א־ו־ר

Hebrew

Etymology

The “light” sense of course, in so far as one considers where light could intrude in an ancient house—a مَنْوَر (manwar)—, are related to “cave” and “cavity” senses, which are borne mainly by غ و ر (ḡ-w-r) in Arabic, although ع و ر (ʕ-w-r) is also related to something bared. To either Ugaritic 𐎜𐎗 (ủr, “warmth; heat”), Arabic أُوَار (ʔuwār, “heat or blaze of fire”), Akkadian 𒌓𒁕 (urrum, “day”) seem unrelated, although it is plausible that in Hebrew related forms close to the idea of “fire”—also a main source of light—merged into this root.

When the Hebrew and Aramaic verb forms and Ugaritic 𐎀𐎗 (ảr) mean “to shine”, these are independent denominatives; the CAL even reckons this particular meaning an error for ח־ו־ר (ḥ-w-r, “to look”). Note that *nūr- is accepted as the Proto-Semitic term for “light” and “fire”; a *ʔūr- or *ʔur-, as it is said, would come from secondary analysis later in the individual languages, there having been a n- derivational prefix barely seen as productive in historical times, say in ن ظ م (n-ẓ-m) or نَتَنَ (natana) against وَتِين (watīn) and نَوْرَج (nawraj) (see them).

The “air” sense is denominative from אֲוִיר (ʾăwîr). Also see א־ו־ר־ר (ʾ-w-r-r), a reduplicated extension of the root.

Root

א־ו־ר • (ʾ-w-r)

1. related to light, illumination
2. related to dens, caves
3. related to air

Derived terms

Hebrew terms belonging to the root א־ו־ר (0 c, 18 e)

Further reading

• A. Murtonen (1989) “ʾWR”, in Hebrew in Its West Semitic Setting, Part I, Section Bb, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 85
• Klein, Ernest (1987) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 14
• “א־ו־ר” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language
• “א־ו־ר”, in Hebrew dictionary and conjugation tables, Pealim.com
• “ˀwr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “ˀwr³”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “ˀwr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “ḥwr²”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “ḥwr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–, see also ح و ر (ḥ-w-r)