GR 1158          DEOS

H 0301            ג א ד

Concept of root : worrying in fear

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ג א ד

da’ag

to fear, worry

Related English words

none

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ג א ד

da’ag

to fear, worry

d . g

Greek

δέος

deos

fear, worry

d . y

Dutch

bedeesd;

deisen, deinzen;

deemoed

-

-

bedést;

deisen, deinzen;

démut

-

-

intimidated; to retreat in fear;

fear of god, humility meekness

d s ;

d . y s

- ;

d (e)

- ;

- ;

German

Demut

démut

meekness, humility

d (e)

 

 

Proto-Semitic *DA 'AG --- *DWEI Indo-European

 

 

These roots in Greek and Hebrew are not identical, but the similarity is sufficiently strong, as we will see from the following comments.The languages probably split before adding third consonants. A further reason for this entry is that this Hebrew and Semitic root "D Aleph G" may be related with the group of roots "D Aleph B (to grieve, pine away), D W B (to languish, pine away), D W H (to be ill, miserable), D W Aleph" mentioned in the entries GD 1041 ( Hebrew 0300) and E 0240 ( Hebrew 0335). The third consonant " G " is then the result of a diversification between the meanings that once may have been expressed by the root "D W Aleph". If such a hypothesis is true, the distance with Indo-European "*DWEI" is fairly reduced.

 

 

Note:
  • Greek has a series of words, beginning with "de", that express some kind of fear or worry. "Deos" especially is identical in meaning with Hebrew "da’ag" : "psychological unrest for something that is about to happen". The others are "δειδω , deido" = to fear ; "δειδος , deidos" = afraid, timid ; "δεινος , deinos"= fearful, dreadful ; "δειμα , deima"= fear.

     

    It is interesting to see the way Greek "plays" with extra consonants after a brief root for its shaping of new words. The word "deinos" is then of nearly daily use all over the world in its granddaughter "the fearsome lizard = dinosaur".

 

Note:
  • Hebrew has a third consonant, G, that is absent in Greek. But the existence of the root in the entry GD 1041 (Hebrew 0300) , having a different third consonant, B, to express "distress, sadness", shows us that already an older two-consonant root , "* ד א ", must have carried a message quite near that of the similar Greek root.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This Hebrew root is also found in Aramaic ד א ג, de'ag = to worry" and OS Arabic ד א ג, to be worried "and may well have been present in Proto-Semitic : ד א ג, D Aleph G ".

 

Note:
  • Dutch shows us a group of words that are related to the Greek and Hebrew words of this entry and of entry GD 1041 (Hebrew 0300). Different explanations have been tried, but of the rather far-fetching kind. The timidity of "bedeesd" has been linked to "talking nonsense". The "retreating in fear" of "deisen" has no explanation at all, though somebody ties it to a disappeared root for "walking", missing the essential aspects of the word.

     

    "Deemoed", like German "Demut" would have originated in the old Christian mission times, in the early Middle Ages. An old Germanic root "diu" for "servant" would have been used, linked to the equivalent of English "mood". We do not quite believe this, as the word does not refer to serving, but to "fear of God", which was a strong argument to convince Germanic people to become Christians.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic , for the concept of "fear", may well have used that same form "D EI S" or "DEES", that is seen in Dutch. It is not far from what is seen in some other groups of Indo-European languages, shown in this entry. Thus we propose a Proto-Germanic "*D EI S-. A predecessor without the added consonant "S" may have been in use as well, as still seen in German "Demut" and Dutch "deemoed: "*D Ē- .

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. There is a hypothesis, in which the concepts of "fear" and "hatred" are seen as expressed by one root : "*dweye-", in Indo-European. The "W" after the "D" and the meaning "to hate, be hostile", are based on Old Indian "dvétsti, dvitsati = to hate, be hostile". And in fact that "W" was according to Greek scholars present in a predecessor of "deido" : "*dwei-", be it with the meaning of "fear, worry". Indeed also our word "deos" is seen as derived from an earlier "dwéeos", given as certain. An imaginative explanation is that all those different words have as a common root "*DUEI", that would be the same as the root of the numeral "two = 2". The original meaning at the basis of the "group" would then have been "to be in discord", that in German is "im Zweispalt sein". More colourful than convincing!

     

    Old Indian as seen has added an "TS" to the supposed origin : "DV É TS-" for "hatred, hostility, dislike".The indication is "DV E/I TS-".

     

    Avestan, in "dvaēdzā = menace", adds a variation to the already different meanings. But in the couple of "dvaēsh, thvaēsh- the message is "to be hostile, injure". The indication is "DV E SH-".

     

    Latin has a word "dirus with the meanings of "ominous, horrible, hideous, cruel" , that is considered related with the Greek ( and other) words of this entry. In order to explain the presence of the"R" in "dirus", as examples are produced "clarus" and "cuprus", both erroneously, as the "R" in these words is part of the root. It must further be noted that "dirus" is mainly used as an adjective for ritual predictions and prophecies. Regretfully, a question mark remains and Latin "dirus" may not be a cognate of Greek "deinos" and "deido".

     

    For Indo-European a hypothesis of "*DW EI-" seems possible, together with an extended version of "*DV EI S-"

     

 

 

 

 
"...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: 13/10/2012 at 13.10.09