אשר

Hebrew

Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *ʔaṯar-. Cognate to Arabic أَثَر (ʔaṯar, “trace, vestige, impression, relic”) and Ge'ez አሰር (ʾäsär), አሠር (ʾäśär, “trace, vestige; way, road; relic”), more closely Aramaic אַתְרָא / ܐܰܬܪܳܐ (ʾaṯrā), absolute state אֲתַר (ʾăṯar), אָתַר (ʾaṯar) / ܐܰܬܰܪ (ʾaṯar, “spot, place”), doublet of אֲתָר (ʾăṯār, “spot, place”) borrowed from it, related also to the verb אָשַׁר (ʾāšár, “to go straight on, to make progress”).

Pronunciation

• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔăˈʃɛr/, [ʔaˈʃɛː.ɛʀ]
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔəˈʃar/, [ʔæˈʃæːr]
• (Persian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)æˈʃer/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /aˈʃɛʁ̞/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)aˈʃeʁ/

Conjunction

אֲשֶׁר • (ashér)

1. A relativizer, used to introduce a relative clause

   זֹאת הַמְּצִיאוּת אֲשֶׁר בָּהּ הוּא חַי

   Zot ha-metsi'út asher bah hu khay

   This is the reality in which he lives.

Usage notes

• This conjunction is somewhat archaic and formal, compared to שֶׁ־ (she-).
• אֲשֶׁר as a conjunction is a relativizer. It functions somewhat like a relative pronoun, but a resumptive pronoun usually remains inside the relative clause (especially when the object of a preposition).

Derived terms

• שֶׁ־ (she-)
• כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka'ashér)

Pronoun

אֲשֶׁר • (ashér)

1. That, which, who, whom; a relative pronoun, used to introduce a relative clause.

   (Can we add an example for this sense? )

Usage notes

• This pronoun is somewhat archaic and formal, compared to שֶׁ־ (she-).
• As noted above, אֲשֶׁר serves in some cases as a conjunction rather than as a pronoun.

Etymology 2

Root
א־שׁ־ר (ʾ-sh-r)
7 terms

Pronunciation

• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔɔːˈʃeːr/, [ʔɔˑˈʃeː.eʀ]
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔɔˈʃer/, [ʔɔːˈʃeːr]
• (Persian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)ɒˈʃer/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ɔˈʃejʁ̞/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)aˈʃeʁ̞/

Proper noun

אָשֵׁר • (ashér) m

1. (biblical) Asher (the eighth son of Jacob, by his wife's handmaid Zilpah)
2. a male given name

Etymology 3

Noun

אֹשֶׁר • ('ósher) m

1. defective spelling of אושר

Etymology 4

Verb

אִשֵּׁר • (ishér) (pi'el construction)

1. defective spelling of אישר

Verb

אֻשַּׁר • (ushár) (pu'al construction)

1. defective spelling of אושר

References

• H836 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

Further reading

• אשר on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he

Anagrams

• ראש