ʿ y n
37 lemmas · 11 languages
hollow (II-weak)Middle consonant is w or y. The vowel contracts in the perfect (q-w-l → qāla 'said'), producing a 'hollow' surface. Known as mediae infirmae.📜 Gen.14.7
Themes:eye· عَيْن · עַיִן·15spring· عَيْن · מַעְיָן·5fountain· نَافُورَة · מַבּוּעַ·3eyes· عُيُون · עֵינַיִם·3well· بِئْر · בְּאֵר·2
POS shape:noun·28verb·6adj·2det·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
*ʿ-w-nProto-Semitic
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest Semitic
Ugaritic𐎓𐎊𐎐𐎓 𐎊 𐎐— eye
Canaanite
Hebrewעַיִןע י ן— eye
Phoenician𐤏𐤉𐤍𐤏 𐤉 𐤍— eye
Aramaic
Imperial Aramaicעַיִןע י נ— indefinite singular of עינא
Syriacܥܝܢܐܥ ܝ ܢ— eye
Assyrian NAܡܥܲܝܸܢܥ ܝ ܢ— to eye, to look at
Turoyoܥܝܢܐܥ ܝ ܢ— eye
Arabic
Arabicعَيْنع ي ن— eye (organ)
South Semitic
Old South Arabian
OSA𐩲𐩺𐩬𐩲 𐩺 𐩬— well
Ethio-Semitic
Amharicዓይንዐ የ ነ— eye (organ)
Tigrinyaዓይኒዐ የ ነ— eye.
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 · 1 lemma- eyeFrom Proto-Semitic *ʿayn-.
Phoenician
irregular reflexphn · 1 lemma- eye
Old South Arabian
irregular reflexosa · 1 lemma- well
Imperial Aramaic
arc · 4 lemmas- indefinite singular of עינא
- eye; sightInherited from Proto-Semitic *ʕayn-, from Proto-Afroasiatic *ʕayVn- (“eye”).
- fountain, springInherited from Proto-Semitic *ʕayn-, from Proto-Afroasiatic *ʕayVn- (“eye”).
- pleasure; sweetnessCompare Hebrew עונג.
Classical Syriac
syc · 2 lemmas- eyeFrom Aramaic עֵינָא (ʿēnā), from Proto-Semitic *ʿayn-.
- emphatic plural of ܥܝܢܐ
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
aii · 8 lemmas- to eye, to look atDenominal verb derived from ܥܲܝܢܵܐ (ˁaynā, “eye”), from Proto-Semitic *ʕayn-; compare Arabic عَيَّنَ (ʕayyana) and Hebrew עִיֵּן (iyén).
- eyeInherited from Aramaic עַיְנָא (ʿaynā), from Proto-Semitic *ʕayn-; compare Arabic عَيْن (ʕayn), Hebrew עַיִן ('áyin) and Akkadian 𒅆 (īnum).
- fountain, springNoun of place derived from ܥܲܝܢܵܐ (ˁaynā, “eye; spring”); compare Arabic مَعِين (maʕīn) and Hebrew מַעְיָן (ma'ayán).
▸ 1 derivation
- derivedܡܥܝܼܢܵܝܵܐmˁīnāyā
- specific, particular, clear, definitePassive participle of the verb ܡܥܲܝܸܢ (mˁayyin) with the sense of “rhombus” a calque of Arabic مُعَيَّن (muʕayyan); compare Hebrew מְעֻיָּן (m'uyán).
- rhombusPassive participle of the verb ܡܥܲܝܸܢ (mˁayyin) with the sense of “rhombus” a calque of Arabic مُعَيَّن (muʕayyan); compare Hebrew מְעֻיָּן (m'uyán).
- singular construct state of ܥܲܝܢܵܐ (ˁaynā, “eye; spring”)
▸ 5 derivations
- derivedܥܹܝܢ ܒܲܩܪܹ̈ܐˁēn baqrē
- derivedܥܹܝܢ ܢܘܼܢܹ̈ܐˁēn nūnē
- derivedܥܹܝܢ ܣܲܦܵܢܹ̈ܐˁēn sappānē
- derivedܥܹܝܢ ܘܲܪܕܵܐˁēn wardā
- derivedܥܹܝܢ ܫܸܡܫܵܐˁēn šimšā
- sameThe sense of “the same” is a semantic loan from Ottoman Turkish عینی (aynı), from Arabic عَيْن (ʕayn, “eye; the thing itself”).
- third-person single-possession of ܥܲܝܢܵܐ (ˁaynā); his/its eyeThe sense of “the same” is a semantic loan from Ottoman Turkish عینی (aynı), from Arabic عَيْن (ʕayn, “eye; the thing itself”).
Hebrew
he · 8 lemmas- eyeFrom Proto-Semitic *ʕayn-.
- defective spelling of עייןFrom Proto-Semitic *ʕayn-.
- Hostile, inimical.
- investigation
- to see, view, eye, to lay eyes on
- plural construct state form of עַיִן (áyin): (the) eyes of
- rhombus
- spring (water source), fountain
▸ 2 derivations
- relatedמעיין חםma'yán khám
- relatedמַעֲיָן חַםma'yán khám
Arabic
ar · 8 lemmas- eye (organ)Inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʕayn-, from Proto-Afroasiatic *ʕayVn-.
- to be appointed, to be assigned, to be named, to be nominated
- to view, to eye, to see with one's eyes, to examine, to inspect, to survey
- verbal noun of عَايَنَ (ʕāyana).Morphologically from the root ع ي ن (ʕ y n).
- sample, specimen
- verbal noun of عَيِنَ (ʕayina) (form I)
- well, spring, water sourceCognate with Hebrew מַעְיָן (ma'ayán, “spring, fountain”).
Amharic
am · 1 lemma- eye (organ)From Proto-Semitic *ʿayn-. Cognates include Arabic عَيْن (ʕayn).
Tigrinya
ti · 2 lemmas- eye.From Proto-Semitic *ʿayn-.
- type or kind of (something)
Turoyo
tru · 1 lemma- eye