ܣܝܣܢ sysn name of some small bird
Perhaps from NP šīšak a magpie; a small partridge (Steingass 775); see Schapka 1972, 161 no. 506 (s.v. šīšak, šīšū, šīš). We have to suppose a scribal error (-n for -k) between Syriac letters whose forms in final position are very similar; as regards further depalatalized renderings of Ir. /š/ see § 11.3.3. LS does not give any etymon; Duval also compares, besides NP šīšak a magpie; a small partridge, NP sīsak a weevil; a sort of pulse (Steingass 716), which seems problematic in view of its semantic value. The etymological proposal advanced by PS Suppl., according to which the Syr. word is a borrowing from the participle of NP sīstan to hop, jump (Steingass 716), seems untenable ● Nat 24, 16; BB 1348, 15 ◆ LS 487b; PS Suppl. 231; PS 2617; Duval index pers. 220