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s m l

22 lemmas · 7 languages
soundAll three consonants are regularT Deut.4.16
Themes:left·6africa·4direction·3leftist·2symbol·2
POS shape:noun·10name·5adj·3verb·3adv·1

This root is attested across 7 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

*s-m-lProto-Semitic
East Semitic
Akkadianšumēlums m l— the left
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest Semitic
Canaanite
Hebrewסֵמֶלס מ ל— symbol
Aramaic
Imperial Aramaicסמלאס מ ל— left (direction)
Syriacܣܡܠܐܣ ܡ ܠ— left (direction)
Assyrian NAܣܸܡܵܠܵܐܣ ܡ ܠ— left (direction)
Arabic
Arabicبَسْمَلَس م ل— To say: بِسْمِ ٱللّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ (bismi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi, “in the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful”).
South Semitic
Ethio-Semitic
Amharicሶማሊሰ መ ለ— Somalia (a country in East Africa, in the Horn of Africa)

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

Akkadian

akk · 1 lemma
  • nouninferredWiktionary ↗
    the left
    From Proto-Semitic *śimaʔl- (“left hand/side”). Cognate with Arabic شِمَال (šimāl) and Biblical Hebrew שְׂמֹאל (śəmoʔl).
    ▸ 2 derivations

Imperial Aramaic

arc · 1 lemma
  • nouninferred𐡀 tg. Jon. 2 Sam 2:19Wiktionary ↗
    left (direction)

Classical Syriac

syc · 1 lemma

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic

aii · 6 lemmas
  • simmālānounattestedWiktionary ↗
    left (direction)
    Inherited from Aramaic סְמָלָא (səmālā), from Proto-Semitic *śimaʔl-; compare Arabic شِمَال (šimāl), Hebrew שְׂמֹאל (s'mól), Akkadian 𒆏 (šumēlum), and Ugaritic 𐎌𐎎𐎀𐎍 (šmảl). The third definition is a semantic loan from English left.
    ▸ 5 derivations
  • simmālāyāadjattestedWiktionary ↗
    leftist
    From ܣܸܡܵܠܵܐ (simmālā, “left”) + -ܝܐ (-āyā, the attributive adjective ending); compare Arabic شَمَالِيّ (šamāliyy), Hebrew שְׂמָאלִי (smalí), שְׂמֹאלָנִי (smolaní) and Classical Syriac ܣܸܡܵܠܬ݂ܵܢܵܝܵܐ (semālṯānāyā).
  • simmālāyānounattestedWiktionary ↗
    leftist
    From ܣܸܡܵܠܵܐ (simmālā, “left”) + -ܝܐ (-āyā, the attributive adjective ending); compare Arabic شَمَالِيّ (šamāliyy), Hebrew שְׂמָאלִי (smalí), שְׂמֹאלָנִי (smolaní) and Classical Syriac ܣܸܡܵܠܬ݂ܵܢܵܝܵܐ (semālṯānāyā).
  • msumlāadjattestedWiktionary ↗
    left-handed
    Derived from ܣܸܡܵܠܵܐ (simmālā, “left; the left hand”); compare Classical Syriac ܡܣܡܠܐ (məsammlā).
  • simmaltānouninferredWiktionary ↗
    ladder
    From Aramaic, from Akkadian 𒄑𒄿𒇻 (simmiltum); compare Arabic سُلَّم (sullam) and Hebrew סֻלָּם (sulám). Doublet of ܣܸܒܸܠܬ݂ܵܐ (sibbilṯā, “staircase”)
    ▸ 1 derivation
  • simmālāˀīṯadvinferredWiktionary ↗
    to the left, leftward
    From ܣܸܡܵܠܵܐ (simmālā, “left side; left hand”) + -ܐܝܼܬ݂ (-īṯ, the adverbial suffix); compare Hebrew שְׂמֹאלָה (smóla)

Hebrew

he · 8 lemmas
  • sémelnounattestedT Deut.4.16Wiktionary ↗
    symbol
    From the verb סמל (“to symbolize”). Compare Phoenician 𐤎𐤌𐤋 (sml, “symbol”).
  • simélverbattestedT Deut.4.16Wiktionary ↗
    defective spelling of סימל
    From the verb סמל (“to symbolize”). Compare Phoenician 𐤎𐤌𐤋 (sml, “symbol”).
  • simélverbattestedT Deut.4.16Wiktionary ↗
    symbolize
  • samlílnounattestedWiktionary ↗
    logo (a visual symbol or emblem that acts as a trademark or a means of identification of an entity)
  • samálnouninferredT Deut.4.16Wiktionary ↗
    sergeant
    Developed from the acronym סמ״ל, which designated סֶגֶן מִחוּץ לַמִּנְיָן, a calque of English non-commissioned officer. The initials were set in the nominal template commonly used for profession holders. While the derived word is common in the relevant context, both the acronym and its full term fell out of use (see…
  • sama'élnameinferredWiktionary ↗
    Samael (the angel of death and chief ruler of the 5th heaven)
    Unknown.
  • somályanameinferredWiktionary ↗
    Somalia (a country in East Africa, in the Horn of Africa).
  • simultániadjinferredWiktionary ↗
    simultaneous

Arabic

ar · 4 lemmas
  • basmalaverbinferredWiktionary ↗
    To say: بِسْمِ ٱللّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ (bismi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi, “in the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful”).
    Synthetic quadriliteral verb (Form Iq) derived from the consonants of the phrase بِسْمِ اللّٰه (bismi llāh, “in the name of God”).
    ▸ 5 derivations
  • samawīlnameinferredWiktionary ↗
    alternative form of سَمَوْأَل (samawʔal)
  • ism at-taṣḡīrinouninferredWiktionary ↗
    definite singular of اِسْم تَصْغِير (ism taṣḡīr)
  • sāmuwā l-ʔamirīkiyyanameinferredWiktionary ↗
    American Samoa

Amharic

am · 1 lemma
  • somalinameinferredWiktionary ↗
    Somalia (a country in East Africa, in the Horn of Africa)

Related rootsshare 2 of 3 consonants with s-m-l

Compare two languages side-by-side

akk ↔ arcakk ↔ sycakk ↔ aiiakk ↔ heakk ↔ ar