ܣܽܘܒܺܝܢܳܝܳܬܳܐ [†] swbynytʾ soḇināyāṯā σιβύναι spears
Cf. NP zūpīn a short two-pronged spear, javelin, trident (Steingass 628), ōpīn, ōpīn a sort of spear or demi-lance (ibid. 637); many scholars consider this word a loanword from Iranian. Cf. also Gr. σιβύνη, συβίνη, ζιβύνη (from which Lat. sibyna, subyna; Frisk II 740 refers to a vague Thracian-Phrygian origin); Arm. swin, səwin, loanword of unknown origin (Hübschmann AG 394–395, no. 9). Horn 152 claims—wrongly, in my opinion—that all the Greek forms derive from NP zūpīn, connected by Steingass with Skr. kṣipaṇi- missile weapon (Monier-Williams 1899, 329). Nevertheless, Leonid Kogan (personal communication) points out that a relationship of most of these terms with Akkad. supinnu spear, spike (AHw 1060; Kaufman 1974, 93 and n. 317: the Akkadian word is, in its turn, of uncertain origin) is rather obvious and, even if the etymology of Akkad. supinnu is unknown, its attestation already in Old Babylonian makes the hypothesis of an Iranian origin untenable. As to the hypothetical connection between the Akkadian word and Gr. σφήν "wedge, quoin" see Salonen 1974, 144 ● Js 2, 4; BA 2, 146, 10; BB 1305, 15 ◆ LS 455b; Lagarde GA 67, 174