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

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Adjective

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*ʔaḥad-

  1. one, single, only

Usage notes

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  • 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

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Descendants

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  • East Semitic:
    • Akkadian: 𒀸 m (wēdum)
  • West Semitic:

References

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  • 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