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E 0464 HOVER
The word "hover" is of Germanic origin.
H 0006 א ב ר
Concept of root : to fly (up), to fly
above
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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א ב ר
א ב ר
א ו ב ר
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avar ;
ever;
over
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to fly (up), to fly
above ;
wing;
flying above
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Related English words
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hover
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Comparison between European words and
Hebrew
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Languages
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Words
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Pronunciation
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English meanings
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Similarity in roots
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Hebrew
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א ב ר
א ב ר
א ו ב ר
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avar;
ever; over
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to fly above;
wing; flying above
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a v . r
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English
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to hover
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to hover
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o v .
r
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Proto-Semitic *AVAR; OVER --- *HOVER English
The English word "hover" is not found in German or Dutch, so here it is only English which shows this similarity with Hebrew.
Note:
- "Hover" " comes from Middle English "hoveren". As is known, Middle English used just like the other West-Germanic languages German and Dutch the suffix "-en" to indicate the infinitive of verbs. Usually "hoveren" is considered as a frequentative of a hypothetical verb "*hoven" that does not exist though. This is quite
understandable, as many frequentatives have this kind of formation, with two syllables after a basic root. But as the hypothetical verb "* hoven" does not exist, besides in Middle Dutch where it means "to keep court", a quite different theme, the " R " in English "to hover" does not indicate a frequentative or iterative.
Also the similarity with Hebrew makes more probable that in the case of Middle English "hoveren" we have an older root "*ov.r". As often, an "H" has enriched the
pronunciation in the Germanic language that is English. Also in Middle Dutch there are many words that may have two versions, with or without an initial H.
And again in Latin many words that originally had an H, have lost that. The same goes for the pronunciation of Greek, that lost initial H’s.
Note:
- Hebrew and Latin. The words of this entry may be related to those of entry E 0061( Hebrew 0210 ), that deals with the concepts of birds and flying . In that case a more antique root may have consisted just of an initial vowel (expressed also as Aleph ) and a labial P . That P would easily develop into V or F at the beginning or ending of words.
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. The Hebrew verb is a hapax legomenon in the Bible, found in Job 39:26. The combination "Aleph B R" is also found in words with meanings of "strength, hardening" and "member, organ", that should be without semantic links to "to fly, hover". Then in relation to "to fly", there are the words א ב ר, ever and א ב ר ה, everà, both meaning "wing, pinion". This is also found in Aramaic א ב ר א, averà and Syriac א ב ר א, ebhrà, as well as Akkadian abru, all with the meaning "of pinion". This information can help a hypothesis of a Proto-Semitic root א ב ר , Aleph B R with a message of "to fly (up), fly over", that can be related to English "to hover".
Note:
- Indo-European. We have no information from outside English that would allow a hypothesis for Indo-European. There exists a Sanscrit "bhrâmya" = "to hover, fly about", but this is also used for "to wander about, roam, rove" and that may be nearer the original message.
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 22/09/2012 at 15.29.19 |
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