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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] "adam" in Turkish

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: CS Bartholomew <jacksonpollock AT earthlink.net>
  • Cc: hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] "adam" in Turkish
  • Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2004 05:27:23 -0700

On 04/04/2004 09:37, CS Bartholomew wrote:

I was reviewing **B. Blake's definition of case and came across a Turkish
example with the word "adam" which means man. Well, this looks kind of
familiar does it not?

Is "adam" in Turkish a loan word and if so from what language?

greetings,
Clay Bartholomew


"adam" is also used in Azerbaijani and Persian, but the etymological dictionaries of both languages list it as a loan from Arabic. In Turkish and Azerbaijani it is also contrasted with the name Adam (which is identical in Arabic and Persian as well as in Hebrew), "Adem" in Turkish and "Adəm" in Azerbaijani. This latter form is the more regular loan form from Arabic, e/ə representing Arabic short a, but in the Turkic languages the common noun has been adjusted to fit Turkic vowel harmony rules.

The word is found in a wide range of Semitic languages, and so is proto-Semitic (perhaps going back to Adam himself?) rather than a loan from Hebrew into Arabic.

One interesting difference: "adam" in Turkish means "male human", but in Azerbaijani and Persian it is gender generic, as apparently in Hebrew and other Semitic languages.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/





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