pīrum

Akkadian

Etymology

Usually regarded as a loanword from some other non-Semitic or Afroasiatic language. Has been compared to Middle Egyptian pꜣ-ꜣb(w) (with the Egyptian definite article prefixed; reconstructed as /piʀ-ˈʀuːbaw/), from which Ancient Greek ἐλ-έφας (el-éphas) (whence also English elephant) and Latin eb-ur (“ivory”) are borrowed, too. Blažek 1998 postulates Proto-Semitic *pirl-, with assimilation r-l → r-r or r-l → l-l, yielding Akkadian forms 𒉿𒄿𒊒 (pīru) and 𒉿𒄿𒇻 (pīlu). Has also been compared with Proto-Berber *eḷu, and speculated to have been borrowed via Egyptian to account for the initial p- (as the prefixed definite article),[1] though no such word seems to be attested in Egyptian.

Pronunciation

Noun

pīrum m or f (plural pīrū m or pīrātum f) (Babylonian, Middle Assyrian, Neo-Assyrian)

  1. elephant

Alternative forms

Cuneiform spellings
Logograms Phonetic
  • 𒉿𒄿𒊒 (pi-i-ru)
  • 𒉿𒂊𒊒 (pe-e-ru)
  • 𒉿𒄿𒇻 (pi-i-lu)
  • 𒉿𒇻 (pi-lu)

Descendants

  • → Old Persian: 𐎱𐎡𐎽𐎢𐏁 (p-i-ru-u-š /⁠piruš⁠/, “ivory”)
  • → Elamite: 𒉿𒊑𒌝𒈾 (pi-ri-um-na, “from ivory”)"
  • → Middle Persian: pyl (pīl)

References

  • “pīru”, in The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD)‎[1], Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 1956–2011
  • Václav Blažek Two Greek words of a foreign origin : I. ἐλέφᾱς, II. φοῖνιξ, Sborník prací Filozofické fakulty brněnské univerzity. N, Řada klasická = Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 1998-1999, vol. 47-48, iss. N3-4
  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἐλέφας, -αντος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 409–410
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