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E 1021 YAWN
The word " yawn " is of
Germanic origin .
H 0369 ח נ ג
Concept of root : open mouth
breathing
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ח נ ג
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ganagh
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sighing
deeply
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Related English words
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to
yawn, Old English: ganian
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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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ח נ ג
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ganagh
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sighing deeply
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g . n .
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Greek
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χαινω
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khaino
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to yawn
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kh . n .
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Old Icelandic
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gina
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gina
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to yawn, gape
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g . n .
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Old English
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geonian
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to yawn, gape
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g . on .
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English
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to yawn
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to yawn
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y . w n >
g . w n
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Middle Dutch
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genen
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ghenen
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to yawn, gape
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g . n
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German
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gaehnen
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genen
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to yawn, gape
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g . n
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Proto-Semitic *GANA-GH < *GANÀ --- *GĀN- Indo-European
The basis of this similarity, besides the sound, lies in the fact that "to gape, yawn" and " to sigh deeply" both do or may indicate a way of opening the mouth with a, significant, flow or intake of air. Hebrew "ganagh" is also used to say "to groan, to cough", but these may be later developments.
Note:
- English, in developing from Old English, has recuperated as it seems, an old " W ", that in Old English had opened into an O. Besides this , already Middle English "yonen" had changed the initial G into Y. This is the same kind of development that has led to English "ye" and "you".
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. This root is also seen in Aramaic "ג נ ח, ginagh = he sighed, groaned". This gives a narrow basis for a hypothesis for Proto-Semitic : "*ג נ ח, G . N . GH". It is well possible that this root has developed out of an earlier "*G . N".
Note:
- Greek. The verb "χαινω, khaino", based on an older "*khan-", stands for "to yawn, open very wide one's mouth". A second form with the infix "SK", consequent loss of the "N" and the same meaning was also developed : "χαινω, khasko.
Note:
- Proto-Germanic. . The proposed verb "*gana-n" we find may be right, but there might also be a vowel "E" or " I ", this time not developed out of "O". It is in harmony with the fact that the Germanic languages in which we see this root, often have indeed "G N- ", with the exception of English that as so often, changes the "G" into "Y" . The vowel often is indeed "A" but there is also "E" and "I" as seen in the table. English has lengthened the vowel "A" into "AW", but there is no indication of an earlier "O". It must be mentioned that Middle Low German used both "gähnen" and "janen". Old English, besides "geonian" also has "ginian" and "ganian". Old High German shows "ginen, geinon" and Middle High German "ginen, genen" . As vowel the "A" remains the most probable, but it is also possible that in Proto-Germanic there were two roots, "*G A N" for opening the mouth widely" and "*G E W" specifically for "to yawn".
In Germanic languages there exists also a different root to express the concept of " to yawn". It is found in Old High German "giwēn", Middle High German "gewen, giwen", Middle Dutch "ghewen" and Dutch "geeuwen".
Note:
- Indo-European. On the basis of Greek and Germanic a hypothesis for Indo-European may be "G Ā N". But there is some further information.
Latin has a verb "hio, hiare = to yawn, open wide one's mouth". This has given also the noun "hiatus". The verb is considered as derived from an earlier "*ghia-io", which may be right.
Slavic enjoys a hypothesis of "*zevati", like Russian "зевать, zewatj = to yawn, gape", but also "*zjāti", which is like Old Church Slavonic for "to gape". The " Z " corresponds with Germanic " G ".
Baltic with a hypothesis "*zjā" or "*zjāw" leans on Lithuanian "zjió-ti" and Latvian "zjāvâtiê:s", both meaning "to yawn".The initial "ZJ" corresponds with Germanic " G ".
Indo-European besides the mentioned form "G Ā N", probably had one without the "N" and with a vowel "E" "G Ē W-", much like Proto-Germanic.
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 24/12/2012 at 16.57.11 |
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