūna
accusative	*kalbam	*kalbayna	plural stem + *-īna
genitive	*kalbim
possessive forms
1st person	*kalbī / *kalbVya	—	*kalbVni
2nd person m	*kalbVka	*kalbVkumā / *kalbVkumay	*kalbVkum(ū)
2nd person f	*kalbVki		*kalbVkin(ā)
3rd person m	*kalbVšu	*kalbVšumā / *kalbVšumay	*kalbVšum(ū)
3rd person f	*kalbVša		*kalbVšin(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: *kalbuya for nom. case, *kalbiya for gen. case, *kalbaya for acc. case, etc.

Descendants

• East Semitic:
  • Akkadian: 𒌨 (kalbum)
• West Semitic:
  • Central Semitic:
    • Arabic: كَلْب (kalb)
      • Gulf Arabic: چَلْب (/t͡ʃəlb/), جَلْب (čalb)
      • Hijazi Arabic: كلب (kalb)
      • Maltese: kelb
      • Moroccan Arabic: كلب (kalb)
      • → Gujarati: કલ્બ (kalb)
      • → Ottoman Turkish: كلب (kelp)
      • → Russian: калби́т (kalbít)
      • → Swahili: kelbu
    • Northwest Semitic:
      • Aramaic: כַּלְבָּא (kalbā)
        • Classical Syriac: ܟܱ݁ܠܒܴ݁ܐ (kalbā)
      • Canaanite:
        • Hebrew: כֶּלֶב (kélev, kéleḇ)
        • Phoenician: 𐤊𐤋𐤁 (klb)
      • Ugaritic: 𐎋𐎍𐎁 (klb /⁠kalbu⁠/)
    • Old South Arabian:
      • Sabaean: 𐩫𐩡𐩨 (klb)
      • Hadramautic: 𐩫𐩡𐩨 (klb)
  • Ethiopian Semitic:
    • Amharic: ከልብ (kälb)
    • Ge'ez: ከልብ (kälb)
    • Tigre: ከልብ (kälb)
    • Tigrinya: ከልቢ (kälbi)
  • Modern South Arabian:
    • Mehri: كَوب (kawb)

References

• Militarev, Alexander, Kogan, Leonid (2000–2005) Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag
• Huehnergard, John (2019) “Proto-Semitic”, in Huehnergard, John and Na'ama Pat-El, editors, The Semitic Languages, 2nd edition, Routledge, →ISBN