Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/rayam-

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.

From Proto-Afroasiatic, cognate to Proto-Cushitic *rūm- (“tall”), perhaps Hausa ríímíí (“to rear up”). With Nöldeke the Semitic *rayam- is paired with a *rawam- since we have يَرُومُ (yarūmu, “to strive, to aim at”) together with يَرِيمُ (yarīmu, “to depart from”) and Aramaic and Ugaritic show prefix conjugation with both middle -ū- and -ī- in their verb “to get up”, Hebrew only -ū-. Another variant is pointed at by Arabic وَرِمَ (warima, “to swell, to be swollen”) and the variant prefix conjugation form in Aramaic יַירַם (yīram), Hebrew יַיָּרַם (yayyāram) , Akkadian 𒊓𒁯 (erimu, “swelling; mole, lesion, raised skin, scar”), Egyptian wrm (“high figure; flooding”), and maybe there is a relation to the not infrequent Classical Syriac ܝܺܪܶܒ (yireḇ, “to be great, to be much”); another possible variant is أَرْم (ʔarm, “stature, form of the body”); أَرِم (ʔarim) / إِرَم (ʔiram, “large stone to indicate the way in the desert”), أُرَم (ʔuram, “finger-tips; molar teeth; pebbles, gravel”); and lastly maybe even Egyptian mr (“pyramid”) is related, together or without Arabic أَمَرَة (ʔamara, “heap of stones, mound, esp. as a way-marker”), Akkadian 𒀀𒈥𒌈 (amartum, “dividing wall”), 𒋞𒀲 (amarum, “pile of bricks”), Hebrew אָמִיר (ʾāmîr, “treetop, mountain summit”).

*rayam-

1. to be high, to be raised, to be on top

• East Semitic:
  • Akkadian: 𒊑 (ramûm)
  • Eblaite: 𒉌𒊏𒈬 (ni-ra-mu)
• West Semitic:
  • Central Semitic:
    • Arabic: رَامَ (rāma)
    • Northwest Semitic:
      • Aramaic:

        Biblical Aramaic, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, Jewish Literary Aramaic, Jewish Babylonian Aramaic רָם (rām)

        • Christian Palestinian Aramaic, Classical Syriac: ܪܳܡ (rām)
      • Canaanite:
        • Hebrew: רָם (ram, rām)
      • Ugaritic: 𐎗𐎎 (rm /⁠rāma⁠/)
    • Old South Arabian:
      • Old South Arabian: 𐩧𐩺𐩣 (rym)
  • Ethiopian Semitic:
    • Ge'ez: ረየመ (räyämä)
• → Egyptian: rꜣmꜥ (/⁠râma⁠/), rwmw (/⁠rômu⁠/, “to be high”)

• *ʕaly-

• Dillmann, August (1865) Lexicon linguae aethiopicae cum indice latino (in Latin), Leipzig: T. O. Weigel, columns 312–313
• Leslau, Wolf (1991) Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 478
• Olmo Lete, Gregorio del with Sanmartín, Joaquín and Watson, Wilfred G. E. (2015) “Proto-Semitic/rayam-”, in A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition (Handbook of Oriental Studies; 112), 3rd edition, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 729
• Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎ (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, page 70
• Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 367–368, →ISBN
• Hoch, James E. (1994) Semitic Words in Egyptian Texts of the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, Princeton: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, pages 204–205