Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/tišʕ-

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 *tVsʕ-. Cognate with Proto-Berber *tăẓa (whence Central Atlas Tamazight ⵜⵥⴰ (tẓa)) and possibly with Hausa tar̃à.

*tišʕ-

1. nine

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: 𒑆 (tišīt)
• West Semitic:
  • Central Semitic:
    • Arabic: تِسْعَة (tisʕa)
      • Egyptian Arabic: تسعة (tisʕa)
      • Maltese: disgħa
      • Moroccan Arabic: تسعة (tisʕa), ⇒ تسعود (tisʕūd)
      • → Swahili: tisa
    • Northwest Semitic:
      • Aramaic: תִּשְׁעָא m (tišʿā), תְּשַׁע f (təšaʿ)
        • Western Neo-Aramaic: ܛܫܥܐ m (ṭešʿa), ܐܛܫܥ f (ʾeṭšaʿ)
        • Classical Syriac: ܬܷ݁ܫܥܳܐ m (tešʿā), ܬ݁ܫܰܥ f (təšaʿ)
      • Canaanite:
        • Hebrew: תֵּשַׁע (tésha', tḗšaʿ), תִּשְׁעָה (tish'á, tišʿâ)
        • Phoenician:
          • Punic: 𐤕𐤔𐤏 (tšʿ)
      • Ugaritic: 𐎚𐎌𐎓𐎚 (tšʿt /⁠tišʿatu⁠/)
  • Ethiopian Semitic:
    • Ge'ez: ትስዓቱ (təsʿattu)
    • Tigre: ስዕ (səʿ), ትስዒ (təsʿi)
    • Tigrinya: ትሽዓተ (təšʿattä)

• Huehnergard, John (2019) “Proto-Semitic”, in Huehnergard, John and Na'ama Pat-El, editors, The Semitic Languages, 2nd edition, Routledge, →ISBN, page 61