west▪ (Huehnergard2011:) Engl shin, from Hbr šîn, from Phoen *šinn ‘tooth, twenty-first letter of the Phoen alphabet’, akin to Hbr šēn, Ar ↗sinn ‘tooth’. (The use of the word for ‘tooth’ for this letter is the result of folk etymology and is based on the shape of the letter, which resembles a row of pointed teeth. The letter originally depicted a composite bow, a powerful kind of bow that is made of layers of different materials such as horn and wood and usually has the tips curving away from the archer when unstrung. The earlier name of the letter was *šann < *ṯann ‘composite bow’).