איתתא

Aramaic

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *ʾanθ-at-. Cognate with Ugaritic 𐎀𐎘𐎚 (ảṯt), Hebrew אִשָּׁה (isháh), Arabic أُنْثَى (ʔunṯā). In Old Aramaic the construct state is אשת (ʾšt), pointing towards the earlier realization of the first /t/ as a fricative /θ/. Moreover, the nasal found in other Semitic languages assimilated to the contiguous stop, creating a geminated consonant (nt > tt).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔittətɑ/, [ʔittəθɑ]

Noun

אִיתְּתָא • (ʾittǝṯā) f (plural נְשַיָא)

1. woman
   • Tanach, Joshua 2:4, with translation of the New International Version:

     וּדבַרַת אִיתְּתָא יָת תְּרֵין גֻּברַיָא וְאַטמַרַתנוּן וַאֲמַרַת בְּקֻשׁטָא אֲתוֹ לְוָתִי גֻּברַיָא וְלָא יְדַעִית אֵי מְנָן אִנוּן

     But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from

2. wife
   • Tanach, Genesis 24:37, with translation of the New International Version:

     וְקַיֵים עֲלַי רִבּוֹנִי לְמֵימַר לָא תִסַב אִתְּתָא לִברִי מִבְּנָת כְּנַעֲנָאָה דַּאֲנָא יָתֵיב בַּאֲרַעהוֹן

     And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live

Inflection

    declension of איתתא

	singular	plural
absolute	אִתָּא	נְשִין
construct	אִתַּת	נְשֵי
emphatic	אִיתְּתָא	נְשַיָּא

Alternative forms

• אִתְּתָא (ʾittəṯā)
• אִינְתְּתָא (ʾintəṯā), אִנְתְּתָא (ʾintəṯā)