Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Trevor Peterson <06PETERSON AT cua.edu>]

>===== Original Message From Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org> =====
>Akkadian: shamu, mu
>Ugaritic: shamuma, my
>Phoenician: shmm, mym
>Achaemenid Aramaic: shmin, myn
>Syriac: shmayya, mayya
>Classical Arabic: sama', ma'
>Ge`ez (Ethiopic): samay, may
>Sabaean: shmy, mw
>Jibbali: sieh (with a nasalised e), mih
>
>Aramaic and Phoenician also show the plural suffix, but the other forms
>do not. This suggests that the innovation is a bit more widespread than
>just Hebrew, but still localised to a small part of NW Semitic.

The Akkadian and Ugaritic forms are also plural.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics