E 0920          TIGHT

The word " tight " is of Germanic origin .

H 0315            ק ח ד , א כ ד

Concept of root : pressing push

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

א כ ד;

ק ח ד

dikką;

daghaq

to press, oppress;

to press, thrust

Related English words

tight

Comparison between European קwords and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

; א כ ד

-

-

ק ח ד

-

dikką

-

-

daghaq

-

to crush, oppress, depress;

to press, thrust

d . k

-

-

d gh q

-

Middle Dutch

dicht

dight

pressed (together), closed

d gh

German

dicht

dight

closed, near

d gh

English

tight

tight

t gh

 

 

Proto-Semitic *DAGHAQ < *DAGH --- *DIKHT Proto-Germanic

 

 

This entry is related to some others that deal with Hebrew roots beginning with "D GH". Interesting is that they all are akin to Dutch words. In Modern Dutch the word "dicht" has developed and does not recall its original message of pressure. It now says "closed, dense, compact".

 

Also entry number E 0921 (Hebrew 0391) is related to the actual one .

 

Note:
  • Hebrew offers us here two different roots, one with an GHet, which we transcribe GH, and one with the letter Kaf, which we transcribe as K or KH according to its two different sounds. We believe that in the days of Abraham, when the alphabet was invented and the existing language hade to be codified in alphabetic letters, there were also two particular influences on the choices and decisions of the "codificators", those people who "spelled" Hebrew.

     

    One is that , like in all tongues, also in Hebrew there were local differences in pronunciation. The other one is that some sounds were already less distinct in general. This must have been the case with ש as "sin" and ס , samech, that today are identical. Also the Taw, ת and Thet ט once were distinct sounds, but today no more so. Finally, as this has bearing on our case, today the GHet and Khaf have an identical pronunciation if the speaker is of European origin, as is the vast majority of Israeli’s. If the speaker comes from the Middle East or North Africa, he may distinguish neatly the two sounds. Therefore we also try to do so by indicating them as respectively GH and KH. Others have made different choices, so as writing for the GHet "H" or "CH". Each choice has its advantages and disadvantages.

     

    It is to be pointed out that of the two roots here presented, the one with the Kaph, " ד כ א, D K Aleph" , that is as well used to express the specific concept of "to crush" , as a practical result of its other "activities" of pressing and oppressing, has a probably younger sister :ד כ ה, D K H" with the basic form "daką" saying "to be(!) crushed, oppressed , ant the intensive form "dikką" saying "to crush, oppress" like the form with Aleph.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew "daghaq" in Modern Hebrew no more is used as original, but gives some versions of "to push".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. The root with the "K" (Kaph), "ד כ א, D K Aleph" "dikką", seems to be present only, and therefore also to have developed specifically in Hebrew. There we see also the already mentioned younger version "ד כ ה, D K H", but also a three consonant "ד כ ך, D K KH". It is quite uncertain if Proto-Semitic may have had in use the roots with " D K " for the concepts related to "pressing".

     

    The other, "ד ח ק, D GH Q" , is found as well in Aramaic and Syriac "ד ח ק, deghaq = to press, drive". Akkadian "daghaqa has a related meaning of "he drove away, removed". This root was probably used already in Proto-Semitic : "*ד ח ק, D GH Q". And it should have developed out of an earlier "*ד ח , D GH".

 

Note:
  • Middle Dutch "dicht" has a final T, that is not of influence on its message. The final T is a very frequent addition to Germanic words, and it seems apt to emphasize the speaking. In some regions this adding of a T at the end of a word is still done . People from The Hague will often speak about a "tijgert" instead of a "tijger", but the animal still remains a normal tiger.

     

    Another cause of this T in "dicht" may be that the word has been a participle derived from a dissappeared verb "*dighen". But we already know a verb "dighen" with a different meaning. .

 

Note:
  • German and Dutch. It is thought that the word "dicht", that stands also for English "tight", would belong to the group of entry number E 0364 (Hebrew 0310) , that has as its principal characteristic that of "proliferation". It would belong there together with another set of Germanic words, that counts among its members the adjectives "dick" in German, "dik" in Dutch, "tjock" in Swedish and naturally "thick" in English. This supposition seems to be in fact right for "thick" and its sisters, but not for "tight", that belongs in the group of this entry E 0920 (Hebrew 0315). Naturally the final T of tight does not belong to its root.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. The basic difference between West Germanic and North Germanic lies in the fact that the words of the first end in "GHT" or "CHT" or earlier "HT" and those of the second in "T" or "TT". The common explanation is that North Germanic, in harmony with a tendency it has, has lost that guttural in front of the final "T". Interesting is that this final "T" in all probability has been a Germanic addition to an older root without "T" as seen in Hebrew. So the presumable Proto-Germanic form was "*D vowel KH T".

     

    As to the used vowel, West Germanic uses a short "I" or longer "I" , but again North Germanic differs, with an "Č"-sound, that is sometimes spelled "Ę" or "Ä". The abolition of the guttural before the "T" may explain this necessity. Unexplained remains why modern English after Old English "diht, šiht" and Middle English " thiht, šiht" uses an initial "T" instead if a "TH" or "D". Proto-Germanic presumably had "*D I KHT-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. We have here one of those numerous cases in which a similarity is found between Semitic and Germanic, without corresponding evidence from other Indo-European groups of languages. So the comparison remains limited between Semitic and Proto-Germanic.

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 15/10/2012 at 12.19.23