E 0465          HREAW

The Old English word "hraew" or "hraw" is of Germanic origin .

H 0404            ג ר ה

Concept of root : to kill, murder

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ג ר ה

harag

to kill, trucidate

Related English words

Old English: hraew

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ג ר ה

harag

to kill, trucidate

h r g

Dutch

reeuw

réuw

corpse

r . w

Old English

hraew , hraw

corpse

hr . w

 

 

Proto-Semitic *HARAG --- *HRĀW, *HRĒW- Proto-Germanic

 

 

The Germanic words of this entry are of very old stock. Our supposition is that Hebrew "H R G" corresponds with Germanic "HR W". It still is a rather long shot, but it is based on the supposition that "H R G" is related to other roots with "H + R" as the first two consonants. An example is " ה ר ס , H R S", that stands for "to destroy, demolish".

 

The mentioned Germanic words for "corpse" are often seen as linked to sister words of English "raw", but though there is a certain similarity in sound, we fail to see the semantic relation. The words outside Germanic that are called to testify are for example Latin "crudus" = "raw" and "cruor" = blood", Greek "kreas" = meat", Old Church Slavonic "krŭvĭ" = blood" and Old Indian "kravits" = "raw meat". The messages of "corpse" and "to kill" remain rather distant though and we can not use the cited words as basis for a hypothesis.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. There is a number orf sister words in older Germanic languages. They have in common an initial HR. We name : Old Saxon and Old High German "hreo", Old Norse "hræ" and Old Frisian "hrē". Old English and Middle Dutch are shown in the Table. Proto-Germanic may have had "*HRĀW- and/or "*HRĒW-".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. The root of this entry is also found in Moabite and Aramaic "ה ר ג, harag = "he killed". OS Arabic uses as well "ה ר ג, H R G" for "to kill". Then there is a cognate with "G" changed into "J" in Arabic "harj = murder ". Proto-Semitic probably already had in use the root we still find in Hebrew: "*ה ר ד, H . R . G".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. Cognates in other Indo-European languages seem not be present and the comparison stays between Semitic and Germanic.

 

 

 

 

 
"...the town, to which was given the name Babel, because it was there that the Lord confused the language of all the world on the face of which He dispersed them. GENESIS 11,9"
 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 22/10/2012 at 17.54.06