É. Apor , I. Ormos (ed.): Goldziher Memorial Conference, June 21–22, 2000, Budapest.
TAKÁCS, Gábor: "Sun" and "Moon" in Semitic and Egyptian in an Afro-Asiatic Context
"SUN" AND "MOON" IN SEMITIC AND EGYPTIAN IN AN AFRO-ASIATIC CONTEXT 1 Gábor Takács Frankfurt am Main I. INTRODUCTION One of the earlierst papers A nap és a hold nevei a sémi nyelvekben [The names of "sun" and "moon" in Semitic languages] by young Ignác Goldziher in Nyelvtudományi Közlemények (1876) represents a noteworthy attempt at drawing outlines of the cultural background of the common Semitic roots for "sun" and "moon", which testifies to the young Orientalist's interest in Semitic comparative linguistics. More than a century later, the results of comparative Afro-Asiatic (SemitoHamitic) phonology and lexicology, initiated by the pioneer works by J. H. Greenberg and I. M. Diakonoff, allow shedding some light on the common AfroAsiatic background of the names for astral bodies in Semitic and Egyptian. This study will hopefully give a true sample of the present possibilities and limits of Afro-Asiatic lexical comparison. II. ETYMOLOGICAL ANALYSIS Sem. *sams- (or *sams-?) "sun": OAkk. samsum, later samsu "1. Sonne(ngott), 2. Scheibe" [AHW 1158] || Hbr. (Masor.) semes "sun" [GB] || OSA: Sab. s 2ms, "sun" [SD 133], Ar. sams-, dialectal sams- [GB] | MSA: Sqt. sam [Lsl.: *samh < *sams] "soleil, jour" [Lsl. 1938, 418] etc. (Sem.: GB 849; Frz. 1965, 144, #3.04). Its AfroAsiatic cognates (if any) are debatable. Given the disputed initial sibilant, there exist various etymological approaches: 1. If the Sem. root was a partial reduplication of *sam-, we should account for AA *s-m, cp. NBrb.: Figig u-ssm "lightning" [Mit.] || SBrb.: Hgr. e-ssem "faire des éclairs" & é-ssam "éclair" [Fed. 1951-2, 1834], EWlm. & Ayr o-ssom "1. faire des eclairs, 2. étre éblouissant, luisant, de blancheur éclatante, 3. miroiter, scintiller", I express my deep gratitute to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for supporting my research in Germany, where the present study was also prepared. 271
