Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/ʔanāku

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.

Proto-Semitic

Etymology

From Proto-Afroasiatic *ʔanāku. Compare Egyptian jnk and Proto-Berber *ənăkkʷ.

Pronoun

*ʔanāku m or f

1. I (first-person singular personal pronoun)

Reconstruction notes

A reduced form *ʔana appears to have coexisted with *ʔanāku in West Semitic (if not earlier), but most descendants only have a reflex of one of the two forms.

Descendants

From *ʔanāku:

• East Semitic:
  • Akkadian: 𒀀𒈾𒆪 (anāku)
• West Semitic:
  • Central Semitic:
    • Northwest Semitic:
      • Canaanite:
        • Biblical Hebrew: אָנֹכִי (ʾānōḵî)
          • Israeli Hebrew: אָנֹכִי (anokhí)
        • Moabite: 𐤀𐤍𐤊
        • Phoenician: 𐤀𐤍𐤊𐤉 (ʾnky) 𐤀𐤍𐤊 (ʾnk)
          • Punic: 𐤀𐤍𐤊 (ʾnk), 𐤀𐤍𐤊𐤉 (ʾnky)
      • Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎐𐎋 (ảnk /⁠ʾanākū⁠/)

From *ʔana:

• West Semitic:
  • Central Semitic:
    • Arabic: أَنَا (ʔanā)
      • Egyptian Arabic: أنا (ʔana)
      • Gulf Arabic: آنا (āna)
      • Maltese: jien, jiena
      • Moroccan Arabic: آنا (ʔāna), أنا (ʔana)
      • South Levantine Arabic: أنا (ʔana)
      • Tunisian Arabic: آنا (ʔāna)
    • Northwest Semitic:
      • Aramaic: אֲנָא (ʾănā)
        • Classical Syriac: ܐܶܢܳܐ (ʾenā)
        • Turoyo: ܐܳܢܳܐ (ono)
      • Canaanite:
        • Biblical Hebrew: אֲנִי (ʾănî)
          • Israeli Hebrew: אֲנִי (aní)
        • Phoenician: 𐤀𐤍𐤉 (ʾny)
      • Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎐 (ản /⁠ʾanā⁠/)
  • Ethiopian Semitic:
    • Amharic: እኔ (ʾəne)
    • Ge'ez: አነ (ʾänä)
    • Tigrinya: ኣነ (ʾanä)

See also

Proto-Semitic independent personal pronouns

		1st person	2nd person m	2nd person f	3rd person m	3rd person f
Nominative	Singular	*ʔanāku	*ʔanta	*ʔanti	*šuʔa	*šiʔa
	Dual	*niḥnu	*antumā / *antumay		*šumā / *šumay
	Plural		*ʔantum(ū)	*ʔantin(ā)	*šum(ū)	*šin(ā)
Oblique	Singular	— (enclitics used instead)			*šuʔātī	*šiʔātī
	Dual				*šumātī / *šumāytī
	Plural				*šumūtī	*šinātī

References

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