Hebrew Cognates in other Languages

[Stephen]

Finding Hebrew roots alive in modern English is too easy. Here's an example. I open my Gesenius lexicon and look at the first word I see. It is the verb 'awnan' - ayin-nun-nun - meaning 'to cover'. We have the word awning in English, which has the same basic meaning.

I then peer across at the next column. The first word I see is the verb 'awneq' - ayin-nun-qoph - meaning 'to adorn the neck'. The English word neck is found in this Hebrew root.

Linguists deliberately ignore the close association of English with Hebrew. I would submit that it is a political ploy. Be that as it may, it does beg the question of why there are so many Hebrew roots alive today in English and related languages. Could it be an indicator of where the exiled ten tribes of the house of Israel eventually ended up? In Great Britain?

Stephen

[Stephen]

Evening All!

Following up a suggestion from Richard over at post #137 of the Rapture thread, here's a little bit concerning the roots of the English word 'harvest', and its derivation from the Hebrew h-r-p structure.

The origins of the word 'harvest' are to be found in the Hebrew verb charaph, meaning 'to gather, to pluck off'. This verb gives rise to the Hebrew noun choreph, meaning 'autumn'. Of course, autumn is the time of harvest, which in German is Herbst. Related words include the English 'herb', and also the verbs 'carp' and 'crop'. Other verbs related to this root seem to include 'grip', 'grope' and 'grab'; and possibly even the nouns 'grapes' and 'harp', as things that are plucked. These are variations on the primary etym, which is the r-p structure. From this come words like 'rip', 'ripe', 'reap' and 'rape'. I'm sure others could find more English words from this h-r-p structure.

For further reading, check out posts #134 and #135 of the Rapture thread, and Gesenius' comments on the word charaph, which can be found online at Blue Letter Bible.

Stephen

[Geoffrey]

Hallo Richard,

You probably already have this cognate, if it is one:

a-b-o-d-e and b-e-y-t

[Richard Amiel McGough]

Hallo Richard,

You probably already have this cognate, if it is one:

a-b-o-d-e and b-e-y-t

Hi Geoffrey,

No, I hadn't thought of that one. Most etymologists trace "abode" down to "bide" and ultimately the verb "bid." Mozeson follows this path and links it to batah (Bet Tet Aleph or Bet Tet Hey) which means "to utter" or "express." In this sense it is related to the symbolic meaning of Bet as Word. I would tend in that direction more than Bayit (House) because of the verbal root of abide.

Thanks for the input.

Richard

[Stephen]

Gents!

Since Geoffrey is from South Africa, perhaps he might relate to this Hebrew root. The Afrikaaner word 'trek', which we have adopted into English, comes directly from the Hebrew noun derek, meaning 'a way; path'. This Hebrew noun comes from the verb form darach, having the same triliteral form, which means 'to tread on'. From this triliteral root come various English words such as 'track', 'direct' and 'dragon'.

Stephen

[Richard Amiel McGough]

Gents!

Since Geoffrey is from South Africa, perhaps he might relate to this Hebrew root. The Afrikaaner word 'trek', which we have adopted into English, comes directly from the Hebrew noun derek, meaning 'a way; path'. This Hebrew noun comes from the verb form darach, having the same triliteral form, which means 'to tread on'. From this triliteral root come various English words such as 'track', 'direct' and 'dragon'.

Stephen

Hey there Stephen!

Yes, the "DRK" root is very strong. I noticed the "direction" link long ago, but the "trek" had slipped past me. Good find!

I don't know about the "dragon" connection ... I'll have to think about that one.

Richard

[Stephen]

Good afternoon, Richard!

The 'dragon' one is far more interesting than the others. Note that it has the diminutive suffix -on. This is found in many Hebrew names, such as Zebulun, Jeduthun, Simeon etc. Many Greek names exhibit this same property, strongly suggesting an interaction between cultures, probably through trade. The Phoenicians - who may well have been Israelites - are said by the Greeks to have given them the alphabet.

'Dragon', in its etymological sense, is originally a referent to a large serpent. We see this, for example, in the ancient Greek name of the constellation Draco, which is in the form of a serpent. The more familiar basilisk dragon came a little later.

The truest traces of the origin of the meaning of the word 'dragon' actually come from Genesis. At chapter 49, verse 17, we read Don nachash derek, "Dan is a serpent in the path". The symbol of a serpent is combined with the root derek in this passage, which is the original signification of what a dragon was. Of especial interest is that this very symbol survives today in the U.S. First Navy Jack. The word derek comes from the verb form meaning 'to tread on'. The original dragon was a large serpent that you most definitely did not want to tread on!

Traces of the serpent as symbolic of a path - a way trodden - are perhaps to be found in the serpent that Benjamin Franklin famously used to represent the thirteen colonies that became America. Certainly, the idea of a path being symbolised by a snake is very old, and common to poetic language even today. This is especially true of a winding path.

Referring back to the tribe of Dan, it is also interesting that they carried the brigade emblem - Hebrew degel - of the Eagle. Their own personal tribal ensign - Hebrew owth - was, as we saw, a serpent. The basilisk form of the dragon, which postdates the original serpent dragon form, can be seen as a hybrid of the serpent and the eagle. I once lived in Basel, Switzerland, where the basilisk was an important emblem.

The point that I really want to emphasise is that the original dragon was a serpent, and not the basilisk form of which we are more familiar these days. Also, this original dragon got its name from the fact that it was symbolic of a pathway, a trodden way, hence the Hebrew root of the word.

Stephen

[Richard Amiel McGough]

Good afternoon, Richard!

The 'dragon' one is far more interesting than the others. Note that it has the diminutive suffix -on. This is found in many Hebrew names, such as Zebulun, Jeduthun, Simeon etc. Many Greek names exhibit this same property, strongly suggesting an interaction between cultures, probably through trade. The Phoenicians - who may well have been Israelites - are said by the Greeks to have given them the alphabet.

Hey ho Stephen!

Are you sure about the "Nun sofit" being a diminutive? I haven't noticed that in Hebrew, though it may be something found in Yiddish.

The actual grammatical function of Nun is quite fascinating. It is called the "agential suffix" because it is used to indicate an agent that performs an action. I wrote about this for the Bible Wheel book but it didn't make it into the final edit. Here is what I wrote:

The grammatical function of Nun also exemplifies its meaning as perpetuity and continuity. It is an agential suffix which means that Nun is suffixed to a verb to form the name of the agent continually performing the action described by the verb. Earnest Klein, in his Exhaustive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language, explains this as the difference between 'one who performs an action incidentally' verses a 'permanent occupation or profession.' Rabbi Munk agrees, and describes the difference as that between 'an occasional and habitual quality.' He then gives a number of examples such as sheker (one who occasionally lies) versus shakron (a habitual liar), and zeker (memorial) versus zikron (eternal commemoration). This meaning of Nun manifests with great clarity in the Book of Hebrews, as seen in this list of words from that Book relating to continuance, endurance, faith and faithfulness (repeat occurrences in parentheses):

confidence (3), confirmation, confirmed (2), continually (3), continue (2), continued, continueth, continuing, daily (3), endure (2), endured (5), enduring, established, eternal (5), faith (32), faithful (4), for ever (9), for evermore, foundation (4), hold fast (3), immutable, immutabil-ity, often (2), oftentimes, patience (3), patiently, remain, remainest, remaineth (2), rest (10), stedfast (3), sure, surety, unchangeable

This list contains over one hundred occurrences of words exemplifying the symbolic mean-ing of the Fourteenth Letter as taught in Scripture and recognized for thousands of years in Rabbinic tradition. Just as we saw the meaning of Gimel exemplified by a large set of asso-ciated words in 2 Corinthians on Spoke 3 (pg ), so now we see exactly the same phenomenon with regards to the meaning of Nun in Hebrews on Spoke 14.

And while I am here, I should mention that I was reading Judges 7:7 today and noticed the word laqaq means lick, another extremely obvious cognate, which also is onomatopoetic:

לקק laqaq {law-kak'} a primitive root; TWOT - 1126;
v AV - lap 4, lick 3; 7 1) to lap, lick, lap up 1a) (Qal) to lap, lap up 1b) (Piel) to lap up

Richard

[Stephen]

Hello Richard!

I wonder if hello is related to halal. There is a certain resonance between the meanings of the Hebrew word and our cheerful form of greeting.

Another correspondence seems to exist between halak and 'walk'. Surely this cannot be coincidence. Next in the lexicon comes hal'm, the meaning of which is congruent with our word 'harm'. Which reminds me of the correspondence between chalam and 'calm'. Another onomatopoeic one is hamah, meaning 'hum'. It seems to go on and on, suggesting that there is a link between the English and the Israelites. Worth following that thought, Richard. After all, even the name of the language we speak is very probably straight from Hebrew. 'English' is consonant with the Hebrew dialectic root englah, which means 'bullock'. The englah was an appellation for Ephraim (Hosea 10:11). England is symbolised by John Bull, and famed for its bulldog fighting spirit. Of course, the suffix -ish is simply Hebrew for 'man'.

Stephen

[Richard Amiel McGough]

Hello Richard!

I wonder if hello is related to halal. There is a certain resonance between the meanings of the Hebrew word and our cheerful form of greeting.

Hey ho Stephen,,

I don't have anything certain on "hello" but my first guess would be that it is a variation on "hail" which means "healthy, whole, sound" and this makes me think of the Hebrew chayil, though it is not an exact match:

חיל chayil {khah'-yil} from 02342; TWOT - 624a; n m AV - army 56, man of valour 37, host 29, forces 14, valiant 13, strength 12, riches 11, wealth 10, power 9, substance 8, might 6, strong 5, misc 33; 243 1) strength, might, efficiency, wealth, army 1a) strength 1b) ability, efficiency 1c) wealth 1d) force, army

Another correspondence seems to exist between halak and 'walk'. Surely this cannot be coincidence.

I noticed this one years ago, and consider it a very solid example of an English/Hebrew cognate. It is very interesting that it also links to the galal root (Gimel Lamed Lamed) = to roll, hence galgal = wheel, and these phonemes have this power (whether with Kaph or Gimel, and with a liguid Resh/Lamed interchange) throughout many languages. E.g. circle, kuklos, kirkos, etc.

Next in the lexicon comes hal'm, the meaning of which is congruent with our word 'harm'. Which reminds me of the correspondence between chalam and 'calm'.

I don't know what word you mean by "chalam." Could you spell it in Hebrew? As for "calm" - I have wondered if it might not link to salam with the sibilant "c" as in "cereal." I just checked Klein's Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, and he traced it down to the Greek chauma which he says means "the burning heat of the sun" which is curious since that is the meaning of the Hebrew Cham, which he knew since he also wrote a Hebrew Etymological dictionary (but stayed entirely within the academic herd and never once suggested any connections with Hebrew except when absolutely necessary as with words like "amen"). He then went on to say that chauma was from the Indo-European root chaien = to burn, whence such words as "caustic" and chomage. In none of this series of words connected with heat and burning did he ever mention this fundamental Hebrew root:

חמם chamam {khaw-mam'} a primitive root; TWOT- 677; v AV - ...warm 7, ...hot 3, ...heat 2 enflaming 1; 13 1) to be hot, become warm 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to be or grow warm 1a2) of passion (fig.) 1b) (Niphal) to become aroused, inflame oneself with 1c) (Piel) to warm 1d) (Hithpael) to warm oneself

And while we are chatting about this part of the dictionary, have you consided the root chamas = violence? Its usually spelt with an "h" as in the name of that wicked terrorist group Hamas. This links directly to the Sanscrit ahimsa = a (no) hamas (violence).

Another onomatopoeic one is hamah, meaning 'hum'. It seems to go on and on, suggesting that there is a link between the English and the Israelites. Worth following that thought, Richard. After all, even the name of the language we speak is very probably straight from Hebrew. 'English' is consonant with the Hebrew dialectic root englah, which means 'bullock'. The englah was an appellation for Ephraim (Hosea 10:11). England is symbolised by John Bull, and famed for its bulldog fighting spirit. Of course, the suffix -ish is simply Hebrew for 'man'.

Stephen

I think you crossed the border on your last set of associations. I'm not familiar with any Hebrew word hamah that means "hum." How is it spelt? Although Tehum has been associated with "hum" so maybe I forgot something. But we are talking about world-wide linguistic patterns, not just English and Hebrew. For example, I just showed there is an obvious link between the Greek chauma (heat) and the Hebrew cham, but we do not use that to infer that the Greeks are Hebrews, do we?

As for the "ish" suffix. We know that it is an "adjective suffix" that means "like" or "of the quality of" or "pertaining to." It is very much like the adjective suffix "i" or "y", which by they way, are Hebraic, as in "Israeli." But it does not mean "Aish" as in "man." To think otherwise would be foolish.

Richard