GR 1145         ATHÈR

H 0013          א ד ר ה

Concept of root : fish bone

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

א ד ר ה

idәra

fish bone

Related English words

none

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

א ד ר ה

idәra

fish bone

i d . r

 Greek

αθηρ

athèr

fish bone, point

a th . r

 

 

Proto-Semitic *ADERÀ --- *ATHÈR Greek

 

 

We see here an example in which under the sign of the Hebrew Aleph (א) a vowel "I" is pronounced . One should recall that this letter means only that a vowel has to be pronounced. Which one, the speaker should know by himself out of his experience with the language. True, the most frequent vowel under the sign of Aleph is the one we call "A". This induced the Greeks, upon learning about alphabetic writing via the Phoenicians, to use the "Aleph" for the sound "A".

 

Note:
  • In Germanic languages we find for "fishbone" words as "grat" ( Old German), "grad" ( Westphalic ) and "graet" (Middle Dutch). They might be related to the Greek and Hebrew words of this item. That would mean a metathesis ( in this case an exchange of positions of the consonants between dentals and "r") and the adding of a "g". But this would be just a far and rather improbable guess, nothing more.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This word has a cognate in Aramaic " א ד ר א 'ader'à = fish bone, pine-needle". The second meaning is not seen in Hebrew. Obviously fish bones were used as needles as well. This remains a rather small but fair basis to make a hypothesis for a Proto-Semitic root א ד ר , Aleph Daleth Resh. For the comparison we have the vowels as used in Aramaic.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. We have no information available that would allow a hypothesis different from Greek.

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: Monday 9 July 2012 at 12.43.29