m n
22 lemmas · 8 languages
biliteralOnly two root consonants. Typical of very old grammatical cores (pronouns, particles, body-part basics). Often reconstructed with a weak third consonant that's been lost.T Gen.2.6
Themes:mina·2unit·2since·2min·2judeo·2
POS shape:pron·8prep·6noun·2conj·2det·2adv·1particle·1
This root is attested across 8 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
*m-nProto-Semitic
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest Semitic
Ugaritic𐎎𐎐𐎎 𐎐— mina (unit of weight roughly equal to one pound or half a kilogram)
Canaanite
Hebrewמִןמ נ— alternative form of מִ־ (mi-)
Aramaic
Imperial Aramaicמִןמ נ— from
Syriacܡܢm n— who? which?
Assyrian NAܡ-m n— alternative form of ܡܸܢ (min); from, of, than
Arabic
Arabicמןم ن— Judeo-Arabic spelling of مِنْ (min, “from, of”)
South Semitic
Ethio-Semitic
Amharicምንמ נ— what?
Tigrinyaመንמ נ— who
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 · 2 lemmas- mina (unit of weight roughly equal to one pound or half a kilogram)
- whoever
Imperial Aramaic
arc · 3 lemmas- fromCompare Hebrew מִן (min, “from”), Arabic مِن (min, “from”).
- since, afterCompare Hebrew מִן (min, “from”), Arabic مِن (min, “from”).
- who (interrogative)Compare Arabic مَن (man, “who”).
Classical Syriac
syc · 3 lemmas- who? which?Compare Arabic مَنْ (man), Hebrew מִי (mî).
- why? wherefore?Compare Arabic مَا (mā), Hebrew מָה (mā).
- because, since, the fact thatCompare Arabic مَا (mā), Hebrew מָה (mā).
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
aii · 3 lemmas- alternative form of ܡܸܢ (min); from, of, thanFrom ܡ̣ܢ (min), by assimilation of the /n/ to the following consonant; compare Hebrew מִ־ (mi-).
- from, out of; at, onFrom Aramaic מִן (min), from Proto-West Semitic *min; compare Arabic مِنْ (min) and Hebrew מִן (min).
▸ 1 derivation
- derivedܡ̣ܢ ܕ-min d-
- who? which?Compare Arabic مَنْ (man), Hebrew מִי (mi).
Hebrew
he · 1 lemma- alternative form of מִ־ (mi-)Cognate to Aramaic מִן (min), Arabic مِنْ (min).
Arabic
ar · 8 lemmas- Judeo-Arabic spelling of مِنْ (min, “from, of”)
- Judeo-Arabic spelling of مَنْ (man, “who”)
- from what?From مِنْ (min) + مَا (mā).
- having partitive effect: of, some of, parts of, one ofFrom Proto-West Semitic *min. Cognate with Hebrew מִן (min).
▸ 8 derivations
- derivedمِمَّmimma
- derivedمِمَّاmimmā
- derivedمِمَّنْmimman
- derivedمِنْ بَابِ أَوْلَىmin bābi ʔawlā
- derivedمِنْ بَعْدِmin baʕdi
- derivedمِنْ بُعْدٍmin buʕdin/baʕdu
- derivedبَعْدُmin buʕdin/baʕdu
- derivedمِنْ حَيْثُmin ḥayṯu
- who?From Proto-Semitic *mann-. Cognates include Aramaic מן (man), Ge'ez መኑ (männu) and Amharic ማን (man).
- a historical unit of mass – translatable as mina or maund – varying usually between ca. 1–3 kilograms, however in some cases also going up over 40 kilograms.From Aramaic מָנָא (mānā), from Akkadian 𒈠𒉡𒌑 (manû), whence also Sumerian 𒈠𒈾 (ma-na /mana/) and Hebrew מָנֶה (mānḗ).
- those who
- whoseFrom لِـ (li-) + مَنْ (man).
Amharic
am · 1 lemma- what?From Proto-Semitic *mīn-. Cognates include Ge'ez ምንት (mənt) and Akkadian mīnum.
Tigrinya
ti · 1 lemma- who