Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/ʔarnab-

Proto-Semitic

Etymology

Only attested in central semitic.

Noun

*ʔarnab- m or *ʔarnab- f

1. rabbit

Inflection

Declension of *ʔarnab-

Case	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*ʔarnabum	*ʔarnabāna	plural stem + *-ūna
Genitive	*ʔarnabim	*ʔarnabayna	plural stem + *-īna
Accusative	*ʔarnabam
possessive forms
1st person	*ʔarnabī / *ʔarnabVya	—	*ʔarnabVni
2nd person m	*ʔarnabVka	*ʔarnabVkumā / *ʔarnabVkumay	*ʔarnabVkum(ū)
2nd person f	*ʔarnabVki		*ʔarnabVkin(ā)
3rd person m	*ʔarnabVšu	*ʔarnabVšumā / *ʔarnabVšumay	*ʔarnabVšum(ū)
3rd person f	*ʔarnabVša		*ʔarnabVšin(ā)
Note: the endings -m and -na are dropped in the bound form, which may also undergo syncopation of an unstressed final vowel where possible. Note: the ending -V before the possessive endings responds to case: *ʔarnabuya for nom. case, *ʔarnabiya for gen. case, *ʔarnabaya for acc. case, etc. Declension of 2sg m. possessive form (your/thy m.) *ʔarnab- Singular Dual Plural Nominative *ʔarnabuka *ʔarnabāka plural stem + *-ūka Genitive *ʔarnabika *ʔarnabayka plural stem + *-īka Accusative *ʔarnabaka Declension of 2sg f. possessive form (your/thy f.) *ʔarnab- Singular Dual Plural Nominative *ʔarnabuki *ʔarnabāki plural stem + *-ūki Genitive *ʔarnabiki *ʔarnabayki plural stem + *-īki Accusative *ʔarnabaki

Descendants

• • Central Semitic:
    • Arabic: أرنب
      • > Cypriot Arabic: arnep (inherited)
    • Northwest Semitic:
      • Aramaic: ארנבא (`arnava)
      • Canaanite:
        • Hebrew: ארנב (arnáv, ʾarnā́ḇ)

References

• Militarev, Alexander, Kogan, Leonid (2000–2005) Semitic Etymological Dictionary, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag
• Huehnergard, John (2019) “Proto-Semitic”, in Huehnergard, John and Na'ama Pat-El, editors, The Semitic Languages, 2nd edition, Routledge, →ISBN