Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/māy-
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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
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-Afroasiatic *maʔ-.
Noun
*māy- m pl
Inflection
Declension of *māy-
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *māyum | *māyāna | plural stem + *-ūna | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genitive | *māyim | *māyayna | plural stem + *-īna | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accusative | *māyam | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| possessive forms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st person | *māyī / *māyVya | — | *māyVni | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd person m | *māyVka | *māyVkumā / *māyVkumay | *māyVkum(ū) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd person f | *māyVki | *māyVkin(ā) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3rd person m | *māyVšu | *māyVšumā / *māyVšumay | *māyVšum(ū) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3rd person f | *māyVša | *māyVšin(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: *māyuya for nom. case, *māyiya for gen. case, *māyaya for acc. case, etc. Declension of 2sg m. possessive form (your/thy m.) *māy-
Declension of 2sg f. possessive form (your/thy f.) *māy-
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Reconstruction notes
Kogan gives the reconstructed form as *mā̆y-, with vowel length uncertain. No inflection is shown here; the Akkadian and some West Semitic forms are plural only, as are the Proto-Berber and Egyptian forms, suggesting that the same may have been the case for Proto-Semitic.
Descendants
- East Semitic:
- Akkadian: 𒀀 (mû)
- West Semitic:
- Central Semitic:
- Arabic: مَاء (māʔ), مَاه (māh), مَي (may) — poetic or dialectal
- Algerian Arabic: ما (mā)
- Andalusian Arabic: ما (mā)
- Baharna Arabic: مي (me)
- Chadian Arabic: المي (almi)
- Egyptian Arabic: مية (máyya)
- Gulf Arabic: ماي (māy)
- Hassaniya Arabic: ما (ma)
- Hijazi Arabic: موية (mōya)
- Iraqi Arabic: ماي (māy)
- Juba Arabic: moya
- Nubi: moyo
- Libyan Arabic: مي (me)
- Maltese: ilma
- Moroccan Arabic: ما (mā)
- North Levantine Arabic: مَي (may)
- South Levantine Arabic: مي (ṃayy)
- Sudanese Arabic: موية (mōya)
- Northwest Semitic:
- Old South Arabian:
- Sabaean: 𐩣𐩥 (mw)
- Safaitic: 𐪃𐪚 m (my /māy/), 𐪃𐪚𐪉 f (myt /mayyat/), 𐪃𐪅𐪑 (mwʾ /mowayʾ/), 𐪃𐪑 (mʾ /māʾ/)
- Arabic: مَاء (māʔ), مَاه (māh), مَي (may) — poetic or dialectal
- Modern South Arabian:
- Ethiopian Semitic:
- Central Semitic:
References
- Kogan, Leonid (2011) “Proto-Semitic Lexicon”, in Weninger, Stefan, editor, The Semitic Languages. An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft – Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science; 36), Berlin: De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 191
- Alexander Militarev, A complete etymology-based hundred wordlist of Semitic updated: Items 75-100, in the Journal of Language Relationhip