Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/raʔš-

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

*raʔš- m

1. head

Inflection

Declension of *raʔš-

case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*raʔšum	*raʔšāna	plural stem + *-ūna
accusative	*raʔšam	*raʔšayna	plural stem + *-īna
genitive	*raʔšim
possessive forms
1st person	*raʔšī / *raʔšVya	—	*raʔšVni
2nd person m	*raʔšVka	*raʔšVkumā / *raʔšVkumay	*raʔšVkum(ū)
2nd person f	*raʔšVki		*raʔšVkin(ā)
3rd person m	*raʔšVšu	*raʔšVšumā / *raʔšVšumay	*raʔšVšum(ū)
3rd person f	*raʔšVša		*raʔšVšin(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: *raʔšuya for nom. case, *raʔšiya for gen. case, *raʔšaya for acc. case, etc.

Descendants

• East Semitic:
  • Akkadian: 𒊕 (rēšum)
  • Eblaite: 𒌷𒉈 (rí-še₆ /riʔši/ [URU.NE])
• West Semitic:
  • Central Semitic:
    • Arabic: رَأْس (raʔs)
      • Egyptian Arabic: راس (rās)
      • Gulf Arabic: راس (rās)
      • Maltese: ras
      • Moroccan Arabic: راس (rās)
      • → Punjabi: ਰਾਸ (rās)
      • → Swahili: rasi
      • → Ottoman Turkish: رأس (re's)
    • Northwest Semitic:
      • Aramaic: רֵישָׁא (rēšā)
        • Classical Syriac: ܪܶܝܫܳܐ (rēšā)
      • Canaanite:
        • Hebrew: רֹאשׁ (rosh, rōʾš), רָאשִׁים pl (rashím, rāʾšîm), רֵאשִׁית (reshít, rēʾšîṯ, “beginning”), רִאשׁוֹן (rishón, riʾšôn, “first”)
        • Moabite: 𐤓𐤔 (rš)
        • Phoenician: 𐤓𐤀𐤔 (rʾš)
      • Ugaritic: 𐎗𐎛𐎌 (rỉš /⁠raʾšu⁠/)
    • Old South Arabian:
      • (Epigraphic) Old South Arabian: 𐩧𐩱𐩪 (rʾs¹)
      • Sabaean: 𐩧𐩱𐩪 (rʾs¹)
  • Ethiopian Semitic:
    • Amharic: ራስ (ras)
    • Ge'ez: ርእስ (rəʾs)
    • Tigre: ረኣስ (räʾas)
    • Tigrinya: ርእሲ (rəʾsi)

References

• Kogan, Leonid (2015) Genealogical Classification of Semitic. The Lexical Isoglosses, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN
• Huehnergard, John (2019) “Proto-Semitic”, in Huehnergard, John and Na'ama Pat-El, editors, The Semitic Languages, 2nd edition, Routledge, →ISBN