E 0013          AFTER

The word " after " is of Germanic origin

H 0022          א ח ר  

Concept of root: after, behind

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

א ח ר

aghar

after, behind

Related English words

after

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

א ח ר

aghar

after, behind

a gh . r

Modern Greek

αργa

argha

late, slow

a r g

Dutch

achter

akhter

after, behind

a kh t . r

Middle Dutch

achter,

after,

echt

aghter,

after,

eght

after ( in all senses), behind

a kh t . r

a f t .r

a kh t

English

after

after

a f t . r

 

 

Proto-Semitic *AGHAR --- *AGHER Indo-European

 

 

There is a metathesis between the Greek word on the one side and the Hebrew and other European words on the other side. That is to say that the "R"-sound changed places with the "G , KH or GH". It is known that the consonant " R " in various languages often lives metatheses.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew and Greek. We find the same root in Entry GR 1142 (Hebrew 0021) with the classic Greek word "argos" as reference .

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. In Ugaritic and Moabite we find "א ח ר, aghar = "after, behind". Aramaic had "א ח ר א, 'agher'à" with the same meaning. These are sister words of Hebrew. Cognates with related meanings are Arabic "'abharà = he put off" and "ta'aghgharà = he was delayed" and Akkadian "ughghuru= he remained behind". Proto-Semitic in all probability used this same root : א ח ר, Aleph Ghet Resh.

 

Note:
  • Modern Greek has maintained as well the classic meaning of "inactive, idle" in the word "αργον". The pronunciation in Modern Greek is different , not "argon" but "arghon".

 

Note:
  • Greek. The same root we find in entry GR 1142 ( Hebrew 0021 ), but then in Classic Greek. A root "A R G" as in Greek "argos" is used to express various different concepts, that probably do not all have common origin:

     

    1. "argos = splendid, brilliant, white", from which "argüros = silver".

     

    2. "argos = fast".

     

    3. "argos = not working, lazy", a contraction of "aergos", based on "ergon = action, work" related to German "Werk" and of course English "work".

     

    4. "argos = useless, superfluous, not productive (action, money)".

     

    5. "argos = unfinished, unachieved ".

     

    And in modern language:

     

    6. "argos = idle"

     

    7. "argos, arga = slow"

     

    8. "arga = late".

     

    There are some shifts in meanings from Classic to New Greek.

 

Note:
  • English "after ". This English word has "F" instead of "KH". This is not surprising, as in fact only Dutch has maintained the "KH" sound in this case. Other Germanic languages have "F": So in the West-Germanic language Old High-German "aftar", in East-Germanic Gothic "aftra" and in North-Germanic Swedish "efter". Interesting is that in Middle-Dutch both versions existed, "after" as well as "achter".

     

    There are other cases in Germanic with the same phenomenon. For example German "heften" corresponds with Dutch "hechten", meaning "to attach".

 

Note:
  • Germanic tongues have, as we see, a "T" inserted, that lacks in Greek and Hebrew. Germanic in its development of words and roots is relatively generous in inserting the consonants "T" and "S". In popular Dutch today there is still a tendency to for example shape comparatives, so words as English "smaller" and "finer", with an extra dental. So "fijner" (finer) becomes "fijnder" end "gauwer" (quicker) becomes "gauwder". Really this makes one think of Greek, where a comparative is shaped by adding "-teros" to a word. "Kalos" (beautiful) becomes "kaloteros" (more beautiful) .

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. In Germanic languages we see basically two versions, one with "-GHT- ( spelled usually "-CHT-")" and one with "-FT-( sometimes " -PT-")". The first one is limited to Low German, Dutch and their predecessors, though it may have had a cognate in Old English "eahtan = to pursue". Yet it is probably the older one. Both versions lived together for many centuries, as can be seen from the Mioddle Dutch words in the table. Proto-Germanic may well have used both "A GH T e R" and "A F T e R". The version with "-PT-" may be due to a change in pronunciation. especially in Old Norse that had both "eftir" and "eptir".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. There is no reason to suppose that English "after" and its colleagues find their origin in an Indo-European root "apo", "off, away" which would be identical in sound to Greek "απο", saying "from, by, since".

     

    On the basis of our supposition that in Germanic words the "T" has been added, as so often, Indo-European may have had a form "A GH E R".

 

 

 
"...the town, to which was given the name Babel, because it was there that the Lord confused the language of all the world on the face of which He dispersed them. GENESIS 11,9"
 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 24/09/2012 at 10.29.10