E 0417         HALO

The word " halo  is, via Latin, of Greek origin .

 

H 0399       ה ל ה

Concept of root : clearness

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ה ל ה

hillà

shine, brightness; halo

Related English words

halo

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ה ל ה

hillà

shine, brightness; halo

h . l .

Greek

άλωη

haloè

halo

h . l .

English

halo

halo

h . l .

Dutch

hel

hèl

clear, bright

h . l

German

hell

hèl

clear, bright

h . l

 

 

Hebrew HILLÀ < Proto-Semitic *HALÀ --- *HÈL- Indo-European > *HÈL Proto-Germanic, *HĀL- Greek

 

 

A relatively simple and straighforward similarity on the basis of the combination " H + L " that has given also other positive messages, such as "hallelujah" .
The Hebrew root of this entry has not been derived from, but is related to the extended root "H.L.L" , that also means "to shine".

 

Identical roots have been used to indicated clearless of light and clearness of sound . It is not fully certain if one of these was the basic one.
The meaning "halo" is Modern Hebrew and has been inspired by the French word .

 

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. The extended root "H L L" with the message of " to shine" is seen in Arabic "tahallala = it shone" and "hillāl = new moon". Akkadian, not using the initial "H", has "elelu = to be bright". Then one sees further Akkadian "ellu = bright" and Arabic "halla = it began to shine". The conclusion is that Proto-Semitic certainly had " * ה ל , H L" and probably already had also the extended root "* ה ל ל , H L L".

 

Note:
  • English does not participate in the use of this root to indicate clearness of light or view .
    Also Old Saxon used it to refer to sound , with the verb " hellan ".

 

Note:
  • German and Dutch use this root to indicate clearness or brightness of both sound and light. Usually, on the basis of the existing root of "call", sound is seen as original. We think that this is uncertain, especially as we find the same root in Hebrew with the indicating of clarity of light. We opt for the concept of clearness as such as the basis of this root. And that can then be normally applied to sound as well as to light. And later also diversification can occur .

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic . Germanic words related to this entry , with the message of "to shine" and "brightness" seem to be found only in West Germanic, and then with the exception of English. Yet it is quite possible that they did not come out of the sky, but are based on a Proto-Germanic "*H È L-.

 

Note:
  • Greek "α λ ω η, haloè" is of unknown etymology , but has lived on well into many modern languages . There is an identical word that stands for "levelled ground, garden, orchard, vineyard", but there is no semantic link to justify theidea that the two are also related.
    In Classic Greek , besides "haloè" there are two more nouns with the same meaning of "halo" : "α λ ω ν, halon" and "α λ ω ς, halos ". Here again there are two identical words that mean "threshing floor", a specific flattened or leveled piece of hardened ground or stone floor. Again the fact that threshing floors may be, but not necessarily are, of a round shape, creates insufficient semantic similarity with the words for "halo". Besides this, further meanings of "halos" are "bird's nest", "eyebrow". Yet it remains uncertain if Greek "haloè", "halon"; and "halos" have their origin in the "light" and "shine" that are their characteristic.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European . The presence of the combination "H . L " in both Greek and Germanic makes it probable that Indo-European used this as well. The vowel in Germanic is " È ", but in Greek it is " Ā ". We opt for the Germanic vowel, also because the Greek participation in this comparison with Semitic is not fully certain.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 22/10/2012 at 16.57.32