Arabic: أذن

[amirsherman]

Shalom everyone,

The dictionary says that أذن (when meaning ear) can be أُذُن or أُذْن. How do we know which pronunciation is the original one? Some people say it is the second one because that is what is the pronunciation in Hebrew and other Semitic languages. But is that really proof?

Thank you in advance

 

[Ali Smith]

Well, in Hebrew, we know that אֹ֫זֶן 'ear', which is a segholate noun, has the base qutl. That seems to lend credence to أُذْن being the original form.