רוּחַruach

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Ancient Hebrew

Root

ruhwa

open cleared field, a wide expanse of open ground, the outdoors

Ruach descends from Shona ruhwa, the wide open airy expanse

Confidence
54/100
Root language
Shona
Descent begins
רוּחַ (rúaḥ)Hebrew

The consensus position

Mainstream comparative Semitics derives רוּחַ from a Proto-Semitic root r-w-ḥ meaning wind, breath, air in motion, with cognates in Arabic rīḥ and rūḥ, Aramaic and Syriac rūḥā, Ugaritic and Phoenician rwḥ, and Geʽez rōḥa. No relationship to Bantu is recognised; Shona mweya and mhepo are treated as unrelated native or translation vocabulary.

The working behind this.

The full descent — 6 links from the attested form down to the root — the segment-by-segment correspondences, the phonological breakdown and the case for the derivation are behind an account.

An account opens 10 entries in full, free.

Elsewhere in the corpus