Arabic-L:LING:'hair' etymology

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Mon 09 Apr 2008
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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-------------------------Directory------------------------------------

1) Subject:'hair' etymology
2) Subject:'hair' etymology

-------------------------Messages-----------------------------------
1)
Date: 09 Apr 2008
From:"jmurg" <jmurg at cox.net>
Subject:'hair' etymology

One of my professors used to refer to "non-synonymous, homophonous  
roots." It will be interesting to see what the Arabic-L verdict is on  
this!
-- Jackie Murgida

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2)
Date: 09 Apr 2008
From:Uri Horesh <urih at mail.utexas.edu>
Subject:'hair' etymology

I haven't checked this thoroughly, but here's my two-cents' worth  
based on a
synchronic analysis with Hebrew and my knowledge of comparative Semitic:

Hebrew has two distinct roots:

sh-3-r for verbs such as /she:3e:r/ (/shier/ in Modern Hebrew),  
'estimate'

s'-3-r for the noun /s'e:3a:r/ (/sear/ in MH), 'hair'

I am using /s'/ here to represent the "third sibilant", historically
reconstructed as a voiceless lateral fricative. In MH it has merged in
pronunciation with /s/, but is still written as a "shin" with a  
diacritical
dot on the left (as opposed to the "regular" shin with a diacritical  
on the
right, pronounced /sh/).

While Arabic has 28 consonantal phonemes, more than any living Semitic
language, it lacks that 29th consonant. Only Epigraphic South Arabian  
has
graphemes for 29 consonants. Tiberian Hebrew has 22 graphemes, but  
with that
diacritic really has 23 consonantal phonemes. That 23rd Hebrew phoneme  
is
associated with the 29th ESA phoneme, the only Proto-Semitic phoneme not
attested in Arabic. The Ethiopic script also has three graphemes,  
though in
modern Ethiopian languages (e.g., Amharic), they are all pronounced /s/.

What happened in Arabic, historically (i.e., prior to the  
solidification of
Arabic orthography as we know it) is that /s'/ and /sh/ have merged  
as /sh/.

The real picture is really a bit more complex, because Arabic /sh/  
usually
corresponds with Hebrew /s/, not Hebrew /sh/, but there are individual
exceptions, even within a single word, e.g., Arabic /shams/ and Hebrew
/shemesh/.

It is therefore my conclusion that Arabic /sha3r/ 'hair' should be
reconstructed as Proto-Semitic /s'a3r/ (root s'-3-r), whereas Arabic
/sha3ara/ 'feel' is cognate with Hebrew /she:3e:r/ 'estimate' and  
should be
reconstructed as having derived from PS root sh-3-r.

What to do with the Arabic root s-3-r is another question that has to be
dealt with in this context, but the solution to that problem, I believe,
will be immaterial to the question at hand.

So I'd cease looking for explanations linking 'hair' with 'sense' or
'feeling' and stick to the evidence provided across Semitic languages.

Comments are welcome.

Uri Horesh
http://www.endhomophobia.org

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