Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/baʕl-

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

Noun

*baʕl- m

husband, master, lord

Inflection

Declension of *baʕl-
case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*baʕlum	*baʕlāna	plural stem + *-ūna
accusative	*baʕlam	*baʕlayna	plural stem + *-īna
genitive	*baʕlim	*baʕlayna	plural stem + *-īna

possessive forms
1^st person	baʕlī / baʕlVya	—	*baʕlVni
2^nd person m	*baʕlVka	baʕlVkumā / baʕlVkumay	*baʕlVkum(ū)
2^nd person f	*baʕlVki	baʕlVkumā / baʕlVkumay	*baʕlVkin(ā)
3^rd person m	*baʕlVšu	baʕlVšumā / baʕlVšumay	*baʕlVšum(ū)
3^rd person f	*baʕlVša	baʕlVšumā / baʕlVšumay	*baʕlVšin(ā)

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: *baʕluya for nom. case, *baʕliya for gen. case, *baʕlaya for acc. case, etc.

Derived terms

*baʕlat- (“mistress, lady”)

Descendants

East Semitic:
- Akkadian: 𒂗 (bēlum), bēlu (non-mimated)
  - → Ancient Greek: Βῆλος (Bêlos)
  - → Classical Mandaic: ࡁࡉࡋ (/⁠bīl⁠/)
  - → Classical Syriac: ܒܹܝܠ (/⁠bēl⁠/, “Bel, Jupiter, tin”)
  - → Old Armenian: Բէլ (Bēl)
West Semitic:
- Central Semitic:
  - Arabic: بَعْل (baʕl)
  - Northwest Semitic:
    - Aramaic: בַּעְלָא (baʿlā)
      - Classical Syriac: ܒܱ݁ܥܠܳܐ (baʿlā)
    - Canaanite:
      - Hebrew: בַּעַל (bá'al, báʿal)
        → Ancient Greek: Βάαλ (Báal)
        → Latin: Baal
      - Phoenician: 𐤁𐤏𐤋 (bʿl), 𒁀𒀪𒇻 (ba-ʾa-lu)
        Punic: 𐤁𐤏𐤋 (bʿl)
        
        → Ancient Greek: Βάαλ (Báal)
        → Latin: Baal
    - Ugaritic: 𐎁𐎓𐎍 (bʿl /⁠baʿlu⁠/)
  - Old South Arabian
    - Old South Arabian: 𐩨𐩲𐩡 (bʿl)
- Ethiopian Semitic:
  - Amharic: ባል (bal)
  - Ge'ez: በዓል (bäʿal)
  - Tigrinya: በዓል (bäʿal)
- Modern South Arabian:
  - Mehri: bāl (“owner”), abɛ́li (“God”)
  - Shehri: báʕal (“owner”), bʕéhl (“owner”), ʔɔʕź (“God”), ʔɔ̄ʕź (“God”), ʔɔ́ʕɔź (“God”)
  - Soqotri: baʕ- (“owner”, with pronominal suffixes only), di-báḥlʼe (“the owner of”, before nouns only), báʕlʼhi (“my Lord”)

References

^ “Ashurbanipal 006”, in Oracc: The Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus, University of Pennsylvania, (Can we date this quote?), Ashurbanipal 6: ii 26': “𒁹𒁀𒀪𒇻𒈗𒆳𒀫𒊑”

Kogan, Leonid (2015) Genealogical Classification of Semitic. The Lexical Isoglosses, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN
Kogan, Leonid (2019) “Additions and Corrections to Wolf Leslau's Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (1987–2017)”, in Journal of the American Oriental Society, volume 139, number 4, →DOI, page 895 to 84
Huehnergard, John (2019) “Proto-Semitic”, in Huehnergard, John and Na'ama Pat-El, editors, The Semitic Languages, 2nd edition, Routledge, →ISBN

[1] “Ashurbanipal 006”, in Oracc: The Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus, University of Pennsylvania, (Can we date this quote?), Ashurbanipal 6: ii 26': “𒁹𒁀𒀪𒇻𒈗𒆳𒀫𒊑”