Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/ʔarbaʕ-

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.

*ʔarbaʕ-

1. four

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

• East Semitic:
  • Akkadian: 𒐉 (erbet)
• West Semitic:
  • Central Semitic:
    • Arabic: أَرْبَعَة (ʔarbaʕa)
      • Egyptian Arabic: أربعة (ʔaṛbaʕa)
      • Maltese: erbgħa
      • Moroccan Arabic: ربعة (rabʕa), أربعة (ʔarbʕa)
    • Dadanitic: 𐪑𐪇𐪈𐪒 (ʾrbʿ)
    • Northwest Semitic:
      • Aramaic:

        Western Neo-Aramaic: ܐܪܒ݆ܥܐ m (ʾarpʿa), ܐܪܒ݆ܥ f (ʾarpaʿ)

        • Classical Syriac: ܐܰܪܒ݁ܥܳܐ (ʾarbʿā)
      • Canaanite:
        • Hebrew: אַרְבָּעָה ('arba'á, ʾarbāʿâ)
        • Phoenician: 𐤀𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤕 (ʾrbʿt)
      • Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎗𐎁𐎓𐎚 (ảrbʿt /⁠ʾarbaʿatu⁠/)
    • Safaitic: 𐪑𐪇𐪈𐪒 (ʾrbʿ /⁠ʾarbaʿ⁠/), 𐪑𐪇𐪈𐪒𐪉 (ʾrbʿt /⁠ʾarbaʿat⁠/)
  • Ethiopian Semitic:
    • Amharic: አራት (ʾärat)
    • Ge'ez: አርበዕቱ (ʾärbäʿtu)
    • Tigre: አርበዕ (ʾärbäʿ)
    • Tigrinya: ኣርባዕተ (ʾarbaʿtä)
• → Proto-Kartvelian: *arwa- (“eight”) (borrowed via a dual form)
  • Proto-Georgian-Zan:
    • Old Georgian: რვაჲ (rvay)
      • Georgian: რვა (rva)
    • Zan:
      • Laz: ოვრო (ovro), ორვო (orvo) — Lome
      • Mingrelian: რუო (ruo), ბრუო (bruo)
  • Svan: არა (ara)

• Huehnergard, John (2019) “Proto-Semitic”, in Huehnergard, John and Na'ama Pat-El, editors, The Semitic Languages, 2nd edition, Routledge, →ISBN