E 0267          DRINGAN

The Old English verb " dringan " is of Germanic origin .

H 0314            ף ח ד

Concept of root : to urge

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ף ח ד

daghaph

to urge

Related English words

Old English dringan

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ף ח ד

daghaph

to urge, push

d . gh . ph

Gothic

dreihan

dreihan

to urge, push

d r . h

Old Saxon

thringan

thringan

to urge, push

th r . ng

Old English

dringan

to urge, push

d r . ng

Dutch

dringen

dringen

to urge, push

d r . ng

 

 

Proto-Semitic *DAGHAP < *DAGH --- *DRIG < *DIG Proto-Germanic

 

 

This entry must be seen together with number E 0270 (Hebrew 0313) and number GD 1043 (Hebrew 0312), that are both based on an original "D GH" with a message of pushing. The difference, lying in the extra third consonant P in Hebrew, is explained by the necessary or desired diversification in meanings .

 

Note:
  • Germanic. Like in entry E 0270 (Hebrew 0313) we see an R introduced into the root . This R also avoids confusion with the important word "dingen" that is based on "ding = thing" and has its own story and its own similarity with Hebrew. See entry number E 0911 (Hebrew 0342) .

     

    Besides, in "dringen" the G has been nasalized into NG, which does not influence its meaning. In Gothic this nasalization had not yet taken place.

 

Note:

 

  • Proto-Semitic. One out of more roots based on "D GH", this specific one was present in Aramaic "ד ח ף, deghaph. There is a related Akkadian "da'āpu = to set in motion". Probably in Proto-Semitic there was: "*ד ח ף, D GH P". Besides this Proto-Semitic had a the older two consonant root "*ד ח , D GH"., out of which other roots with three consonants have developed. These are of course the actual "ד ח ף, D GH P", as well as "ד ח ח, D GH GH" and "ד ח ק , D GH Q".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. There is not always consensus about the pronunciation of initial dentals in older languages. The contendants are "T" and "D" and "TH", that can be pronounced, not surprisingly, like in "there" or as in "thing". In the case of this entry we find for Old Norse both versions advocated for the verb "thryngja" or older "thryngva". For Old English there is agreement on "thringan, ðringan", thus with pronunciation as in "there". Gothic "dreihan, drihan " should have been near to this, but Old Saxon "thringan" is seen with the "TH" of "thin". These differences may mean that these sounds were the result of Germanic developments, probably regional and not general. Seen the initial "D" in West Germanic, even in High German "dringen, drang, gedrungen, drängen, Drang" after Old High German "thringan" with causative "threngen" and with "thrängen = to press, incite", this gains probability against the intial "T" as present in North Germanic, as Swedish "tränga", Danish "tränge" and Norwegian "trenge". The "D" is also seen in Dutch and Middle Dutch, with "dringen, drong, gedrongen,drengen, gedrang, drang".

     

    The final consonant has nearly in all old and new West- and North-Germanic languages been nasalized, but not in Gothic "thrihan". This should mean that the nasalization process had perhaps begun but anyhow had not been completed in Proto-Germanic. So a "G" is probable.

     

    A remark must be made for the two versions of Old Norse: "thryngva" presumably is an older version than "thryngja" and the "V" has become "Y" (spelled "I"), in a development comparable to what is so often seen in Hebrew.

     

    The vowel in between is, in the basic form of the verbs in West and East Germanic, "I". In verbal forms and nouns also "A", "O" and "U" can be found, as shown before. In Old Norse one finds "thryngva, thryng, throng, thrungun" and the basic vowel "Y" has a sound between "I" and "Ü". The "I" , that can be short or not, can be presumed for Proto-Germanic, bringing us to an original "*DR I G-". There may well still have been also an older "D I G-.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. Unconvincing are proposed cognates like Latin "truncus = trunk", Old Irish "tréiced = to perish", Lithuanian "trinka = chopping-block" and Latvian "triekt = to smash", Their similarity in sound with Old English "dringan" is not accompanied by any semantic link.

     

    As in many cases it is Germanic that carries the comparison with Semitic .

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 15/10/2012 at 11.43.49