|
E 0446 EREBUS , EREMITE , HERMIT
The words "hermit" is, via Old French, of Latin origin
H 0171 ב ר ע
Concept : desert
|
Hebrew word
|
pronunciation
|
English meanings
|
|
ב ר ע
ב ה ר ע
|
‛arav ;‛aravą
|
desert;
desert, wilderness
|
|
|
|
Related English words
|
hermit,
eremite
|
|
|
Comparison between European words and
Hebrew
|
Languages
|
Words
|
Pronunciation
|
English meanings
|
Similarity in roots
|
|
Hebrew
|
ב ר ע
ב ה ר ע
|
‛arav ;
‛aravą
|
desert
|
‛a
r . b
|
|
Greek
|
ερημος
|
erčmos
|
desert
|
e r .
m
|
|
Latin
|
eremus
|
eremus
|
desert
|
e r .
m
|
|
English
|
hermit ;
eremite
|
|
hermit ;
eremite
|
he r m ;
e r . m
|
Proto-Semitic *‛ARAB --- *ERÈM-OS Greek < EREM Indo-European
The concept of desert is not that of sandy grounds, but territory where in general live no people. And yet the Semitic word "arab" was used to indicate the people that live in the desert : the Arabs. Interesting is the contrast with that other Semitic name, based on a root composed of the same three letters, but with the R and B changing places :
ע
ב
ר , ‛abar > ‛avar. It means "to pass by" and possibly the name of Abraham, who first had the name "Abram", has its origin in this root.
Certainly the word "Hebrew" is based on it. In Biblical language Hebrew is "‛ivĕri", with the B already pronounced as "V". Anyhow we see that the Arabs bear their name as "The people living in the desert", and the Jews as "The people who travel".
Interesting in this respect is to read how the Koran judges negatively those Arabs that the Book written by Allah called "the Arabs of the desert".
Note:
- Greek, Latin and Hebrew have not the same third consonant, though they are all labials. The B and M are formed with the two lips together . They have as difference that the first is explosive, the M instead continuous. Then the B at the end of a word in Hebrew has come to be pronounced V. And a V is pronounced between lower lip and teeth.
Note:
- Proto-Semitic . Oddly there is rather little evidence on which to base a hypothesis for Proto-Semitic notwithstanding the fact that the same root is used to say "Arab". Ethiopian has a word "‛abara = to be arid", but the sequence of the consonants is different. Could there have been a metathesis ? It is still quite possible that Proto-Semitic indeed had this root also for this meaning of desert: " *ע
ר
ב, Ayin R B . "
Note:
- English, like Old French has in "hermit" an " H " at the beginning, that is not found in the other
languages, nor in the word " eremite ". This " H " is supposed to have been introduced into
Late Latin, perhaps by speakers of Germanic tongues .
Note:
- Indo-European The mentioned Latin word is a loan from the Greek one. Sometimes they are seen as related to Latin "rarus = thin, loose, rare, separated of position". But this is too far from the lonely desert concept of Greek "erčmos". Thus also Old Indian "rté = without, with the exclusion of", semantically is too different to see it as related. Another Old Indian word, "ráti = rest, repose, pleasure, enjoyment", seen as related, is way off in message. Then there is a Gothic "rimis = rest, quiet", which comes a little bit nearer, but anyhow not enough to qualify as a cognate. Comparable is Old Indian "ráma" for "stop, set at rest", that is also used for "pleasure, delight", which is further from the objectives of a hermit. Still worth to mention is Avestan "airime = quiet, calm", but again, no desert or loneliness is expressed. And a hermit wants his "loneliness" and "quiet" as a consequence of his retirement in a deserted place.
Sanscrit has a very interesting group of words: "ár-ana = distant, strange", "ár-an-ya = foreign country, wilderness"; and "ár-anyânyaní = wilderness, great forest". And then "ár-anayaokas = forset-dweller, hermit". Supposing that the "N" is a development out of "M", the hypothesis for Indo-European becomes "E R E M-. A hermit seeks his loneliness and quiet far away from others, in the territory where no or few humans live and if that is a desert, that is fine, but if a country offers only wild forests instead, that may work as well.
|
|
|
| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 03/10/2012 at 14.50.27 |
|