Bibliotheca Polyglotta

▪ DRS 2 (1994) #BʔR- 1 protSem *bi/uʔr- ‘puits, citerne’: Akk būr-, būrt-, Pun bɛʔr (pl. bhrm ?), Moab br, Hbr bᵊʔēr, bōr, oAram byrʔ, EmpAram bʔr, Nab bʔrwt (pl.), JP bī[ʔ]rā, bᵊʔērā, bērā, Syr be[ʔ]rā, Mnd bira, abira, nSyr birä, Ar biʔr, buʔraẗ, EpigSAr bʔr, Soq ʕébehor ‘puits’; Gz barbir, oHar buʔurya, TalmAram bōrā, nSyr bāra ‘fossé’; Ar biʔraẗ, buʔraẗ, baʔīraẗ ‘trésor, dépôt’; SAr brt ‘tombe’; Har buʔur, bur ‘profond’; ? Akk bērūt-, bīrūt‑ ‘souterrain’. -2 Akk bāru ‘paraître sûr, prouvé’; Hbr bēʔēr, JP bᵊʔar, bāʔēr ‘expliquer, rendre clair’. -3 Akk būr- ‘jeune taureau’, būrt-, būšt- ‘vache’; Ug bʔur (?) ‘jeune taureau’(?). -4 Akk baʔāru, bāru ‘saisir, prendre (au filet, etc.)’; Mhr Śḥr (réfléchi) biter, Soq bɛr ‘pêcher’. -5 Akk bāru ‘se soulever, provoquer une révolte’. -6 DaṯAr baʔar ‘roter’. –
▪ Outside Sem, Borg2021 #22 (b-ʔ-r) compares Ar biʔr ‘well’ to Eg bjꜣw (OK) ‘Grube, Bergwerk, Steinbruch / mining region, mine’ (Wb I 438; Faulkner 1962: 80; Ember 1913: 112; Calice 1936: 60), ~ biʔru, pl biʔrōtu (nominal component in toponym) ‘well’ (Hoch 1994: 91)
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▪ (Huehnergard2011:) Engl Beersheba, from Hbr bᵊʔēr šebaʕ ‘well of oath’, from bᵊʔēr ‘well’ (šebaʕ ‘oath’; see Ar ↗SBʕ). – Beirut, from Ar bayrūt, from Phoen *biʔrōt, pl. of *biʔr ‘well’.

–

biʔr بِئْر , pl.‎ ʔābār , biʔār

√BʔR

n.f.

well, spring; water pit – WehrCowan1979.

▪ Kogan2011: from protSem *biʔr‑ / *buʔr(‑at)‑ ‘(artificially constructed) well’.
▪ Orel&Stolbova1994: from AfrAs *‎‎baʔ˅r‑ / *buʔ˅r‑ ‘well, pitʼ, perh. from ‎AfrAs *buʔar‑ ‘to dig’.
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▪ Bergsträsser1928: Akk būru, Hbr bōr bʔēr, Aram ‎‎bērā, SAr bʔr ‘well, cistern’.
▪ Orel&Stolbova1994#164: Akk ‎‎būr‑ , Phn bʔr, Moab br, Hbr bōr, Ar buʔr-aẗ‑ , SAr bʔr, Gur bʷər. Outside Sem: Som boor (< LEC *boH˅r) ‘pit’.

▪ Kogan2011: »a double reconstruction *biʔr‑ / *buʔr(-at)‑ has been proposed in Fronzaroli 1971: 611, 632, 640. The i -form with the meaning ‘well’ is known from Hbr bəʔēr, Syr bērā, Ar biʔr, Mhr bayr (HALOT 106, LSyr 56, Lane 145, ML 40), but not from Akk (bēru ‘well’ mentioned in AHw 122 has been differently interpreted in CAD B 266 and AHw 1548). The u -forms with the meaning ‘well’ are best represented by Akk būru, būrtu (AHw 141), perhaps with an early precedent in VE 520 (bu-rúm = Sum šu.a, Conti 1990: 146). Akk būru, būrtu also denote ‘hole, pit’ in general (CAD B 335, 342), and the same is true of Muh bʷər, Gog Zwy bur (EDG 150). Hbr bōr (several times spelled with ʔ) denotes ‘cistern, pit, grave’ but probably not ‘well’ (Rendsburg 2002: 205), whereas Ar buʔraẗ is applied specifically to a ‘(cooking) pit’ (Lane 145). The vocalic shape of Sab Min Qat bʔr ‘well’ (SD 25, LM 19, LIQ 22) is unknown. The general picture is complicated by a few forms with unexpected loss of ʔ : Sab brt ‘grave’ (SD 33), Gz barbir ‘cistern, well, pit’ (CDG 102, LLA 503), Soq ʕébehor ‘wells’ (LS 295).«
▪ Orel&Stolbova1994#164: From the evidence in Sem, the authors reconstruct Sem *buʔr‑ ʻpit, well, holeʼ. The fact that these seem to have a ‎cognate in Som boor (LEC *boH˅r) ‘pit’, is reason enough for the authors to postulate AfrAs *‎‎baʔ˅r‑ / *buʔ˅r‑ ʻwell, pitʼ as the ultimate origin, adding that the noun is related to #319 ‎AfrAs *buʔar‑ ‘dig’. Ar baʔar a is the only language for which the verb is attested in ‎Sem; having cognates in WCh *buHar‑ (yabori, ḅur, ḅor, ḅuur) ‘dig’ and LEC *boH˅r‑ ‎‎(Som boor‑, Or bor‑) ‘dig’, the AfrAs origin seems quite likely, and therefore it is plausible to ‎assume also a Sem verb *b˅ʔar‑ ‘to dig (a well)’. – Cf. also the nouns a-βar ‘ditch’ and bur-‎bur ‘underground irrigation channel’ in two Berb languages (< Berb *bar‑), as well as bare ‘ditch’ ‎in a HEC idiom (< HEC *bar‑). These are assumed to originate in #218 AfrAs *bar‑ ‘ditch’. ‎‎- There is, however, also #276 *biʔir‑ ‘pit, well; dig’ > Sem *biʔr‑ ‘balk'¹, ‘well'²: ‎Akk bīru ¹², Hbr beʔēr, oAram byrʔ ², EmpAram bʔr ², (Palest) beʔērē, Ar ‎‎biʔr‑ ²; these would have cognates in ECh *biʔir‑ ‘dig’ and LEC *biHir‑ ‘bore, drill’. [It looks as ‎if the authors overlooked this connection in their lists. Their data therefore lack inner coherence.] ‎‎

► baʔara, a, vb. I, to dig a well: denom.
► buʔraẗ, n.f., pl. ‏‎buʔar, center, seat (fig.); ‎focus (phys., opt.); site; pit; abyss
► buʔarī, adj., ‏focal (phys., opt.): nsb-adj of buʔar. | ‏‎al-buʕd al-b., n., focal ‎length (phys., opt.)

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