צאן

See also: צאָן

Hebrew

Etymology

Root
צ־א־ן (ts-ʾ-n)
1 term

From Proto-Semitic *ṣ́aʔn-. Cognate with Akkadian 𒇇𒇻𒄭𒀀 (ṣēnum) and Arabic ضَأْن (ḍaʔn). After the loss of the glottal stop [ʔ] the preceding vowel was compensatorily lenghtened and became [oː] as a result of the Canaanite shift.

Pronunciation

• (Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /sˤoːn/, [sˤoːn]
• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /sˤon/, [sˤoːn]
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /t͡son/

Noun

צֹאן • (tsón, ṣōʾn) m [pattern: קֶטֶל]

1. (collective) sheep, flock of sheep
   • Tanach, Genesis 30:39, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     וַיֶּחֱמוּ הַצֹּאן אֶל־הַמַּקְלוֹת וַתֵּלַדְןָ הַצֹּאן עֲקֻדִּים נְקֻדִּים וּטְלֻאִים׃

     vayekhemú hatsón 'el-hamak'lót vateládna hatsón 'akudím n'kudím ut'lu'ím.
     wayyeḥĕmū haṣṣōn ʾel-hammaqəlōṯ wattēláḏnā haṣṣōn ʿăquddīm nəquddīm ūṭəlūʾīm.

     And the flocks conceived at the sight of the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.

Declension

Declension of צֹאן

	isolated forms		with possessive pronouns
Number:	State:	form	Person:	singular		plural
				m	f	m	f
singular	indefinite	צֹאן	first	צֹאנִי		צֹאנֵנוּ
	definite	הַצֹּאן	second	צֹאנְךָ	צֹאנֵךְ	צֹאנְכֶם	צֹאנְכֶן
	construct	צֹאן־	third	צֹאנוֹ	צֹאנָהּ	צֹאנָם	צֹאנָן

See also

• שֶׂה (sé)
• כֶּבֶשׂ (kéves)

References

• H6629 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Klein, Ernest (1987), “צֹאן”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎, Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 539b
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903), A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature‎, London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 1257a
• “צאן” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language

Further reading

• צאן on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he

Yiddish

Noun

צאן • (tson)

1. (nonstandard) Unpointed form of צאָן (tson).