ID … • Sw – • BP 204 • APD … • © SG | 15Feb2021
√ʔNS
men, people, folks – WehrCowan1976.
▪ The two Arabic words ʔunās and nās which Bergsträsser groups as one item, not differentiating between the forms with initial ʔ˅‑ and those without, may have different origins. Orel&Stolbova1994 hold such forms apart and trace them back to two separate, though related and synonymous origins: protSem *ʔin(a)š‑ < AfrAs *ʔi‑nas‑, and protSem *niš‑ < AfrAs *nüs‑ ‘man’, respectively. (At the same time, they think that AfrAs *ʔi‑nas‑ is derived from AfrAs *nüs‑.)
▪ See also ↗√ʔNS ‘to be sociable, nice, friendly’.
▪ Bergsträsser1928: (*‘human beings, people’) Akk (nīšū), Hbr ʔĕnōš, Syr nāšā, SAr ʔnś.
▪ Orel&Stolbova1994#108: Hbr ʔenōš, Syr (ʔ)naš, Ar ʔins‑, SAr ʔns, Jib ʔɛnsi. – Outside Sem: (Berb) Ahg a‑ynəs ‘young man’; Agaw amš‑ən ‘in‑law’.
▪ Orel&Stolbova1994#108: The Sem words (Hbr ʔenōš, Syr (ʔ)naš, Ar ʔins‑, SAr ʔns, Jib ʔɛnsi ) go back to a common ancestor, protSem *ʔin(a)š‑ ‘man’. This having COGNates in Ahg a‑ynəs ‘young man’ (< Berb *ʔin˅s‑ ) and Agaw (amš‑ən ‘in‑law’, < protAgaw *ʔan˅š‑ ), the words could go back to AfrAs *ʔi‑nas‑ ‘man’. The authors suggest, however, that this is in turn derived from AfrAs *nüs‑ ‘man’.
http://www2.hf.uio.no/common/apps/permlink/permlink.php?app=polyglotta&context=ctext&uid=d7865802-06ff-11ee-937a-005056a97067