conc▪ While values [v1a-c] and [v2a-b] represent the primary meaning of the vn. of ↗ḥafara ‘to dig’, [v3] and [v4] are less obviously connected to the idea of digging. That there is such a relation and these values too are dependent on ‘to dig’ becomes clearer from a look into other historically attested items, such as:
▪ ad [v3]: †ḥafara and †ʔaḥfara ‘to shed one’s milk-teeth’; †ḥafara~ḥafira (intr.) ‘to become cankered, wobbling, loose (teeth)’ (Hava1899), »previously to their [the teeth’s] falling out, because, when they have fallen out, their sockets become hollow« (Lane ii 1865), (fig.) ‘to be(come) in a corrupt, or unsound, state’ (ibid.); †ḥaf(a)r ‘rottenness, unsound state of the roots of the teeth, erosion’, †ḥāfūr ‘tartar of the teeth’ (Hava1899), and
▪ ad [v4]: †ḥafara ‘to emaciate, render lean’, said of a young animal »rendering the mother flabby in flesh by much sucking« (Lane ii 1865); †ḥaf(a)r ‘emaciation, leanness’; cf. also EgAr ḥafraẗ gafraẗ ‘barren and uninhabited land, desolate area’.
▪ For the overall picture and lines of semantic development, cf. ↗ḥafara and ↗√ḤFR.