E 0416          HALL, AULIC

The word "hall" is of Germanic origin .

"Aulic" comes, via Latin, from Greek .

H 0081            ם ל ו א

Concept of root : hall

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ם ל ו א

ulam

hall

Related English words

hall

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ם ל ו א

ulam

hall

. u l . m

Greek

αυλη

aulè

hall

. u l .

Doric Greek

αυλα

aula

hall

. u l .

Gothic

alh-s

alh-s

temple

. ah l .

Old Saxon

alah

alah

temple

. a l . h

English

hall ;

aulic

hall ;

aulic

h . l ;

. u l .

 

 

Hebrew *ULAM --- *AL-, *H A L Indo-European

 

 

The word "aula" of this root , from Greek has conquered much of the world. Hebrew "ulam" and "elam" indicating spaces within a building that are not directly for living or eating, is an obvious sisterword of the Greek one, even if it has a final M added.

 

There are more instances in which an initial H is found in Germanic that corresponds with a vowel, sometimes reinforced by an Ayin in Hebrew, or extended in Greek or Latin.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew als has the word " א י ל ם , elam = hall, vestibule". This has developed out of "ulam".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic There is insufficient evidence from other Semitic languages to allow a hypothesis for a root. The Akkadian word "ellamu = in front of" may be related.

 

Note:
  • Greek uses this word in different versions to express spaces one stays in. It goes from " inner court " to "cottage" and can even become a "palace". A "stable" or "bivouac" also can come within its reach . The basic meaning is here as well that of a not fully covered or elsewise not fully closed space .

     

    Certainly the word is not related to the verb "kalüptein = to hide" as sometimes is thought. Hiding is about the contrary of the use of these well visible covered spaces.

 

Note:
  • English "hall ", Old English "heall " comes from a Germanic root that in origin was used to differentiate a not or not fully covered or partially closed roomy space from fully covered and closed ones that had an initial S instead of an initial H. In the view of some scholars the Old English word for this was "sele" . The sister word of this "sele" in German and Dutch today is a "Saal" or "zaal". It is quite probable that in Germanic "halle" and "Saal" are of independent origin. Old English also has a certainly related word for a "sheltering " or "temple": "alh" or "ealh", related to Old Saxon "alah" and Gothic " alh-s", that both mean "temple".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic There is no reason to suppose stronger guttural aspiration than the mentioned words have with their "H" and Proto-Germanic should have had "*H A L(L)" and also "*A L H" with related meanings.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European.

     

    Old Indian has "śālā = house, building" and this may well be related to the Proto-Germanic words of the previous notes and to Greek " α υ λ η , aulè " , with its mentioned range of meanings. The Greek word is considered to have been based on an older root "A W L". It must also be noted that Old Indian śālā is related to Germanic words like German "Saal= hall, large room". And with that to Middle Dutch "sale, sael, sele = building, palace, court, hall".

     

    It has been tried to relate these words to Russian "у л и ц а, ulitsa = street", but the semantic link seems very weak.

     

    For Indo-European the possible form seems to be "* A L", but as well "*H A L-". The referred "S" in Old Indian and Germanic as well as the initial "H" in "hall" may be prefixes and it is uncertain if they may have been introduced earlier.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 27/09/2012 at 9.54.21