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

GÁBOR TAKÁCS Lit.: Erman 1892, 107; Müller 1907, 304, fn. 1; Ember 1911, 89; 1926, 302, #5; 1930, #4.b.2, #i4-b.i; Farina 1924, 324; Alb. 1927, 203; Behnk 1927, 82, #29; 1928, 138; Littmann 1931, 64, fn. 2; Vrg. 1945, 132, #2.d.6; 1965, 93; Grb. 1950, 180; Mit. 1984, 17 etc. 2. I suppose that OEg. j

ch< PEg. *l

ch (palatalization of AA *li

—> OEg. j-) via a dissimilation of PEg. *l

ch from *l

c

c = PAA *li

c- "moon" [GT]: SBrb. *ta-lli-t "lunar month" [GT]: Hgr. ta-lli-t, pl. ti-lil "1. mois lunaire, 2. p.ext. lune du i"jour du mois lunaire, 3. croissant, 4. période de 30 jours" [Fed. 1951-2, 982], EWlm. ta-lli-t & Ayr te-lli-t "1. lune, 2. mois" [Alj. 1980, 108], Ghat ta-lli-t "mois" [Nhl. 1909, 179]. Azger (Adj

er) ta-lli-t "lune, mois" [Bst.] (SBrb.: cf. also Bst. 1883, 325; 1887, 457) HI ECu. *le°- "moon" [Sasse 1979, 21] ||| WCh.: SBauchi *1T [*-T- < *-i

c-] "moon" [GT] : Tala Iii, IT, Sho (Ju) Iii, Zangwal (Soor) Iii, Boghom lio, lyoq, Dikshi & Bandas lim (SBch.: Smz. 1978, 27, #28; JI 1994 II, 238). Lit.: for Eg.-ECu.-WCh. see Takács 1997, 253, #3.8.1. NBi: ECu. *le

c- "moon" has hardly anything to do with Sem. *sahr- "moon" (as presumed by Dig. 1972, 165, #1; 1987, 200, #39). The origin of SCu. *sehe "moon" [Ehret 1980, 212] is disputable, its usual comparison with ECu. *le

c- (cf. Flm. 1969, 9; Dig. 1972, 165, #1; Ehret 1980, 17, 389; 1987, #569) is phonologically not convincing. NB2: SBrb. *ta-lli-t can hardly be a loan from Ar. hill- "Monatsanfang" (as proposed by A. Trombetti 1923, 128, #164 and H. G. Mukarovsky 1969, 39). There are semantic difficulties, and Ar. h- would not have disappeared in a loan. Eg. 3bd (or to be read jbd?) "month" (OK., Wb I 65, 5-9). Its origin is obscure, so far there is no satisfactory etymology. The search for its origin is hindered also by the Egyptian "aleph-problem" (Eg. 3 reflects usually AA *r & *1, but in some cases also *', which is so far unexplained). The following solutions were offered in the literature or are to be accounted for: 1. A. Ember (1913, 118, #73): Eg. 3bd = Ar. badr- "full moon (pleine lune), moon (lune)" [DRS 46], which is apparently isolated in Semitic. This is a quite promising possibility, but the suggested metathesis is disturbing. 2. G. Farina (1924, 323), followed by A. Ju. Militarev (MM 1983, 232): OEg. 3bd = Ar. 'abad- "eternity" and Sem. *'bd "to vanish". Semantically unconvincing. 3. A. Ember (1930, #3.a.

6) seems later to have changed his mind, when equating OEg. 3bd with Sem. *'bd "wander, to be lost": cf. esp. Hbr. 'bd "1. umher-, sich verirren, 2. sich verlieren, 3. ruiniert werden, zu Grunde gehen" [GB 2]. Not excluded. 4. M. Cohen (1947, #5): OEg. 3bd = PCu. *[']arP- "1. moon, 2. month" [GT], Phonologically untenable. There is no match for OEg. -d, unless the initial PCu. radical was *

c- and etymologized ace. to O. Rössler's law which is far-fetched. 5. N. Skinner (1977, 31): OEg. 3bd identified with WCh.: Hausa wátá "moon" [Abr. 1962, 929] I Diri afada "moon" [Skn.]. Phonologically unconvincing: the labial correspondences are at the present level of our knowledge to be judged as irregular. 276