▪ As Kogan2011 #6.3.2 observes, »[t]here is no single protSem term for ‘foot’. [… cf. Ar ↗
faʕama ‘to have fat hips; to be fat (arms)’]. Reflexes of *
rigl- ‘foot’ are attested throughout CSem (Hbr, Syr, Ar, Sab […; see]
SED I No. 228) except Ug and Phoen […]. There is no consensus about whether Gz
ʔəgr and related EthSem terms (
SED I #7) are connected with *
rigl- (similar forms in Ar dialects, such as DaṯAr
ʔižr, SyrAr
ʔəžər, make the picture especially complicated. […]«
▪ V. Christian thought √RǦL was an extension in -L from the 2-cons. root nucleus ↗*RǦ-, reflected in Ar ↗
raǧǧa ʻ(to rustle, shake, rock >) be convulsed, tremble, quake, sway, be excited, be distressed; to move, (move away >) deter’, reduplicated in
raǧraǧa ‘to be moved, tremble, quiver, sway, be faint’. According to the author, the basic value of √RǦL, assumed to be *‘to shake > to hit’, also produced ¹
riǧl ʻ(to hit > kick >) foot’ and
raǧlaẗ ʻfirm step’; cf. also ↗
raǧul ʻman’ (*‘strong one < who beats < who makes tremble\shake’).
1
▪ There is hardly any value in the root ↗RǦL that does
not seem to be ultimately based on ¹
riǧl ‘foot’, though exact details remain unclear in many cases. The hypothesis of ‘foot’ as the overall etymon is corroborated by the fact that hardly any other value but ‘foot’ has cognates in Sem and the broad spectrum of other meanings covered by the root RǦL is, apparently, an Ar idiosyncrasy. For an overview of the ‘foot’-related semantic field, cf. section DISC in root entry ↗√RǦL. Among the many “feet” are the names of several stars (Rigel, in Orio) and plants (“foot of…”). The most productive secondary values derived from ‘foot’ seem to have been: (1) ‘to go on foot, walk’ (> ‘pedestrian’ > ‘foot-soldier’ > ‘man’), (2) ‘to alight (rider) (< *to stand on one’s feet)’, and (3) ‘to let go on foot, let (a young one) free with his mother’ > ‘to spread freely, uncontrollably’ (… > 3.1 ‘curly hair’ > 3.1.1 ‘to comb’ > ‘to comfort’; 3.1.2 ‘garden purslane’; … > 3.2 ‘swarm’ > ‘troop of beasts’ > ‘army’; … > 3.3 ‘to improvise, extemporise’).
▪ …