Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/ṣ́arrat-
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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
Etymology
The term is not to be separated from the root’s ض ر ر (ḍ-r-r) meaning of “necessity”, the thought being that it was obligatory to take a woman as a wife under particular circumstances, namely when a married brother died without leaving issue, soon also after the root that the family suffered “damage”, which predicament of ill fate is the actual reason why the term bears a faint negative connotation to this day in Arabic, senses of “hostility” or “enmity” leading to the idea of a rival wife not having developed unlike in Ethiopian Semitic and Old South Arabian where they prevail.
Noun
*ṣ́arrat- f
Inflection
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *ṣ́arratum | *ṣ́arratāna | *ṣ́arrātum | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genitive | *ṣ́arratim | *ṣ́arratayna | *ṣ́arrātim | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accusative | *ṣ́arratam | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| possessive forms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st person | *ṣ́arratī / *ṣ́arratVya | — | *ṣ́arratVni | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd person m | *ṣ́arratVka | *ṣ́arratVkumā / *ṣ́arratVkumay | *ṣ́arratVkum(ū) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd person f | *ṣ́arratVki | *ṣ́arratVkin(ā) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3rd person m | *ṣ́arratVšu | *ṣ́arratVšumā / *ṣ́arratVšumay | *ṣ́arratVšum(ū) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3rd person f | *ṣ́arratVša | *ṣ́arratVšin(ā) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Note: the endings -m and -na are dropped in the bound form, which may also undergo syncopation of an unstressed final vowel where possible.
Note: the ending -V before the possessive endings responds to case: *ṣ́arratuya for nom. case, *ṣ́arratiya for gen. case, *ṣ́arrataya for acc. case, etc. Declension of 2sg m. possessive form (your/thy m.) *ṣ́arrat-
Declension of 2sg f. possessive form (your/thy f.) *ṣ́arrat-
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Descendants
- East Semitic:
- Akkadian: 𒁮𒋰𒁀 (ṣerretum)
- West Semitic:
References
- Lagarde, Paul de (1882) “צרה”, in Nachrichten von der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, number 13, pages 393–408
- Leslau, Wolf (1991) Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 152b, groups the terms under the misleading gloss “rival wife”, seeing the Geʿez root exclusively bearing senses of foeship.