אשר

Hebrew

Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *ʔaṯar-. Cognate to Arabic أَثَر (ʔaṯar, “trace, vestige, impression, relic”) and Ge'ez አሰር (ʾäsär), አሠር (ʾäśär, “trace, vestige; way, road; relic”), more closely Aramaic אַתְרָא / ܐܰܬܪܳܐ (ʾaṯrā), absolute state אֲתַר (ʾăṯar), אָתַר (ʾaṯar) / ܐܰܬܰܪ (ʾaṯar, “spot, place”), doublet of אֲתָר (ʾăṯār, “spot, place”) borrowed from it, related also to the verb אָשַׁר (ʾāšár, “to go straight on, to make progress”).

Pronunciation

• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔăˈʃɛr/, [ʔaˈʃɛː.ɛʀ]
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔəˈʃar/, [ʔæˈʃæːr]
• (Persian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)æˈʃer/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /aˈʃɛʁ̞/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)aˈʃeʁ̞/

Conjunction

אֲשֶׁר • (ashér)

1. A relativizer, used to introduce a relative clause

Usage notes

• This conjunction is somewhat archaic, but still sees use in formal writing. Its less formal counterpart is שֶׁ־ (she-).
• אֲשֶׁר as a conjunction is a relativizer, which is something Standard English doesn't have. It functions somewhat like a relative pronoun, but an additional pronoun (called a resumptive pronoun) remains inside the relative clause. This can happen in English as well, when the internal structure of the clause prevents the internal pronoun from being dropped, but whereas in English it's somewhat rare and normally considered an error, in Hebrew it's quite common and quite standard. Specifically, in Hebrew the internal pronoun cannot be dropped when it's the object of a preposition.

Derived terms

• שֶׁ־ (she-)
• כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka'ashér)

Pronoun

אֲשֶׁר • (ashér)

1. That, which, who, whom; a relative pronoun, used to introduce a relative clause.

Usage notes

• This pronoun is somewhat archaic, but still sees use in formal writing. Its less formal counterpart is שֶׁ־ (she-).
• As noted above, אֲשֶׁר serves in some cases as a conjunction rather than as a pronoun.

Etymology 2

Root
א־שׁ־ר (ʾ-sh-r)

Pronunciation

• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔɔːˈʃeːr/, [ʔɔˑˈʃeː.eʀ]
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔɔˈʃer/, [ʔɔːˈʃeːr]
• (Persian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)ɒˈʃer/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ɔˈʃejʁ̞/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)aˈʃeʁ̞/

Proper noun

אָשֵׁר • (ashér) m

1. (biblical) Asher (the eighth son of Jacob, by his wife's handmaid Zilpah)
2. a male given name

Etymology 3

Noun

אֹשֶׁר • ('ósher) m

1. defective spelling of אושר

Etymology 4

Verb

אִשֵּׁר • (ishér) (pi'el construction)

1. defective spelling of אישר

Verb

אֻשַּׁר • (ushár) (pu'al construction)

1. defective spelling of אושר

References

• H836 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

Further reading

• אשר on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he

Anagrams

• ראש