Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/ʔaḥad-

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

Adjective

*ʔaḥad-

1. one, single, only

Usage notes

• Various reconstructions proposed, e.g. *waḥad-.
• Often claimed to mean "one", but Wilson-Wright (2014) provides evidence to suggest that it was not at all used as a cardinal numeral in Proto-Semitic but rather supplanted earlier *ʕašt- as a cardinal numeral in West Semitic languages, mostly losing its adjectival sense.

Inflection

Declension of *ʔaḥad-

Case	Singular		Dual		Plural
	m	f	m	f	m	f
Nominative	*ʔaḥadum	*ʔaḥadatum	*ʔaḥadāna	*ʔaḥadatāna	*ʔaḥadūna	*ʔaḥadātum
Genitive	*ʔaḥadim	*ʔaḥadatim	*ʔaḥadayna	*ʔaḥadatayna	*ʔaḥadīna	*ʔaḥadātim
Accusative	*ʔaḥadam	*ʔaḥadatam

Descendants

• East Semitic:
  • Akkadian: 𒀸 m (wēdum)
• West Semitic:
  • Central Semitic:
    • Arabic: أَحَد m (ʔaḥad), إِحْدَى f (ʔiḥdā)
    • Northwest Semitic:
      • Aramaic: חַד m (ḥaḏ), חֲדָא f (ḥăḏā)

        Palmyrene Aramaic: 𐡠𐡧𐡣 m (ʾḥd)

        Western Neo-Aramaic: ܐܚܕ m (ʾaḥḥaḏ), ܐܚܕܐ f (ʾeḥḏa)

        • Classical Syriac: ܚܰܕ m (ḥaḏ), ܚܕܳܐ f (ḥḏā)
        • Turoyo: ܚܰܐ (ḥa)
      • Canaanite:
        • Biblical Hebrew: אֶחָד m (ʾeḥāḏ), אַחַת f (ʾaḥaṯ)
          • Israeli Hebrew: אֶחָד m ('ekhád), אַחַת f ('akhát)
      • Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎈𐎄 m (ảḥd /⁠ʾaḥḥadu⁠/), 𐎀𐎈𐎚 f (ảḥt /⁠ʾaḥḥattu⁠/)
  • Ethiopian Semitic:
    • Amharic: አንድ m (ʾänd)
    • Ge'ez: አሐዱ m (ʾäḥädu), አሐቲ f (ʾäḥätti)
    • Tigre: ሐቴ f (ḥäte)
    • Tigrinya: ሓደ m (ḥadä)
  • Modern South Arabian:
    • Mehri: [script needed] m (ʾəḥād)

References

• Wilson-Wright, Aren, "The Word for 'One' in Proto-Semitic", Journal of Semitic Studies 59.1 (2014) 1-13.
• Huehnergard, John (2019) “Proto-Semitic”, in Huehnergard, John and Na'ama Pat-El, editors, The Semitic Languages, 2nd edition, Routledge, →ISBN, page 61