bird to tell a person's fortune 2 realizations
ACCEPTED Realization 1
type Cognates
language 1 Classical Arabic
language 2 Geez
lexeme 1 ṭāˀir-
lexeme 2 taṭayyara
meaning 1 a flying thing (bird, or insect) huwa sākin-u ṭ-ṭāˀir-i
He is grave, staid, sedate, or motionless (so that if a bird alighted upon him, it would be still; for if a bird alight upon a man, and he move in the least, the bird flies away).
direction
meaning 2 to divine by observing the flight of birds (LGz. 600; cf. also LLA 1245)
reference SED II: No. 235 Lane: 1903-1905
comment

For these two meanings in other Semitic cognates see SED II No. 235. Arb. ṭāˀir- also signifies a thing from which one augurs either good or evil; an omen, a bodement, of good, or of evil [Lane 1904].

ACCEPTED Realization 2
type Derivation
language Old East Slavic
lexeme 1 кобецъ
lexeme 2 кобь
meaning 1 red-footed falcon
direction
meaning 2 telling fortune watching birds
reference
comment The same in other Slavic languages. The direction of the shift is not clear. ЭССЯ 10, 100-101