E 0970          WAĐ, WĘDAN

Old English "wad" and "wędan" are of Germanic origin .

H 0111            ד ע

Concept of root : to hunt for booty

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ד ע

‛ad

booty

Related English words

Old English waš, wędan

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ד ע

‛ad

booty

‛a d

Old English

waš ;

-

wędan

hunt, roaming;

to hunt

w a d ;

-

w ae d

Old High German

weida

weida

hunt,

food, travelling

w ei d .

Middle Dutch

weide, wayde

-

-

weiden

-

weidenaar

weide, waide

-

-

weiden

-

weidenaar

fodder, food, meal, meadow, hunt;

to graze, hunt ;

hunter

we . d

 

 

Proto-Semitic *‛AD --- *WAD- Indo-European

 

 

This root originally dealt with the concept of "procuring food " , not specifically that of " to hunt". In the old times of hunting and gathering, the first one was just one of various ways of getting food. Thus the same root could refer as well to grazing and pasturing of animals. And a "weide" could be a " pasture " as well as "food" or " booty ".

 

For the comparison between the Semitic and Germanic words of this entry it must be noted that there are more cases in which an initial Aleph or Ayin in Hebrew corresponds with a consonant "W" in Germanic.

 

Note:
  • Old English gives a clear image. In order to hunt, one has to roam about to find prey , and one verb means both things. Obviously also to gather food , no more in the period of Old English but before that during many thousands of years , one had to roam about.

 

Note:
  • English and Hebrew. The difference is in the beginning of the root, where this time the Old English initial vowel is strengthened by a lip-consonant W in front of it, whereas Hebrew uses a guttural Ayin to that end. The interface is clear and sufficiently significant to be mentioned.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This brief two consonant root is found as well in Aramaic. Besides, some scholars say that it is related to the verb "ע ד ה Ayin Daleth Hé", that in Hebrew says " to pass by, proceed". But in Aramaic this verb means " he went (off), came, removed" and in Syriac a.o. " to seize" as well as " to come suddenly upon". So one may fairly assume that there was a Proto-Semitic root similar if not identical to Hebrew: "* ע ד - , Ayin D ".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. The initial consonant is in West Germanic "W" and in North Germanic "V" with practically the same pronunciation. The following consonant is mostly "EI", also in Old Norse "veidi, veidr, pronounced veiši, veišr = hunt, booty". The second consonant is "D" and it is followed by another vowel, usually a nearly mute "E", but sometimes an "A" (Old High German "weida") or " I " (Old Norse). Presumably Proto-Germanic had "*W EI D -".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. Usually Latin "venor, venatus sum, venari = to hunt, follow game" is seen as related to the Germanic words of this entry, but there is insufficient similarity of the roots. The same goes for Greek "hiemai" and for different reasons Old Indian "veti", that express the concept of "desire", which is too different from "hunting".

     

    Avestan "vay-" says "to hunt" and though it has no dental, it may be related.

     

    Baltic has Lithuanian "vejù = to hunt", possibly related like Avestan.

     

    Celtic shows a dental and in fact a " D " in Old Irish "fīad = game" and "fīadach = hunt".

     

    Indo-European probably had a form "*W A D-", that in Germanci became "WEID-". Perhaps there was as well a form without dental, of which it is difficult to define if it came first. The similarity in sound and meaning between Hebrew and Old English suggests that the form with "D" was the older one.

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 22/12/2012 at 9.59.17