Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/rayam-

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 edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Afroasiatic, cognate to Proto-Cushitic *rūm- (“tall”), perhaps Hausa ríímíí (“to rear up”). With Nöldeke the Semitic *rayam- is paired with a *rawam- since we have يَرُومُ (yarūmu, “to strive, to aim at”) together with يَرِيمُ (yarīmu, “to depart from”) and Aramaic and Ugaritic show prefix conjugation with both middle -ū- and -ī- in their verb “to get up”, Hebrew only -ū-. Another variant is pointed at by Arabic وَرِمَ (warima, “to swell, to be swollen”) and the variant prefix conjugation form in Aramaic יַירַם (yīram), Hebrew יַיָּרַם (yayyāram) , Akkadian 𒊓𒁯 (erimu, “swelling; mole, lesion, raised skin, scar”), Egyptian wrm (“high figure; flooding”), and maybe there is a relation to the not infrequent Classical Syriac ܝܺܪܶܒ (yireḇ, “to be great, to be much”); another possible variant is أَرْم (ʔarm, “stature, form of the body”); أَرِم (ʔarim) / إِرَم (ʔiram, “large stone to indicate the way in the desert”), أُرَم (ʔuram, “finger-tips; molar teeth; pebbles, gravel”); and lastly maybe even Egyptian mr (“pyramid”) is related, together or without Arabic أَمَرَة (ʔamara, “heap of stones, mound, esp. as a way-marker”), Akkadian 𒀀𒈥𒌈 (amartum, “dividing wall”), 𒋞𒀲 (amarum, “pile of bricks”), Hebrew אָמִיר (ʾāmîr, “treetop, mountain summit”).

Verb edit

*rayam-

to be high, to be raised, to be on top

Conjugation edit

Conjugation of Proto-Semitic/rayam- (paʕala)

		singular				dual			plural
verbal noun					*raym-
active participle					*rāyim-
passive participle					rayīm-, rayūm-
		1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person		1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person	1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person
perfect	m	*rayamku	*rayamka	*rayama		*rayamkayā	*rayamkā	*rayamā	*rayamna	*rayamkanu	*rayamū
perfect	f	*rayamku	*rayamki	*rayamat		*rayamkayā	*rayamkā	*rayamatā	*rayamna	*rayamkina	*rayamā

imperfect	m	*ʔarīm	*tarīm	*yirīm			*tarīmā	*yarīmā	*nirīm	*tarīmū	*yirīmū
imperfect	f	*ʔarīm	*tarīmī	*tarīm			*tarīmā	*tarīmā	*nirīm	*tarīmā	*yirīmā

imperative	m		*rīm				*rīmā			*rīmū
imperative	f		*rīmī				*rīmā			*rīmā

Descendants edit

East Semitic:
- Akkadian: 𒊑 (ramûm)
- Eblaite: 𒉌𒊏𒈬 (ni-ra-mu)
West Semitic:
- Central Semitic:
  - Arabic: رَامَ (rāma)
  - Northwest Semitic:
    - Aramaic:
      Biblical Aramaic, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, Jewish Literary Aramaic, Jewish Babylonian Aramaic רָם (rām)
      - Christian Palestinian Aramaic, Classical Syriac: ܪܳܡ (rām)
    - Canaanite:
      - Hebrew: רָם (ram, rām)
    - Ugaritic: 𐎗𐎎 (rm /⁠rāma⁠/)
  - Old South Arabian:
    - Old South Arabian: 𐩧𐩺𐩣 (rym)
- Ethiopian Semitic:
  - Ge'ez: ረየመ (räyämä)
→ Egyptian: rꜣmꜥ (/⁠râma⁠/), rwmw (/⁠rômu⁠/, “to be high”)

References edit

Dillmann, August (1865) Lexicon linguae aethiopicae cum indice latino (in Latin), Leipzig: T. O. Weigel, columns 312–313
Leslau, Wolf (1991) Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 478
Olmo Lete, Gregorio del with Sanmartín, Joaquín and Watson, Wilfred G. E. (2015) “Proto-Semitic/rayam-”, in A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition (Handbook of Oriental Studies; 112), 3rd edition, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 729
Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎^[1] (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, page 70
Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 367–368, →ISBN
Hoch, James E. (1994) Semitic Words in Egyptian Texts of the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, Princeton: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, pages 204–205