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OUR ROOTS IN "WeR"
THE INDO-EUROPEAN ROOT "WER"
It has been defined that there has been an Indo-European root "*WER", that had many different basic meanings, Some say there were five, others say eleven. That is partly a matter of grouping and regrouping. Besides we see roots like "werad", "werdh", "were" "werg" etc. Perhaps we will never acquire full certainty about the whole picture, but many high probabilities have been established.
The aim of our research is to look for relationships between Indo-European and Semitic, for the time being concentrating mainly on the things we are somehow acquainted with : Greek and
Latin with their daughters, Germanic languages and Hebrew. We will be happy on finding what we seek, but we will be careful not to fall into the trap of "Hineininterpretierung" as the
Germans say : "to interpret into the facts" that what we wish to find in them. This is in reality a very common way of wishful thinking, a way many scholars
are not quite free of.
We are often comforted when we see that such kinships as we are looking for, show to us some answers to not quite resolved questions about Indo-European original
roots .
In the following thoughts we do not claim to resolve many problems, but we just hope to give at least some contribution in that sense. Let us try to have a look at some of those "WER"s, which we call "WeR". Our reason for this is that we believe in the more fundamental role consonants play in shaping basic meanings that form roots. "WeR" is seen as having meant a/o "to
raise, hold suspended", "to turn, bend", "to perceive, watch out for", "to cover", "to speak".
C.C-ROOTS and C.C.C-ROOTS
The Indo-European root "WeR" has two consonants. The words that certainly have been derived from it, usually have three consonants : they
are C.C.C-roots whereas "WeR" is a C.C.-root. It is very important to know that in both Indo-European and Hebrew there are many basic C.C-roots
that, in various ways, have produced C.C.C.-roots. We will verify that in our analysis of "WeR".
In Proto-Greek the "W", called "waw" after its Semitic name, existed. In Classic Greek it had well-nigh disappeared. In Hebrew the "waw" in general exists and is well off, but at the beginning of
words it has disappeared, or better it has changed into a "yod", with the sound "y" as in English "you".
Consequences of these developments are that we will find neither Greek nor hardly any Hebrew roots built on "W.R". In Greek they will have some different forms, in Hebrew they have "Y.R"
We also have seen that the C.C.C-roots not necessarily are created by adding a third consonant. If the root for "air" has been developed out of "W.R", as scholars of Indo-European
suppose, the third consonant has been placed in the first position, in Hebrew as "aleph" with a following vowel "A".
And in Indo-European the situation is exactly the same, be it that this is not recognized as such. So there the vowel "A" will be considered the first letter of a root "*AWR" or perhaps "*AWIR".
C.C.C-ROOTS AND VOWELS
In Indo-European words, based on C.C.C-roots, we often will find only one vowel , like in "turn" or "trim". In Semitic languages many, if not most forms have two vowels , like "taram" or "toren".
OUTLINE OF INDO-EUROPEAN ROOTS DEFINED AS "WER"
1. WeR, to raise, lift, uphold
A basic form *awer- is seen to have led to
Greek αιρώ, airò ,= to raise, lift. And from this root is supposed to have been possibly derived the
important word "αηρ, aèr, = air ". This hypothesis says that the word for "air"
has developed from a word for "to lift". We dare to disagree.
We see in Hebrew the word " ר י ו א , awir"= air. Generally this Hebrew word is seen as a loanword from Greek,
though there are several reasons to doubt this . See Entry E 0019 (Hebrew 0092).
The similarity in sound and meaning between
Greek and Hebrew may well be due to a common origin. But it also makes probable that the
Greek word for "to lift" is based on the word for "air" and not the other way
about.
We ask help from English. Not because "air"is
living on here, but because "to lift" means "to lift" : "to raise into the
air", which the Germans still call "Luft".
As a consequence we do not see that basic root
"WeR" as meaning "to lift". We have found a C.C.C-root, that is a
root of three consonants. In this case the Hebrew C.C.C-root : Aleph,
Waw, Resh, that is in practice "א . W . R" (א=Aleph). After
filling in the vowels, we get the word "AWIR" , that means "AIR".
To understand this we recall that the "Aleph"
has no sound on itself, but indicates that in this root and in this place a
vowel must be pronounced. In "awir" as in many words, that vowel is an A.
In fact the vowel "A" was the most frequent one
at the beginning of a syllable, when the Greeks made acquaintance with the
Semitic alephbet. That is why they chose it to represent their vowel "A",
calling it "alpha". Vowels as such were not written in the Semitic alephbet.
In Greek
the consonant "waw" has disappeared not long after the introduction of the
alphabet. And probably as a compensation ( a frequent phenomenon in development
of words!) a longer vowel was pronounced : "è" instead of Hebrew "wi".
It is very interesting to know that the Greek
"è" in Modern Greek is pronounced as "i". And that in Hebrew, as in Greek,
often the "waw" or "w" has disappeared, many times changing into an "I" or " Y ".
We may
conclude that there is an Indo-European and Semitic root : * A W R , meaning "air" and leading to AIR
and AWIR.
2. WeR, to turn, bend
We see a considerable number of sub-roots of
this basic one. And we find in Hebrew a
counter part "Y . R", that has had
as its origin "*W . R", just like the Indo-European root. And also this
Hebrew root has various sub-roots, some of which coincide with their
Indo-European cousins.
There is a but. In the many I-E-sub-roots we
see not very much of a direct meaning in the sense of "to turn, to bend". The
exception is Latin "vertere" that effectively says "to turn". The others are
seen as based on turning or bending movements.
Neither do
we see much from Greek. Looking at Modern Greek though we find γυριζω, yirizo, that says "to return"
in Classic Greek the
word "γυρος, güros meant "round, curved,
bent". So we have the "Mediterranean" "g" instead of "w". But in
Latin we do not find that "g" in "vertere". Perhaps
the Romans
deplored this and decided therefore to loan the Greek word : Latin "gyros"
and the verb gyro"to mean "to turn in a circle, around".
Italians say "girare" for "to turn" and have their " "Giro d’Italia",
counterpart of the more famous French "Tour de France".
Anyhow we
see that the alternating between "W "or "V" and respectively "G" or "K"
does not coincide with a strict North-South-divide.
We will now
look at the C.C.C-roots that may have developed from an original C.C-root "*W .
R"
opening
towards meanings around "to turn".
| W . R . T | Latin | "vertere", "to turn" | There is an intensive form of this verb : "versare". The sound of Latin "v" lies between English "v" and "w". |
| | | | |
| English | "toward", "wreath" | |
| Old English | "writhan", "to twist" | |
| | | | |
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י ר ט
| !!! Hebrew | "vertere", "to turn" | "Y . R . TH", yarath, meaning "to change direction". "To deviate" |
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| ?? Germanic | "vertere", "to turn" | "werthan", "to become", from "to turn into". The question marks are needed. |
| | | | |
| W . R . G | Latin | "vergere" | "to (make) incline, (make) lean over" |
| | Dutch and German | "wurgen,wuergen" | "to strangle" from "to press while turning" |
| | | | |
| י ר ק | !! Hebrew | "Y . R . Q" | "to cast down" |
| W . R . NG | English | "to wring" | We cannot see clearly a supposed relation with "wrangle". |
| W . R . K | Dutch | "wrikken", "to twist" | English "to wriggle" like Dutch "wriggelen" are intensive or frequentative forms.
Hebrew "Y . R . K" serves the concepts of "thigh", "flank" , "hinder parts", "extremities" and seems not too directly related to "W R K". True, the "twist" is danced by "twisting" or "wriggling" the hips", but that is perhaps not enough. |
| W . R . M | Latin | "vermis", "worm" | |
| | English | "worm" | We know no Hebrew root "Y.R.M" |
| W . R . P | Old English | "weorpan" | "to throw, fling, hurl" |
| | Dutch | "werpen" | |
| | German | "werfen" | |
| | | | |
| י ר ה | !!! Hebrew | "Y . R . H" (yarah) to throw, fling, hurl | The Hebrew root does not have the "P" as a third consonant.
The usual reasoning, that this root is linked to "WeR",
because throwing is done with a turning movement of
the arm, would seem a bit farfetched.
The third consonant should be a "P", and not "B" as
usually supposed, because German has "F", which is
mostly shaped after "P". |
| W . R . P | ?? English | "to wrap" | This is uncertain. The turning activity, here more like
winding, is possibly linked, but remains rather isolated
in its meaning. In Hebrew there is a root "K.R.K,
which also says "to envelop," but it is too different. |
| W . R . B | Dutch | "wrijven", to rub | Undoubtedly a turning movement, be it not always.
There is no related Hebrew root. |
3. WeR, high raised spot; to watch out for
Probably the two meanings are of one origin. A look-out is placed on a high spot.
| W . R | English | "wary", "aware" | |
| | Middle-Dutch | "waer" = "true" | |
| | Latin | "verus" = "true" | |
| *
י
ר
ה | !! Hebrew | "*Y R.H" to perceive | This root is indicated by the existence of a causative verb ""hora" = "to show". |
| W . R . D | Middle-Dutch | "waerd", guard | |
| | German | "Warte" | |
| | ?? Hebrew | "Y . R . D", yarad = to descend | A bit too farfetched, as this meaning indicates just the coming down from that high look-out spot. |
4. WeR,
to cover
There is in fact not much evidence for this supposition. Latin "coperire" ( to cover) gives little proof,
as "per" as a root is quite different from "wer".
The basic concept of "to protect" is found in the many French words beginning with "gar" and cited
under this hypothetical root. We would consider them related to the Hebrew root "G . R" meaning
"to stay in a protected place".
Finally the words "warrant" and French "garant", of unknown etymology, if based on an original
C.C-root , still might have their own C.C.C-root "G.R.N/W.R.N", but should not be confounded
with the concept of "to cover".
5. WeR, to speak
| | English | word | |
| | Latin | "verbum", word | |
| | Greek | "ειρω (eiro)" to speak | We see in these Indo-European branches,
Germanic, Latin and Greek, two different C.C.C-roots :
W.R.D, W.R.B. and, after loss of W",C.C-root Y.R.
There is no clear definition yet within European tongues. |
| | | | |
| | ?? Hebrew | "davar" word, to speak. | There is unsufficient evidence to link this
Hebrew word to the European ones. The pronunciation,
with a central "v", is of an original "B". Second, "D" as
a prefix is not known. Third, the root "D.B.R" has many
other meanings. |
6. WeR, water
| W : R : N | Latin | "urina", urin | The Greek word "ouron" with the
same meaning confirms this root. |
7. Other roots with possible first consonants
"W" and "R".
We have found several of these in comparison with Hebrew.
| W . R . S | Dutch | "vrezen", to fear | |
| | | | |
| י ר א | !! Hebrew | "Y . R . א", yar’a, to fear | |
We have found several of these in comparison with Hebrew.
| W . R | Dutch | "(zich ver)weren" | to defend oneself, resist |
| | Middle-Dutch | "weren" | to defend |
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| י ר ב | !! Hebrew | "Y . R . V", "yariv" | adversary |
| W . R . W, W . R . B | Middle-Dutch | "werven", to turn, obtain, acquire, realize, inherit | Modern Dutch has definitely distributed these meanings
over various already existing stems, such as werven,
verwerven and erven. |
| | Middle-Dutch | "weren" | to defend |
| | | | |
| י ר ש | !! Hebrew | "Y . R . SH", yarash, to obtain, take possession of, hereditate | Particularly interesting is that the basic meaning "to
turn" is present in this Middle-Dutch word. |
| V . R . D | Latin | "viride", green | |
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| י ר ק | !! Hebrew | "Y . R . Q", yaroq green | |
The C.C-component "W . R" in these examples is common to the European and Hebrew C.C.C-roots !
TO FEAR , Y A R ‘ E’
Specific attention to this comparison , found under number 7 of the previous list, seems worth while . It is indeed not impossible, but remains little probable that the roots of Greek "
‛ορ(α)ω, hor(a)o" , Latin " vereor ", English " fear "and also Hebrew "
י
ר
א , yar’é , to fear " are related .
This is based on the existing supposition that besides the two basic meanings found as well for English " fear ": fear of people and fear of God , there is a third one . The theory, this third
meaning of the verb, is based on a hypothetical root " * uer", with the message of "looking with attention at something ". It is then in fact linked to Greek "‛οράω", that stands for " to see, look, observe etc. " . "Vereor "is then also linked to German "wahrnemen" , which is certainly a cognate of "‛οράω". This all seems to be a rather common opinion, which we do not subscribe .
In Similarities number E 0327 (Hebrew 1060) and E 0064 (Hebrew 0796) we make comparisons between "
י
ר
א" , "
ר
א
ה" and English " fear "
as well as its cognates in other Indo-European languages . Among these of
course Latin " vereor " and Greek "‛ορ(α)ω".
A basic element of the found similarity lies in the development from initial Waw to initial Yod . Another fundamental comparison in this sense is the one found in Similarities E 0478 and E 1006 (Hebrew 1039) .
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