The Etymology of Hebrew and Aramaic Ykl ‘to be able’
In Biblical Hebrew and in middle and late dialects of Aramaic, the verb ‘to be able’ has the root y-k-l. That root ought to derive from an earlier Semitic root with initial *w or *y, i.e., *w-k-l or *y-k-l, but such a root is not attested elsewhere in Semitic with that meaning. Elsewhere in West Sem...
| Published in: | Journal of Semitic studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Contributors: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
Oxford University Press
[2013]
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| In: |
Journal of Semitic studies
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | In Biblical Hebrew and in middle and late dialects of Aramaic, the verb ‘to be able’ has the root y-k-l. That root ought to derive from an earlier Semitic root with initial *w or *y, i.e., *w-k-l or *y-k-l, but such a root is not attested elsewhere in Semitic with that meaning. Elsewhere in West Semitic, the most common root for ‘to be able’ is k-h-l. Given the facts (a) that Hebrew and Aramaic y-k-l is without clear cognates elsewhere in Semitic, (b) that the root k-h-l is well attested in West Semitic, and (c) that the roots share two consonants, we propose that the Hebrew and Aramaic forms of y-k-l also derive ultimately from k-h-l, specifically, that they reflect the ancient yaqVl preterite of k-h-l. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-8556 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Semitic studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jss/fgs035 |