GR 1155          BRATHÜ

H 0278            ת ו ר ב *, ש ו ר ב

Concept of root :high evergreen tree

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ת ו ר ב *, ש ו ר ב

bәrosh, *bәrot

high tree, cypress, juniper

Related English words

none

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ש ו ר ב ,

ת ו ר ב*

bәrosh ;

*bәrot

high tree, cypress, juniper

b r t

Greek

βραθυ,

βορατον

brathϋ,

boraton

juniper

b r th

b r t

 

 

Proto-Semitic *BĔROTÀ --- *BRAT- Indo-European

 

 

Of the two words in Hebrew, "*bәrot" is the older one, already out of use in the Bible, and related to Aramaic. There are quite a few cases in which a Hebrew "SH" corresponds with an Aramaic "T". An example is Hebrew "SHOR" and Aramaic "TOR". What these words mean ? One would be inclined to say : naturally they stand for Spanish "toro", which is the bull of the corrida's. And that is true.

 

 

Note:
  • Greek and Hebrew. Some scholars see this Greek word as a loan from Hebrew, though it is not at all clear why when and how such a loan should have taken place. And the fact that in Hebrew the word with final T, "berot, is considered an older version, instead of a loan a common origin with Greek becomes more probable.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. Aramaic and Syriac have "ב ר ו ת א, bĕrot'à" and Akkadian "burāshu". Proto-Semitic may have had "*ב ר ו ת א, berot'à

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. Besides two words from Greek, there is also Latin "bratus" = "cypress, juniper ". They are considered loanwords from Semitic, but the fact that there are two different Greek words makes this improbable. Also the Latin word should be original Latin, as the Romans very carefully maintained the exact Greek words, the many hundreds they loaned. And this is not exactly the case with "bratus". Besides this, junipers are very European and cypresses very mediterranean. There hardly would have been any necessity or pleasure in loaning a foreign word to indicate those trees. Indo-European may have had a form "*BR A T-".

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 10/10/2012 at 11.44.54