E 0466         HREMMAN

The Old English word "hremman" is of Germanic origin .

H 0184            ם ר ע *, ם ר ע נ

Concept of root : to stop

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ם ר ע * ;

ם ר ע נ

‛aram ;

ne‛eram

to stop, make stand still;

to stagnate

Related English words

Old English hremman

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ם ר ע *;

-

-

ם ר ע נ

‛aram;

-

-

ne‛eram

to stop, make stand still; stagnate

‛a r m

Old English

hremman, remman

to stop, make stand still, impede

 hr m, r . m

Middle Dutch

remmen

remmen

to stop, make stand still, impede

 r . m

 

 

Proto-Semitic *‛ARAM --- *RAM Indo-European

 

 

Old English is nearest to Hebrew. It also shows in the guttural aspiration "H" the frequent counterpart of the Hebrew guttural stop Ayin, though this would be rather incidental. New English no more uses this root in this sense. There are similar words, with a narrowly related meaning, like Old Norse "hremma = to pin, jam, grip ".

 

Both in Old English and in German there is a not unsimilar verb, "hemman" respectively "hemmen" that stands for " to impede, delay " . It is not clear if and how this might be related to "remmen" and "hremmen".

 

Note:
  • Hebrew and Proto-Semitic. The evidence in Hebrew is limited to the passive form "ne‛erim", but it is obvious that the priginal active form "‛aram" must have existed. And there can be little doubt about it carrying the meaning of "to make stand still".

     

    This root as such, with other messages, is found also in Aramaic and Syriac, as wel as in Arabic. O.S.Arabic has "ע ר ם, Ayin R M = siege dyke" and Akkadian "arammu = siege dyke". It was probably already present also in this meaning in Proto-Semitic : "* ע ר ם, Ayin R M". But it is not clear if the meaning of this entry was present.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. The evidence regarding "remmen" and its sister is limited to but a few languages. The initial H in the older words is a typical prefix that is mostly, but not only, North Germanic and that does not alter the meaning of the words. It has been rather generally abandoned with a clear exception of Icelandic. Proto-Germanic probably had a predecessor of "remmen" in a form "*R E MM-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European.

     

    Sanscrit uses the same root for the same meaning as Proto-Germanic. The form "ráma carries the message of "to stop, set at rest, stand still, rest". A similar root says "to be pleased, rejoice", but this should be not the same root, but just an identical one.

     

    A hypothesis of "*R A M-" can be made 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: 22/12/2012 at 17.00.43