E 0555          MÆRE

The word "mære" is Old English and of Germanic origin

H 0038       א מ ר

Concept of root: informing

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

א מ ר

amar

say, inform, tell

Related English words

Old English : mære

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

א מ ר

amar

say, inform, tell

. m (a) r

Old English

mære

tale, rumor

m (a) r

Old High German

mari

mari

report, rumor

m (a) r .

German

Märchen

mérkhen

fairy tale

m (a) r

Middle Dutch

maren

maren

inform, tell

m (a) r

Dutch

mare

mare

report, tiding(s)

m (a) r

 

 

Proto-Semitic *AMAR --- *MAR- Proto-Germanic

 

 

A common origin may lay very far back in history, or rather pre-history. And the paths a root follows in the various languages after they have separated, may be very different. One sees here on one side words that have been mostly forgotten in modern language, with the very limited exception of Dutch "mare" and German "Märchen". On the other side , in Hebrew, a common daily used word .

 

Note:
  • German, after English the most important Germanic language, has abandoned this root, with the exception of the internationally well known word "Märchen" or "fairy-tale". Perhaps this word is well known because it is in German that the so famous fairy-tales of the Grimm-brothers have been written. By the way, these gentlemen were also very important philologists . "Märchen" is of course a diminutive of the obsolete noun " mär(e) ", in Old High German "mari", that says : "report, tiding, tale".

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. In the supposition of a common origin in this entry, the initial vowel of the Hebrew root is an added confirming prefix. We have not found conclusive corroborating evidence to this end.

     

    Perhaps a support might be found in the word "מ ו ר ה, "moré, = teacher". This word does in fact lack the Aleph and its meaning may also have to do with the concepts "to tell, inform", exactly what is the task of a teacher.

     

    "ה ר א ה , her’à = to show, make see". Its origin lies in the concept of "to see".

 

Note
  • Proto-Semitic Proto-Semitic already used the root we find in Hebrew: א מ ר. It is seen in Phoenician, Aramaic, Syriac and Moabite with the meaning of "to say, to speak" and Arabic "'amarà" says "he commanded".

 

Note
  • Proto-Germanic. With a few exceptions like Old Frisian "mere, Old English "mære = declaration" and Old Norse "mærr = famous", Germanic languages have the combination "M A R" that probably was used in Proto-Germanic : "*M Ā R-".

 

Note
  • Indo-European.We have no information outside Germanic, to justify a different hypothesis for Indo-European.

 

 

 

 
"...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 17.08.29