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Middle Egyptian:
𓏎 [ini] / [yny]
𓏎𓈖 [ini] / [yny]
Meaning:
“bring, fetch, carry off, bring away, bring about, remove (something), remove, overcome, reach, attain, buy, appoint, use”
A careful review of the following comparisons of potential linguistic cognates evidences a vast coverage area for this bisyllabic compound word. The following key, arbitrarily read in top-down columns from left-to-right, adheres to rules of regularity of shift that portrays drift on two consonants /k/ and /n/ through glottalization of /k/ to /ʔ/ and absorption of initial consonant and varied placements of nasalization /ng/ or /ŋ/.
For the sake of illustration let "{ }" stand as a placeholder for an initial consonant absorbed into the subsequent vowel.
Key:
K⇔ʔ⇔{ }
I ⇔ I ⇔ I N⇔Ŋ⇔G
I ⇔ I ⇔ I
Recall that the IGIGI spirits / younger gods of the Sumerian pantheon were created by Enki (Nudimmud - He Who Makes Replacements) as replacement workers to relieve the Old Gods (the Annuna) of their labors in creation for the work of creation had grown too much, too hard, to grievous to bear alone. Some hypothesize that IGIGI is a play on words between their number (600) and the theme of "watching" as IGI means "eye". Thus they were the "Watchers" or "Overseers" of the gods' many projects. Eventually the work become too much, too grievous, too hard to bear for even the numerous IGIGI , and the IGIGI began to covet the relaxed and easy lives of the Old Gods (the Anunna). As one they rose up against the Anunna, principally targeting Enlil, the king of the gods, burned their tools and surrounded the house of Enlil, whom they came to regard as a relentless tyrant. The line from Stephen King's "The Shining" comes to mind: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!" So, they wanted to kill Enlil, and no doubt Enlil regarded them as lazy thieves. It was in that spirit that he called out for rescue to Anu his father whom he petitioned for justice against the IGIGI. Capital punishment was on his mind and nothing less, however the more level-headed and far-seeing Enki, god of knowledge, wisdom, and waters, proposed a solution that was acceptable to all parties. Only one IGIGI would die, sacrificed, and from pinches of his flesh, his blood, and mixture of other body fluids from various gods, a new class of worker would be manufactured and raised up to relieve both the Old Gods and the Younger Gods from the labors which were too much, too burdensome, too hard to bear--namely the human race. Presumably, the IGIGI became "Overseers" or "Supervisors" appointed above the human race and to act as intermediaries between them and the Old Gods.
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Comparisons
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Sāmoan:
‘INI, v. 1. to take hold of with the nails, to pinch. 2. To pull up small weeds. 3. To kill, as a fish by pinching . 'Ua 'initia lau manini; passive 'INITIA; intensified 'INI'INI.
'INI, s. a pinch.
‘INIʻINI, v. 1. to do a thing gradually, as to bring taro from the plantation in small quantities, so as to make it eke out. To eat a fish in small pieces (i.e. "one pinch at a time"), so as to make it last with the taro. See ‘I'INI. 2. 'INI'INI, s. a ripe cocoa - nut in which there is no juice (figuratively speaking the juice was "pinched" / "stolen").
‘I’INI, v. to do things slowly (as with incremental changes, something done with trepidation, or great care, as a thief might creep so as not to disturb his victims). See 'INI'INI.
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Māori:
KINI, } to nip, to pinch. Cf. pakini, to pinch.
KIKINI,} . 2. To pinch gently and secretly, as a sign of affection or desire (i.e. "to covet"). 3. To pinch off, nip off.
KINIKINI, to pinch; to pinch off: KINIKINITIA ana e ia nga kiri o taua rakau-A. H. M., iii, 79. cf. POKINIKINI.
Whaka-KINI, to wink significantly, or give an intimation with the eyes: Kei whakakini mai na kanohi o le hunga-Nga., xxxv. 19.
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Hawaiian:
‘INIKI, to pinch with thumb and finger; (b.) to snatch away; to carry off; (c.) to pinch off, as the bud of a plant; 'INIKI vi. to pinch, nip; sharp and piercing, as wind or pangs of love. (probably 'INI-+ -KI, transitivizer.).
cf. 'INI'INIKI, 'INIKINIKI. [(OC) PPn *KINI, nip, pinch]
Example: 'INIKI WELAWELA “a sharp pinch”
Synonymous with: kaili, lawe lilo.
‘INI’INIKI, to pinch a little; to pinch often or frequently;
‘I’INI, to desire, to wish for, to long after; a strong desire. In other words, "to covet".
‘INI’INI, to pinch.
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Tahitian:
cf. ININI, fragments, leavings of food. In other words, "pinches of food".
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Tongan:
cf. KINI, to strike; to cut the hair short; to let blood;
MAKINI, to smart, to tingle.
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Marquesan:
cf. KIKINA, to press, to squeeze; to be full, as a house.
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Ext. Poly.:
= = = = = =
Motu:
cf. GINIGINI, stinging. (As with the aftereffects of being pinched.)
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Fiji:
cf. KINI-TA, to pinch; to nip between finger and thumb;
GINIGINI, the act or ceremony of honouring a warrior, generally done by women, an obscene exhibition.
KIKINI, (for KUKUNE,) to conceive a child (South Island dialect): ko te wahine ka kikinia te tamaiti—A. H. M., ii. 10.
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Sanskrit:
INGITA (इङ्गित) / iGgita
real but covert purpose, palpitation, motion of various parts of the body as indicating the intentions, internal motion, change of the voice, aim, indication, hint, sign, gesture, movement, secret aim, internal thought, intention
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Linear B / Mycenaean Greek: A-NA-KE-E (𐀀-𐀙-𐀐-𐀁) / cf. ἀνάγω Uncertain meaning: to bring, to contribute?
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Malay:
JINJIT
1 picking out, pinching out, pulling out (a loose body)
2 Pulling at anything that gives slightly.
Such as: Of pulling elastic, pulling a boy's ear, drawing out a bit of skin, etc.
JINJING
1 carry light objects in the hand
2 carrying a light burden, using the fingers only
3 dd; = [Sundanese] JINGJING.
Of carrying things that are held lightly in the hand (as a walking-stick or an attaché-case) or slung over the arm (as a mackintosh).
Proverbial expressions:
Ringan sama mĕnjinjing, bĕrat sama mĕmikul ("the light we take along with us, the heavy we sling along; with us"), meaning: partners in good or evil times.
Kalau bĕrtangkai boleh di-jinjing-kan ("given a stalk you can carry (a flower)"); meaning: given a clue you can find the truth.
1 Main jinjing-jinjing tikus: name of a pinching game played by very young children, who lay the palms of their hands one on another, each palm being pinched in turn.
This game differs from kĕtip-kĕtip. sĕmut mainly in the rhymes that accompany it.
1 A tree, Albizzia moluccana
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Sumerian:
igi tum [SPY] V/t (8x) Old Babylonian, Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian wr. igi tum₂; igi tum₃; igi tum; igi tum₃-tum₃; igi tum₄ "to spy; to covet"
(igi[eye//eye]N'N + tum[bring//to bring]V/t'V/t)
[1] 𒅆𒁺 igi tum₂
[2] 𒅆𒉐 igi tum₃
[3] 𒅆𒌈 igi tum
[4] 𒅆𒉐𒉐 igi tum₃-tum₃
[5] 𒅆𒉏 igi tum₄
[1] 𒅆𒉐𒇲 igi tum₃ la₂
Considering the Polynesian meanings of 'INI, it may be that IGI (𒅆) "eye" is the phonogram that guides pronunciation while TUM, TUM₂, TUM₃, and TUM₄ are ideograms operating as determinatives that silently convey the context and semantics for the pronunciation.
Senses:
1. to spy
2. to covet
Akkadian: šapātu.
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igi hulu [LOOK WITH ENVY] V/t (6x) Old Babylonian, Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, Hellenistic wr. igi ḫulu; igi ḫulu-ḫulu "to look with envy"
(igi[eye//eye]N'N + hulu[bad//(to be) bad, evil]V/i'V/i) - in other words "Evil Eye"
[1] 𒅆𒅆𒌨 igi ḫulu
[2] 𒅆𒅆𒌨𒅆𒌨 igi ḫulu-ḫulu
Considering the Polynesian meanings of 'INI, it may be that IGI (𒅆) "eye" is the phonogram that guides pronunciation while ḪULU and ḪULUḪULU are ideograms operating as determinatives that silently convey the context and semantics for the pronunciation.
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igi saŋ [CHOOSE] V/t (233x) Ur III, Old Babylonian, Middle Babylonian, Hellenistic wr. igi saŋ; igi sag₁₀; igi sag₉; igi saŋ₅; igi saŋ-saŋ; igi saŋ₅-saŋ₅; igi zag "to choose; to sort"
(igi[eye//eye]N'N + saŋ[choose//to choose]V/t'V/t)
[1] 𒅆𒊕 igi saŋ
[2] 𒅆𒅆𒂟 igi sag₁₀
[3] 𒅆𒊷 igi sag₉
[4] 𒅆𒉠 igi saŋ₅
[5] 𒅆𒊕𒊕 igi saŋ-saŋ
[6] 𒅆𒉠𒉠 igi saŋ₅-saŋ₅
[7] 𒅆𒍠 igi zag
Considering the Polynesian meanings of 'INI, it may be that IGI (𒅆) "eye" is the phonogram that guides pronunciation while SAG, SAŊ, SAŊ-SAŊ and ZAG are ideograms operating as determinatives that silently convey the context and semantics for the pronunciation.
Senses:
1. to choose
2. to sort
Akkadian: bêru; nasāqu.
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igi suh [CHOOSE] V/t (0x) wr. igi suḫ "to choose"
(igi[eye//eye]N'N + suh[extract//to tear out]V/t'V/t)
[1] 𒅆𒈽 igi suḫ
Considering the Polynesian meanings of 'INI, it may be that IGI (𒅆) "eye" is the phonogram that guides pronunciation while SUḪ is an ideogram operating as a determinative that silently conveys the context and semantics for the pronunciation.
Senses:
1. to choose
Akkadian: nasāqu.
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IGI.gi₄ [PLANT] N (3x) Early Dynastic IIIb wr. IGI-gi₄; IGI-gi₄sar "a plant"
[1] 𒅆𒄄 IGI-gi₄
[2] 𒅆𒄄𒊬 IGI-gi₄sar
Senses:
1. a plant
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IGI.IGI [THIEF] N (0x) wr. IGI-IGI "thief"
[1] 𒅆𒅆 IGI-IGI
Senses:
1. thief
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IGI.IGI.IGI [THIEF] N (1x) Old Babylonian wr. IGI-IGI-IGI "thief"
[1] 𒅆𒅆𒅆 IGI-IGI-IGI
Attested in the following periods:
Old Babylonian (1x/100%)
Senses:
1. thief (1x/100%)
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References:
Bhanot, Dr. Diljeet Kumar. Bhanhot's Malay-English Dictionary, 1996; see www.bhanot.net.
Churchward, C. Maxwell (Clerk Maxwell). Tongan dictionary : Tongan-English and English-Tongan, London: Oxford University Press, 1959.
Combined Hawaiian Dictionary (Online); see http://wehewehe.org.
Erman, Adolf & Grapow, Hermann. Wörterbuch der Aegyptischen Sprache. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, 1971.
Narayanaswami, Sri Chidambaram; Glashoff, Klaus. hypertext Sanskrit-English / English-Sanskrit Dictionary, Version 3.2.6, 2023-12-28. see https://learnsanskrit.cc/
Pratt, Rev. George S. A Grammar and Dictionary of the Samoan Language, Trübner & Company, 1878.
Tinney, Steve & Robson, Eleanor. Oracc: The Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus, Oracc, 2020; see http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/epsd2/sux
R. J. Wilkinson. A Malay–English Dictionary (Romanized), Mytilene: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, 1932.
R. J. Wilkinson. An Abridged Malay-English Dictionary (romanised), Third Edition, Singapore: Kelly & Walsh, 1926.
Tregear, Edward. Māori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Lyon & Blair, Lambton Quay, 1891.
Ventris, Michael; Chadwick, John. Documents in Mycenaean Greek (Second ed.). Cambridge University Press, 1973.
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