ʾ r b
44 lemmas · 11 languages
hamzatedContains ʾ (glottal stop) in position 1 or 3. Glottal stops assimilate or elide in many inflections, producing irregular surface forms.📜 Gen.3.16
Themes:four· أَرْبَعَة · אַרְבַּע·12fourteen·6forty· أَرْبَعُون · אַרְבָּעִים·4arba·3arb·3
POS shape:num·19noun·11numeral·8verb·3name·2adj·1
This root is attested across 11 Semitic languages in our index. Each section below shows representative lemmas; attested means a Wiktionary editor explicitly tagged the root, inferredmeans we derived it mechanically from the word's consonantal skeleton.
Etymology treehow this root diverged from Proto-Semitic through the family
*ʾ-r-bProto-Semitic
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest Semitic
Ugaritic𐎀𐎗𐎁𐎓𐎀 𐎗 𐎁— feminine of 𐎀𐎗𐎁𐎓𐎚 (ảrbʿt /ʾarbaʿatu/)
Canaanite
Hebrewאָרַבא ר ב— to lie in wait
Phoenician𐤀𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤀 𐤓 𐤁
Punic𐤀𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤀 𐤓 𐤁
Aramaic
Imperial Aramaicאַרְבַּעא ר ב— feminine of אַרְבְּעָא (arbəʿā, “four”)
Syriacܐܪܒܝܬܐܐ ܪ ܒ— crab; shrimp, prawn
Assyrian NAܐܲܪܒܲܥܐ ܪ ܒ— feminine of ܐܲܪܒܥܵܐ (arbˁā) four (4)
Turoyoܐܪܒܥܐܐ ܪ ܒ— four
Western NAܐܪܒ݆ܥܐ ܪ ܒ
Arabic
Arabicمَأْرَبء ر ب— need, necessity, goal
South Semitic
Ethio-Semitic
Amharicአርባአ ረ በ— forty
Branch structure: Huehnergard (2005), Rubin (2010). The reconstructed Proto-Semitic form is computed on the fly from the cognate set's majority reflex pattern.
Ugaritic
irregular reflexug · 3 lemmas- feminine of 𐎀𐎗𐎁𐎓𐎚 (ảrbʿt /ʾarbaʿatu/)
- locustInherited from Proto-Semitic *ʾirbay- (“locust”).
- fourFrom Proto-Semitic *ʔarbaʕatum. Cognate with Arabic أَرْبَعَة (ʔarbaʕa) and Biblical Hebrew אַרְבָּעָה (ʾarbāʿâ).
Phoenician
irregular reflexphn · 2 lemmasPunic
irregular reflexpun · 1 lemmaImperial Aramaic
arc · 7 lemmas- feminine of אַרְבְּעָא (arbəʿā, “four”)Inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʔarbaʕum.
- four (4)From Proto-Semitic *ʔarbaʕatum.
- fourteen
- forty (40)Compare Hebrew אַרְבָּעִים ('arba'ím).
- fourteen (14)Compare Hebrew אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר (arba'á 'asár).
- four hundred
- feminine of אַרְבַּעְסַר (arəbaʿəsar, “fourteen”)
Classical Syriac
syc · 1 lemma- crab; shrimp, prawnDerived from Proto-Semitic *ʾirbay- (“locust”).
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
aii · 8 lemmas- feminine of ܐܲܪܒܥܵܐ (arbˁā) four (4)From Aramaic אַרְבַּע (ʾarəbaʿ), from Proto-Semitic *ʔarbaʕat-; compare Arabic أَرْبَع (ʔarbaʕ) and Hebrew אַרְבַּע (arbá').
- Arbil (a city in northern Iraq, historically Assyrian)Borrowed from Akkadian [script needed] (erbe ilū, literally “four gods”), in Akkadian literature wrongly interpreted as being from 𒐉 (erbet, “four”) + the plural form of 𒀭 (ilum, “god”), from Sumerian 𒌨𒉈𒈝𒆠 (ur-bi₂-lumᵏⁱ /Urbilum/); compare Arabic أَرْبِيل (ʔarbīl), Central Kurdish ھەولێر (hewlêr), Old Persian…
- four (4)From Aramaic אַרְבָּעָא (ʾarbəʿā), from Proto-Semitic *ʔarbaʕ-; compare Arabic أَرْبَعَة (ʔarbaʕa), Hebrew אַרְבָּעָה (arba'á).
- masculine construct state of ܐܲܪܒܥܵܐ (arbˁā, “four”)
- forty (40)From Aramaic אַרְבְּעִין (arbəʿīn), from Proto-Semitic *ʔarbaʕū-; compare Arabic أَرْبَعُونَ (ʔarbaʕūna) and Hebrew אַרְבָּעִים ('arba'ím).
- fourteen (14)Inherited from Aramaic אַרְבַּעְסַר (arəbaʿəsar), By surface analysis, ܐܲܪܒܥܵܐ (arbˁā, “four”) + ܥܸܣܪܵܐ (ˁisrā, “ten”); compare Arabic أَرْبَعَةَ عَشَرَ (ʔarbaʕata ʕašara) and Hebrew אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר (arba'á 'asár).
- four hundred (400)From Aramaic אַרְבַּעְמְאָא (arəbaʿməʾā), by surface analysis, ܐܲܪܒܥܵܐ (arbˁā, “four”) + ܐܸܡܐܵܐ (imˀā, “hundred”).
- feminine of ܐܲܪܒܲܥܣܲܪ (arbaˁsar); fourteen (14)Inherited from Aramaic אַרְבַּעֵסְרֶא (arəbaʿesrē), By surface analysis, ܐܲܪܒܲܥ (arbaˁ, “four”) + ܥܸܣܲܪ (ˁissar, “ten”); compare Arabic أَرْبَعَ عَشْرَةَ (ʔarbaʕa ʕašrata) and Hebrew אַרְבַּע עֶשְׂרֵה (arbá' 'esré).
Hebrew
he · 6 lemmas- to lie in wait
▸ 1 derivation
- relatedמַאֲרָבma'aráv
- barge
- ambush
- chimneyCompare Ugaritic 𐎀𐎗𐎁𐎚 (ảrbt, “skylight, window”).
- Masculine singular present participle and present tense of ארב (aráv)
- Defective spelling of ארובה
Arabic
ar · 8 lemmas- need, necessity, goal
- masculine of أَرْبَعَة (ʔarbaʕa, “four”)
- fourFrom Proto-Semitic *ʔarbaʕatum.
- plural of رَبِيع (rabīʕ)
- Arbil (a city in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq)
- alternative form of أُورُوبِّيّ (ʔūrubbiyy): European
- alternative form of أُورُوبِّيّ (ʔūrubbiyy): European
Amharic
am · 3 lemmas- forty
- Prothetic form of ራብ (rab)
- Prothetic form of ሮብ (rob)
Turoyo
tru · 3 lemmas- four
- forty
- fourteen
Western Neo-Aramaic
amw · 2 lemmas- four