Where does “xiħ” come from?
xiħ (Maltese) comes from Arabic شاخ, from Arabic ي, from Proto-Semitic ʿayn-, from Hebrew עַיִן — eye.
xiħ (Maltese): old, elderly; an old man
Ancestry of “xiħ”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Arabic | شاخ | to age |
| 2 | Arabic | ي | bound object pronoun: me, my; The nisba suffix,... |
| 3 | Proto-Semitic | ʿayn- | eye |
| 4 | Hebrew | עַיִן | eye |