pīrum

Akkadian

Etymology

Usually regarded as a loanword from some other non-Semitic or Afroasiatic language. Has been compared to Middle Egyptian pꜣ-ꜣb(w) (with the Egyptian definite article prefixed; reconstructed as /piʀ-ˈʀuːbaw/), from which Ancient Greek ἐλ-έφας (el-éphas) (whence also English elephant) and Latin eb-ur (“ivory”) are derived, too. Blažek 1998 postulates Proto-Semitic *pirl-, with assimilation r-l → r-r or r-l → l-l, yielding Akkadian forms 𒉿𒄿𒊒 (pīru) and 𒉿𒄿𒇻 (pīlu). Alternatively also said to be a loan from Proto-Dravidian *pal.

Pronunciation

• (Old Babylonian) IPA^(key): /ˈpiː.rum/

Noun

pīrum m or f (plural pīrū m or pīrātum f) (Babylonian, Middle Assyrian, Neo-Assyrian)

1. elephant

Alternative forms

• pīru (non-mimated)
• pīlu, pēru, pēlu

Cuneiform spellings

Logograms	Phonetic
𒄠𒋛 (AM.SI)	𒉿𒄿𒊒 (pi-i-ru) 𒉿𒂊𒊒 (pe-e-ru) 𒉿𒄿𒇻 (pi-i-lu) 𒉿𒇻 (pi-lu)

Descendants

• → Old Persian: 𐎱𐎡𐎽𐎢𐏁 (p-i-ru-u-š /⁠piruš⁠/, “ivory”)
• → Elamite: 𒉿𒊑𒌝𒈾 (pi-ri-um-na, “from ivory”)"
• → Middle Persian: pyl (pīl)
  • Persian: پیل (pil)
    • → Ottoman Turkish: پیل (pil)
    • → Ossetian: пыл (pyl), пил (pil)
  • → Arabic: فِيل (fīl)
    • → Azerbaijani: فیل / фил / fil (fil)
    • → Judeo-Tat: fil / фил / פאִל (fil / фил / fil)
    • → Central Kurdish: فیل (fîl)
    • → Middle Armenian: ֆիլ (fil)
      • Armenian: ֆիլ (fil)
    • → Old Norse: fíll
      • Faroese: fílur
      • Icelandic: fíll
      • ⇒ Old Norse: fílsbein (“ivory”)
        • Icelandic: fílsbein
        • Danish: filsben
    • → Ottoman Turkish: فیل (fil), ֆիլ (fil) — Armeno-Turkish
      • Turkish: fil
      • → Albanian: fil
      • → Laz: ჶილი (fili)
      • → Serbo-Croatian: fȉl／фи̏л
      • ⇒ Ottoman Turkish: فیل دیشی (fildişi, “ivory”)
        • Turkish: fildişi
        • → Romanian: fildeș
        • → Serbo-Croatian: фѝлдиш / fìldiš
        • → Greek: φίλντισι (fílntisi)
    • → Persian: فیل (fil)
      • → Bashkir: фил (fil)
        • → Yagnobi: фил (fil)
      • → Chechen: пийл (piı̇l)
      • → Georgian: ჶილი (fili) — Fereydan
      • → Hindi: फ़ील (fīl)
      • → Kazakh: піл (pıl)
      • → Kyrgyz: пил (pil)
      • → Northern Kurdish: fîl
      • → Pashto: پيل (pil)
      • → Tajik: фил (fil)
      • → Tatar: фил (fil)
      • → Turkmen: pil
      • → Urdu: فیل (fīl)
      • → Uyghur: پىل (pil)
      • → Uzbek: fil
    • → Old Spanish: alfil (“bishop (chess)”)
      • Spanish: alfil
      • → Asturian: alfil
      • → Galician: alfil
      • → Catalan: alfil
    • ⇒ Arabic: عَظْم اَلْفِيل (ʕaẓm al-fīl, “ivory”)
      • → Old Spanish: almalfil
        • Spanish: marfil
        • → Galician: marfil
        • → Catalan: marfil
      • → Old Galician-Portuguese: marfil, almafil
        • Portuguese: marfim
  • → Georgian: სპილო (sṗilo), პილო (ṗilo)
  • → Old Armenian: փիղ (pʻił)
    • Armenian: փիղ (pʻiġ)

References

• “pīru”, in The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD)‎^[1], Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 1956–2011
• Václav Blažek Two Greek words of a foreign origin : I. ἐλέφᾱς, II. φοῖνιξ, Sborník prací Filozofické fakulty brněnské univerzity. N, Řada klasická = Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 1998-1999, vol. 47-48, iss. N3-4