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b y t

43 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.12.8
Themes:house· بَيْت · בַּיִת·10beth·3letter· رِسَالَة · מִכְתָּב·3alphabet·3bethlehem·3
POS shape:noun·22verb·9name·8prep·3adj·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

*b-w-tProto-Semitic
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest Semitic
Canaanite
Hebrewבֻּיַּתב י ת— to be domesticated
Phoenician𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤁 𐤉 𐤕
Aramaic
Imperial Aramaicבֵּיתב י ת— construct form of בַּיְתָא (bayṯā)
Syriacܒܝܬܒ ܝ ܬ— beth, second letter of the Syriac alphabet
Assyrian NAܒ-ܒ݂ ܝ ܬ— various senses: in, on, upon, at, among, to, into, by, about, as, against, during
Arabic
Arabicبَاتَب ي ت— to spend the night, to stay overnight
South Semitic
Old South Arabian
Sabaean𐩨𐩺𐩩𐩨 𐩺 𐩩— house
OSA𐩨𐩺𐩩𐩨 𐩺 𐩩— house
Ethio-Semitic
Ge'ezቤትב י ת— house
Amharicቤቴב י ת— first-person singular of ቤት (bet)
Tigrinyaቤትב י ת— house

Branch structure: Huehnergard (2005), Rubin (2010). The reconstructed Proto-Semitic form is computed on the fly from the cognate set's majority reflex pattern.

Phoenician

irregular reflexphn · 1 lemma

Sabaean

irregular reflexsab · 1 lemma

Old South Arabian

irregular reflexosa · 1 lemma

Imperial Aramaic

arc · 8 lemmas
  • bēṯnouninferred𐡀 tg. Onk. Gen 12:8Wiktionary ↗
    construct form of בַּיְתָא (bayṯā)
  • bēṯnameinferred𐡀 tg. Onk. Gen 12:8Wiktionary ↗
    beth, the second letter of the Aramaic alphabet.
  • bayṯānouninferred𐡀 tg. Onk. Gen 17:12Wiktionary ↗
    house, home
    From Proto-Semitic *bayt-.
  • beit lekhemnameinferredWiktionary ↗
    Scriptio continua form of בית לחם.
  • bēt leḥemnameinferredWiktionary ↗
    Bethlehem, a city in the West Bank.
    From Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם (bēt leḥem, literally “house of bread”)
  • beit lekhemnameinferredWiktionary ↗
    Alternative form of בית לחם.
  • nouninferredWiktionary ↗
    archive, library
  • nouninferredWiktionary ↗
    prison

Classical Syriac

syc · 2 lemmas
  • bēṯnouninferredWiktionary ↗
    beth, second letter of the Syriac alphabet
    Ultimately from Phoenician 𐤁𐤕 (bt, “house; letter beth”), from Proto-Semitic *bayt-; compare Hebrew בֵּית (bêṯ).
  • bēṯprepinferredWiktionary ↗
    alternative form of ܒܝܢܬ (baynāṯ)
    A contraction of ܒܝܢܬ (baynāṯ, “among, between”).

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic

aii · 8 lemmas
  • prepinferredWiktionary ↗
    various senses: in, on, upon, at, among, to, into, by, about, as, against, during
    From Aramaic בְּ־ (bə-), ultimately Proto-Semitic *bV- (“with, in, at, among”) with likely interrelation with Proto-Semitic *bayt- (“site, location; nest, house”); compare Arabic بِ- (bi-) and Hebrew בְּ־ (bə-).
  • bēṯnouninferredWiktionary ↗
    beth (the second letter of the Assyrian alphabet and Syriac script)
    Ultimately derived from Phoenician 𐤁𐤕 (bt, literally “house”); compare Hebrew בֵּית (béyt), Arabic بَاء (bāʔ) and Ancient Greek βῆτᾰ (bêtă). Doublet of ܒܲܝܬܵܐ (baytā).
    ▸ 8 derivations
  • bēṯprepinferredWiktionary ↗
    between
    Learned borrowing from Classical Syriac, a contraction of ܒܝܢܬ (baynāṯ, “among, between”). Only used in Classical constructs. Doublet of the native ܒܹܝܢ (bēn).
  • bēṯˀēlnameinferredWiktionary ↗
    Bethel
    Borrowed from Classical Syriac, from Biblical Hebrew בֵּיתְאֵל (bêṯʾēl, literally “house of God”).
  • bēṯlḥimnameinferredWiktionary ↗
    alternative spelling of ܒܹܝܬ݂ ܠܚܸܡ (bēṯ lḥim, “Bethlehem”)
  • bēy kārēnouninferredWiktionary ↗
    basement or lower part of the house used for housing livestock (usually during wintertime) and often storage
    Borrowed from Akkadian bīt karê (“storehouse, granary”). Unattested in Classical Syriac. The second element is attested in Classical Syriac as ܟܲܪܝܵܐ (karyā, “heap, storehouse”)
  • bēṯ lḥimnameinferredWiktionary ↗
    Bethlehem (a city in the West Bank, Palestine, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus)
    Borrowed from Classical Syriac, from Biblical Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם (bêṯ léḥem, literally “house of bread”). Equivalent or cognate to native ܒܹܝܬ݂ (bēṯ, “house of”) + ܠܚܸܡ (lḥim) (the absolute form of ܠܲܚܡܵܐ (laḥmā, “bread”))
  • bēṯ tikkēnouninferredWiktionary ↗
    waist
    Literally, “Place of the trouser cords”.

Hebrew

he · 8 lemmas
  • buyátverbattested📜 Gen.12.8Wiktionary ↗
    to be domesticated
  • biyétverbattested📜 Gen.12.8Wiktionary ↗
    to domesticate, tame
  • batímnounattested📜 Exod.1.21Wiktionary ↗
    plural indefinite form of בַּיִת (báyit)
  • m'vuyátadjattested📜 Gen.6.14Wiktionary ↗
    Domesticated; tame.
    Past participle of ביית / בִּיֵּת (biyét, “to domesticate”).
  • m'vuyátverbattested📜 Gen.6.14Wiktionary ↗
    Masculine singular present participle and present tense of בויית / בֻּיַּת (buyát).
    Past participle of ביית / בִּיֵּת (biyét, “to domesticate”).
  • báyitnouninferred📜 Gen.12.8Wiktionary ↗
    house
    From Proto-Semitic *bayt- (“house”). Cognate with Akkadian 𒂍 (bītum), Arabic بَيْت (bayt) and Amharic ቤት (bet).
    ▸ 8 derivations
  • béytnameinferred📜 Gen.12.8Wiktionary ↗
    alternative form of בי״ת
    From Proto-Semitic *bayt- (“house”). Cognate with Akkadian 𒂍 (bītum), Arabic بَيْت (bayt) and Amharic ቤት (bet).
  • biyétverbinferred📜 Gen.12.8Wiktionary ↗
    defective spelling of ביית
    From Proto-Semitic *bayt- (“house”). Cognate with Akkadian 𒂍 (bītum), Arabic بَيْت (bayt) and Amharic ቤት (bet).

Arabic

ar · 8 lemmas
  • bātaverbattested☪︎ Q.2:125Wiktionary ↗
    to spend the night, to stay overnight
  • tabyītnounattested☪︎ Q.2:125Wiktionary ↗
    verbal noun of بَيَّتَ (bayyata) (form II)
  • baytnouninferred☪︎ Q.2:125Wiktionary ↗
    house, building
    From Proto-Semitic *bayt-. Cognate with Amharic ቤት (bēt).
  • bayyataverbinferred☪︎ Q.2:125Wiktionary ↗
    to brood
  • bītaverbinferred☪︎ Q.2:125Wiktionary ↗
  • yabitverbinferred☪︎ Q.2:125Wiktionary ↗
  • yabuttuverbinferred☪︎ Q.2:125Wiktionary ↗
  • buwaytnouninferred☪︎ Q.2:125Wiktionary ↗
    a small house
    Diminutive of بَيْت (bayt).

Ge'ez

gez · 1 lemma

Amharic

am · 4 lemmas

Tigrinya

ti · 1 lemma

Related rootsshare 2 of 3 consonants with b-y-t

Compare two languages side-by-side

phn ↔ sabphn ↔ osaphn ↔ arcphn ↔ sycphn ↔ aii