It is a little more complicated. The word comes from the (reconstructed)
Hamito-Semitic form *cim- meaning "grass, plant".
In most Semitic languages its reduplicated form (*cim-cim) means sesame.
So we have Arabic simsim or Hebrew shumshum (שומשום).
In Coptic, Ahmaric, Chadic and other non-Semitic languages, it remains
unreduplicated.
L.
On 26.04.2023 15:16, Toke Knudsen wrote:
Dear Professor Kapstein,
‘Shamashammu’ (/šamaššamu/) is the Akkadian word for ‘sesame.’ That
could be the origin of Hebrew ’soomsoom.’
Best wishes,
Toke
-----
Toke L. Knudsen, Ph.D.
Professor of Mathematics
Department of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics
State University of New York at Oneonta
Associate Editor
Convergence
<https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/convergence>
<[email protected]>
On Apr 26, 2023, at 08:58, Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY
<[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Prof. Zydenbos,
I recall that sesame in Hebrew is soomsoom, which resembles the terms
you cited, though I do not know the origin - I assume that it must
have been a loanword.
kind regards,
Matthew
Matthew T. Kapstein
Professor emeritus
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris
Associate
The University of Chicago Divinity School
https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein
Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
------- Original Message -------
On Wednesday, April 26th, 2023 at 12:19 PM, Robert Zydenbos
<[email protected]> wrote:
Dear list friends,
A non-Indological colleague asked me whether there are any references in
ancient Indian literature to the medicinal use of sesame oil.
Related: is there any Indian word in any language for 'sesame' that
resembles 'shumshum', 'simsim' or 'shamashammu'?
Any information concerning these two questions would be most welcome.
RZ
--
Prof. Dr. Robert J. Zydenbos / ಪ್ರೊ. ಡಾ. ರೊಬೆರ್ತ್ ಜೆಯ್ದೆನ್ಬೊಸ್
Institute of Indology and Tibetology
Department of Asian Studies
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (University of Munich – LMU)
Germany
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