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E 0708 QUAY
The word " quay " is of
Germanic origin .
H 0349 ה ד ג
Concept of root : bank
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ה ד ג
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gadą
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riverbank, waterfront
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Related English words
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quay
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Comparison between European words and
Hebrew
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Languages
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Words
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Pronunciation
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English meanings
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Similarity in roots
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Hebrew
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ה ד ג
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gadą
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riverbank, waterfront
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g . d .
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Dutch
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kade, kaai, ka
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kade,
kay, ka
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waterfront
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k . d .; k . i
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English
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quay
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quay
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q . y
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Proto-Semitic *GADÀ --- *KADE Dutch
This kind of similarity between Germanic words and Biblical Hebrew belongs to the most convincing sector for establishing the common origin of both groups. But it may also lead us up the wrong road. In this case some uncertainty will remain, if the meaning of " steep embankment", in Post Biblical Hebrew " giddud" with the root "G D D", is indeed related to the concept of " to cut", also found in our Entry E 0223
(Hebrew 0348).
Note:
- English "quay" is usually considered to be of Celtic origin, coming , via Old French "cay" from Gaulish "caio" for "retaining wall" or " fence ". But these meanings are very different from that of " waterfront " or "quay ". Some not unsimilar Celtic words are Welsh " cae " = " fence " and Cornish " ke " with the same message . These may be related to English " haw " and Old English " haga " . With that they have no real semantic relation with a "waterfront".
To defend the thesis of Celtic origin, scholars say that in the Dutch word "kade", the one that carries the similarity with Hebrew, the consonant " D " has been added later as an infix, for a reason of "overcorrect speaking". This would not be a wild fantasy, because Dutch has done this thing frequently, but it seems wrong.
Note:
- English and Hebrew. So we opt to suppose a common origin, as in Hebrew and Dutch the words for "bank", natural or reinforced, both have a "D" as well. There are more cases in which such a D in popular Dutch is not consequently pronounced, but continues to exist . There is no reason to suppose that it has been inserted later as a so-called "exaggeratedly" correct pronunciation, as some suppose .
See entry E 0814 (Hebrew 0511).
Note:
- Proto-Semitic We refer to our note on Proto-Semitic in entry E 0360 (Hebrew 0347: "It is not easy to reconcile, and it should not be the scope of this neutral investigation, the two similarities of old Semitic ""ג ד , G . D " in this entry and entry E 0223 (Hebrew 0348) , respectively with Germanic "G a D en" and English "C u T".
Interesting is to note that in Akkadian "gadadu" the root "G D D" is used to say " to separate", with Arabic "jadda" saying "to cut off". Akkadian "gududu" with the extended root "G D D" also expresses "marauding band", while Syriac "gud, gudą " just says "troop, band", thus a "gathered group of men". Notwithstanding the semantically interesting comparison with English " section", the probability on basis of the available information is that there were in Semitic two or even three identical separate roots "*ג ד , G . D ", both already alive in Proto-Semitic."
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 18/10/2012 at 14.47.14 |
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