n b ʾ
23 lemmas · 8 languages
hamzatedContains ʾ (glottal stop) in position 1 or 3. Glottal stops assimilate or elide in many inflections, producing irregular surface forms.T Gen.20.7
Themes:prophesy·4prophet·4prophecy·4defective·3predict·2
POS shape:verb·11noun·11name·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
*n-b-ʾProto-Semitic
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest Semitic
Canaanite
Hebrewנִבֵּאנ ב א— defective spelling of ניבא.
Aramaic
Imperial Aramaicנבאנ ב א— to prophesy
Syriacܢܒܐܢ ܒ ܐ— louse, nit
Assyrian NAܢܒ݂ܝܼܵܐܢ ܒ ܐ— prophet
Arabic
Arabicنَبَأن ب ء— news, tidings, story
South Semitic
Ethio-Semitic
Ge'ezነብያትנ ב א— plural of ነቢይ (näbiy)
Amharicትንቢትנ ב א— prophecy
Tigrinyaትንቢትנ ב א— prophecy
Branch structure: Huehnergard (2005), Rubin (2010). The reconstructed Proto-Semitic form is computed on the fly from the cognate set's majority reflex pattern.
Imperial Aramaic
arc · 1 lemma- to prophesyFrom a root נ־ב־א.
Classical Syriac
syc · 1 lemma- louse, nitFrom Akkadian 𒄴 (/nābu/).
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
aii · 2 lemmas- prophetBorrowed from Classical Syriac, from Biblical Hebrew נָבִיא (nāḇîʾ); compare Arabic نَبِيّ (nabiyy).
- a male given nameBorrowed from Classical Syriac, from Biblical Hebrew נָבִיא (nāḇîʾ); compare Arabic نَبِيّ (nabiyy).
Hebrew
he · 8 lemmas- defective spelling of ניבא.From the root נ־ב־א (n-b-ʾ), perhaps related to נ־ב־ע (n-b-ʿ) with a literal meaning "to cause to bubble up", hence "to pour forth words abundantly".
- defective spelling of נובא.From the root נ־ב־א (n-b-ʾ), perhaps related to נ־ב־ע (n-b-ʿ) with a literal meaning "to cause to bubble up", hence "to pour forth words abundantly".
- defective spelling of ניבא.From the root נ־ב־א (n-b-ʾ), perhaps related to נ־ב־ע (n-b-ʿ) with a literal meaning "to cause to bubble up", hence "to pour forth words abundantly".
- prophet (someone who speaks by divine inspiration)Compare Tigre ነቢ (näbi), Arabic نَبِيّ (nabiyy).
- to prophesy; to predict
- to prophesy, to be a prophet
- to prophesy
- prophecy
Arabic
ar · 8 lemmas- news, tidings, storyCompare نَبَهَ (nabaha), نَبَعَ (nabaʕa), Hebrew נִבֵּא (nibé, “to prophesy, to proclaim”).
- to barkCompare نَبَهَ (nabaha), نَبَعَ (nabaʕa), Hebrew נִבֵּא (nibé, “to prophesy, to proclaim”).
- to inform, to give news, to notify, to bode, to announceCompare نَبَهَ (nabaha), نَبَعَ (nabaʕa), Hebrew נִבֵּא (nibé, “to prophesy, to proclaim”).
- prophetBorrowed from Aramaic נְבִיָּא (n'ḇiyyā) (absolutive form: נְבִי (n'ḇī)), the root of which is cognate to the Arabic root ن ب ء (n b ʔ). Compare Hebrew נָבִיא (nāḇīʔ).
- to inform, to notify
- to predict, to foreseeCompare نُبُوءَة (nubūʔa, “prophecy”), نَبَأ (nabaʔ, “news”), related to نَبَأَ (nabaʔa, “to be high, be prominent”).
- prophethood
- a prophecy, a prediction
Ge'ez
gez · 1 lemma- plural of ነቢይ (näbiy)
Amharic
am · 1 lemma- prophecy
Tigrinya
ti · 1 lemma- prophecy