Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/šabʕ-

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

Alternative reconstructions

  • *sₓabʕ-
  • *sabʕ-

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Afroasiatic *sṗɣ (“seven”). Compare with Egyptian sfḫw and Proto-Berber *saβ (whence Central Atlas Tamazight ⵙⴰ (sa)). The expected Akkadian reflex of *šabʕ- would be šebet instead of Akkadian sebet; Dušan Milenković explains this by reconstructing Proto-Semitic *sabʕ- [t͡sabʕ-] instead, and suggests that *sabʕ- [t͡sabʕ-] changed to *šabʕ- [sabʕ-] in Proto-West-Semitic under influence of Proto-Semitic *šidṯ- [sidθ-].[1]

Numeral

Proto-Semitic numbers (edit)
 ←  6 7 8  → 
    Cardinal: *šabʕ-

*šabʕ-

  1. seven

Usage notes

This number exhibited chiastic concord (gender polarity), in which masculine forms were used to agree with feminine nouns, and feminine forms with masculine nouns.

Inflection

Declension of *šabʕ-
m f
nominative *šabʕum *šabʕatum
accusative *šabʕam *šabʕatam
genitive *šabʕim *šabʕatim

Descendants

  • East Semitic:
    • Akkadian: 𒐌 (sebet)
  • West Semitic:

References

  • Huehnergard, John (2019) “Proto-Semitic”, in Huehnergard, John and Na'ama Pat-El, editors, The Semitic Languages, 2nd edition, Routledge, →ISBN, page 61
  1. ^ (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics 99) Benjamin Suchard - The Development of the Biblical Hebrew Vowels: Including a Concise Historical Morphology, Brill (2019), p. 58
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