E 0443          HELMET , HELAN

The word "helmet" is of Germanic origin

H 0131            ם ל ע *, ם י ל ע ה

Concept of root : to hide

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ם ל ע *, ם י ל ע ה

*‛alam, he‛elim

to hide

Related English words

helmet , Old English helan

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ם ל ע *,

ם י ל ע ה

‛alam ,

he‛elim

to hide

‛a l m

Old English

helan ;

helm

helan ;

helm

to hide ;

helmet

he l ;

he l m

English

helmet

helmet

he l m

Old High German

helan;
Helm

hélan ;

hèlm

to hide ;

helmet

he l ;

he l m

Middle Dutch

helen;

helm

hélen;

hèlm

to hide ;

helmet

he l;

he l m

 

 

Hebrew *‛ALAM --- *HEL-, *HELM- Proto-Germanic, *KEL- Indo-European

 

 

The letter H, a guttural airflow, can be found in European roots, in this case a Germanic root, that are comparable with Hebrew cousins that have an Ayin, a guttural sound-stop. The problem is that if the Germanic initial " H " corresponds with Latin and Greek " K" , as we see in this entry, Indo-European is supposed to have had the Latin version. We adopted here that opinion, but do no feel certain about this.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew and Germanic. There is another three consonant root in Hebrew, beginning with ל + ע and serve the concept of "hiding", by "covering" or "wrapping" : "ע ל ף Ayin L P". Now with "‛alam" we find two related versions in Dutch, of which one with the M and one without it. The version with M we find as well in Modern English. Old English as often is very much near Dutch.

 

Note:
  • Dutch uses "helen" today only in one of its meanings, that is "to fence stolen goods". But other words , such as "verholen = hidden", still bear the old general meaning of "to hide".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. Identical roots are found in other Semitic languages, with the totally different meaning " to know" , as well as in Hebrew itself, with the messages of "to be strong, sexually mature, youth". Naturally there is a supposed Proto-Semitic root that is identical : "*ע ל ם Ayin L M". But the picture is insufficiently clear regarding the specific meaning of "to hide", for which we have no documentation from other Semitic languages.

 

Note:
  • Germanic. The statement that "helmet " is a development of an older root H + L, without M , does not explain how come this M is already present in Hebrew . Perhaps this time there is a fortuity ? Or have there been intermediate words of which we have no knowledge today ?

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. There is a rather general view that links the groups of Germanic words to which belong Old English "helm" and English "helmet" to the group of words for "to hide" that are related to Old English "helan" and Dutch "helen". There can be little doubt that Proto-Germanic had respectively "*H E LM" and "*H E L-".

     

    There is no reason whatsoever to suppose that the initial consonant was a "GH"-sound instead of the omnipresent "H".

     

    A particular problem lies in the fact that in Germanic languages there exists also a related word with a different vowel, a short "U" as in "*H U LL-", that may have been present in Proto-Germanic. The Nordic version is "*H U L J" that stands for " to cover, enwrap, dress" . In composite verbs this same root with an "U"- or sometimes "O"-sound may carry the message of the more intentional action of "to hide", as in Middle Dutch "hullen" and Dutch "verheulen".

     

    With all this we have no sufficient explanation for the fact that Hebrew "Ayin . L . M" corresponds with a Germanic "*H e L-" on the concept of "to hide", while a Germanic "*H L M-" carries another related meaning, "helmet", the object that "covers" the head.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European.

     

    Latin "celo, celavi, celatum, celare = to hide" is related to the mentioned Germanic words.

     

    Celtic, with Old Irish "celim = I hide" and Cymric "celu = to hide" indicates "C E L", as does Latin. Interesting is Old Irish "arcelim = I steal".

     

    Greek has the well known verb "καλυπτω, kalüpto = to hide, cover", that is considered having an original root "*K E L-".

     

    Indo-European according to the common view had a basic form "*K E L-.

     

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 30/09/2012 at 18.02.09