FromProto-Semitic*šinn-(“tooth”), the source ofسن(sinn). The association of "tooth" with this letter was the result of folk etymology and based on the corresponding Phoenician letter,𐤔(š), having a shape resembling a tooth. The letter originally depicted acomposite bow, which usually has the tips curving away from the archer when unstrung.[1][2]
Related toClassical Syriacܫ,Hebrewש,Phoenician𐤔(š),Russianш(š),Aramaicܫ. More atShin. It is the only letter of the Arabic alphabet with three dots with a letter corresponding to a letter in the Northwest Semitic abjad or the Phoenician alphabet.
The twenty-first letter in traditionalabjad order, which is used in place of numerals for list numbering (abjad numerals). It is preceded byر(r) and followed byت(t).
^Albright, W. F. (1948). "The Early Alphabetic Inscriptions from Sinai and their Decipherment". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 110 (110): 6–22 [p. 15].
Clipping ofشِي(šī,“thing”) from the constructionما(ma,“not”) +... +شي(šī,“one bit”, literally“a thing”), bleached in the process ofJespersen's Cycle.
Lengthens final vowels and stresses them as other suffixes do, except around the Lebanese area ofKeserwan, where it attaches directly to short final vowels without affecting their length. Compare:
Unnegated forms:يحكوا(yiḥku, yiḥko,“(that) they talk”),يزيدولا(yzīdūla,“(that) they add to it”)
Traditional negation around Keserwan:مايحكُش(ma yiḥkoš,“so that they don't talk”),مايزيدولَش(ma yzīdūlaš,“so they don't add to it”)
Negation typical of other regions:مايحكوش(ma yiḥkūš,“so that they don't talk”),مايزيدولاش(ma yzīdūlāš, yzīdūlēš,“so that they don't add to it”).
Similarly, contracts finalsuperheavy syllables except around the area of Keserwan:ماكانش(ma kēnš,in Keserwan) vs.ماكنش(ma kanš,elsewhere) when negatingكان(kān, kēn,“it was”).
Most Levantine dialects have dropped the historicalـه(-h) of the third-person masculine pronoun after word-final vowels, as inبياكلوه(byāklū,“they eat it”,typically no longer*byāklūh), leaving only the final vowel's residual length and stress to indicate the pronoun's presence. However,ـش(-š) tends to resurface theـه(-h). For example, the negated form ofبياكلوه(byāklū,“they eat it”) is typicallyبياكلوهوش(byāklūhūš,“they don't eat it”), and in South Lebanonبياكلُهش(byākluhš, byēkluhš,“they don't eat it”).
ـش(-š) is typically used in acircumfix construction withما(ma,negator) orأ(ʔa-,negator). Alternatively, it may also be used by itself with no preceding negator. In South Lebanon, this third option is allowed in the past tense, unlike in general South Levantine usage as described below.
The prefixed form is said to be from substrateAramaicש־(š-,causative prefix), whose use was evidently later extended to Arabic-origin verbs as well. Its eventual ancestor,Proto-Semitic*ša-(causative prefix), also yielded theـسـ(-s-) at the beginning ofForm X and the originalArabicأَ(ʔa-) ofform IV, although the latter was generally reduced to zero in North Levantine dialects.
The suffixed form, which is rare enough thatAnis Freiha identifies only three of the below words for it,[1] may be from the prefixed form via a kind ofmetathesis.
↑1.01.11.21.3أَنِيس خُورِي فْرَيْحَة [Anis Khuri Frayha, Anis Freiha] (August 1935), “ش”, in Quadriliterals from the dialect of Ras al-Matn (Lebanon) (Ph. D. Thesis), University of Chicago, Illinois, published 1938,→OCLC, Faʿlash, page 39
A suffix used in many nouns borrowed from Persian, and also in certain native words. This is a rough equivalent of-tion or-ment, making a noun for the action of the verb.
Persian nouns ending in a long vowel that addـیـ(-y-) in Persian before this suffix, usually becomeـئـ(-i-) due to modified pronunciation. In certain instances,ـیـ(-i-) remains or is one of the acceptable spellings. For example, Persianآزمایش(âzmâyeš) is normally spelled as Urduآزمائش(āzmāiś).
