Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/šabʕ-

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

Possibly from Proto-Afroasiatic *sṗɣ (“seven”). Compare with Egyptian sfḫw and Proto-Berber *saβ (whence Central Atlas Tamazight ⵙⴰ (sa)).

Numeral

**Proto-Semitic numbers ^(edit)**
← 6	7	8 →
Cardinal: *šabʕ-

*šabʕ-

seven

Usage notes

This number exhibited chiastic concord (gender polarity), in which masculine forms were used to agree with feminine nouns, and feminine forms with masculine nouns.

Reconstruction notes

The expected Akkadian reflex of *šabʕ- would be šebet instead of Akkadian sebet; Dušan Milenković explains this by reconstructing Proto-Semitic *sabʕ- [t͡sabʕ-] instead, and suggests that *sabʕ- [t͡sabʕ-] changed to *šabʕ- [sabʕ-] in Proto-West-Semitic under influence of Proto-Semitic *šidṯ- [sidθ-].^[1]

Inflection

Declension of *šabʕ-
	m	f
nominative	*šabʕum	*šabʕatum
accusative	*šabʕam	*šabʕatam
genitive	*šabʕim	*šabʕatim

Alternative reconstructions

*sₓabʕ-
*sabʕ-

Descendants

East Semitic:
- Akkadian: 𒐌 (sebet)
West Semitic:
- Central Semitic:
  - Arabic: سَبْعَة (sabʕa)
    - Egyptian Arabic: سبعة (sabʕa)
    - Maltese: sebgħa
    - Moroccan Arabic: سبعة (sabʕa)
    - → Swahili: saba
  - Northwest Semitic:
    - Aramaic: שַׁבעָא (šabʿā), שְבַע (šəbaʿ)
      Western Neo-Aramaic: ܫܒܥܐ (šobʿa), ܐܫܒܥ (ʾešbaʿ)
      - Classical Syriac: ܫܰܒܥܳܐ (šaḇʿā), ܫܒܰܥ (šəḇaʿ)
    - Canaanite:
      - Hebrew: שִׁבְעָה (shiv'á, šiḇʿâ), שֶׁבַע (shéva', šéḇaʿ)
    - Ugaritic: 𐎌𐎁𐎓𐎚 (šbʿt /⁠šabʿatu⁠/)
  - Dadanitic: 𐪊𐪈𐪒 (s¹bʿ)
  - Safaitic: 𐪊𐪈𐪒 (s¹bʿ /⁠sabʿ⁠/)
- Ethiopian Semitic:
  - Amharic: ሰባት (säbat)
  - Ge'ez: ሰብዐቱ (säbʿätu), ሰብዑ (säbʿu)
  - Tigre: ሰቡዕ (säbuʿ)
  - Tigrinya: ሸውዓተ (šäwʿatä)
→? Proto-Indo-European: *septḿ̥ (see there for further descendants)

References

Huehnergard, John (2019), “Proto-Semitic”, in John Huehnergard, Na'ama Pat-El, editors, The Semitic Languages, 2nd edition, Routledge, →ISBN, page 61

^ (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics 99) Benjamin Suchard - The Development of the Biblical Hebrew Vowels: Including a Concise Historical Morphology, Brill (2019), page 58

[1] (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics 99) Benjamin Suchard - The Development of the Biblical Hebrew Vowels: Including a Concise Historical Morphology, Brill (2019), page 58

[1]