E 0234          DANCE

The word " dance " is of Germanic origin .

H 0340            ץ ו ד , ץ ד

Concept of root : dancing

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ץ ו ד , ץ ד

dats, dots

to dance

Related English words

to dance

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ץ ו ד , ץ ד

dats, dots

to dance

d . ts

Old High German

tanz

tants

dance

t . nts

German

tanzen

tantsen

to dance

t . nts

French

danser

dansé

to dance

d . ns

Middle English

dauncen

to dance

d . nc

English

to dance

to dance

d . ns

Dutch

dansen

dansen

to dance

d . ns

 

 

Proto-Semitic *DOTS --- *DANS- Proto-Germanic

 

 

The main difference between Hebrew and Germanic lies in the nasalization (introduction of an extra N" ) in the Germanic group. Neo Latin languages have sisterwords of the Germanic ones, such as French "danser " and Italian " danzare ", from Frankish and perhaps Gothic and Lombardic.

 

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic This root is found in Aramaic and Syriac "ד ו ץ , duts = to spring, leap, dance". It has a cognate in Arabic "datsa = to jump, leap". Probably Proto-Semitic already had the same "ד ו ץ , D W TS".

 

Note:
  • English. English “dance” is considered to have come from French. German is said to have come from Old French with the help of Dutch. These suppositions are wrong, as can be seen from Middle English “dauncen” and in fact from Old High German “tanz“.

     

    We rather believe that the Neo-Latin words, like French “danser” and Italian “danzare” have come from the Franks, Goths and others that occupied the Roman countries . Greek and Classic Latin used different roots, like in Latin “ballare” that has given English “ball” as in “ballroom”.

 

Note:
  • Germanic obviously is akin to Hebrew here. The hypothesis that the word "dance" would be linked to the word "tend" because people danced in rows, is rather far fetched. The root of "to dance" refers to the movement of the feet, not to the arrangement of the dancers. This becomes clear by the comparison and resulting relationship with Hebrew.

     

    One may as well compare with entry E 0917 (Hebrew 0339) , where the activity of the feet also has led to common words on the basis of a common root. The roots from both entries may even be akin.
    In this respect it is interesting to see that in Medieval Latin a verb " danetzare " was used to say " having fun on the threshing floor " . In older civilizations , from Israel to Europe, such parties at the occasion of harvests were high-lights of the life of communities.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. Italian scholars tell us that their verb "danzare" is a loanword from Germanic, and the same would go for French "danser" . This is quite probable. The verb is found in Old Norse "dansa", but as it seems not in Old English. Yet Proto-Germanic looks like the most probable source of the Germanic and Neo-Latin languages in this case. With some doubt we may suppose the following.

     

    The initial consonant is mostly a "D" , with German and its predecessor changing this into a "T". The final consonant "S", with nasalization, is nearly general, with the exception again of the German branch that has "Tanz, tants", perhaps by chance with "TS" as Semitic. Some scholars quote an ancient German verb "danson" similar in root to the other languages. Further the vowel is generally "A". Proto-Germanic may have had a form "*D A NS_".

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 17/10/2012 at 16.34.13