E 0143       CAN , (TO)  KNOW , KEEN

The words " can " and " to know " are of Germanic origin .

H 0493            ן כ

Concept of root : knowledge and ability

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ן כ

ken

right, true, exactly

Related English words

can , Old English cennan, cunnan

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ן כ

ken

right, true, exactly

k . n

Greek

γιγνωσκω;

-

-

κοννεω

-

gignosko;

-

-

konneo

-

to know, retain, understand,learn;

to know, recognize

g n .

k (o) n

Latin

(g)nosco

(g)nosco

to know

g n .

Dutch

kennen;

kunnen, kon, kan 

kennen;

kǔnnen,

kon, kan

to know;

to be able, was, is  able

k . n;

k (o) n

Old English

cennan;

-

cunnan

-

to inform, declare;

to know, be able

k . n;

k (u) n

English

can ;

to know

can ;

to know

c . n ;

k n (o)

 

 

Proto-Semitic *KON, *KÈN --- *KŎN, *KĂN, *KÈN Indo-European

 

 

In this entry we come to a far going but also foregone conclusion of kinship between roots that deal with the concepts of knowledge and ability and with the reality that stands behind these .

 

Hebrew "ken" today is commonly used to express "yes", as a confirmation that things are as asked or supposed. This can mean two rather different things, "as we know", but also "as it is " . Other words that may well have the same origin, are " א כ ן , akhčn ", for "certainly, anyhow "and in Modern Hebrew " נ כ ו ן , nakhņn " saying "right, exactly", but also "ready", "like " מ ו כ ן , mukhan ". These various words seem to have two different roots, one with two consonants, "K N" (like our little word KEN), and one instead of three consonants : "K W.N". It is possible that the root with only two consonants, "K N" is the oldest one, and that the root with three consonants has been developed out of it. But but things might also be the other way about.

 

We have opted for a similarity on the basis of two pairs of roots, shared by Indo-European and Hebrew, one that confirms truth and knowledge and the other root that confirms readiness and preparedness. Both may have led to meanings in the sense of ability.

 

In both couples we find the brief root of two consonants "K N", whereas the other one is an extension into three consonants, "K W N", that in a natural development becomes "K O N". And as a variant, in the message of knowledge, we find the extensions of "K N" into "K N W", with specifically the English word "to know".

 

Yet, our option of two groups is not a certainty, as in the end, or better at the beginning, the two groups may have been just one. Messages of "readiness" and "preparation" may have been developed in the past out of a basic idea of "knowledge" or "understanding", in a way comparable to that certain development from "knowledge" to "ability". In that case all the words we mentioned are more strictly related. As we see in our note on Proto-Semitic, the meaning of " to be" is expressed in some Semitic languages, whereas the Indo European ones carry messages of knowledge and ability.

 

 

Note:
  • Greek and Latin use a suffix "SK" which has the task of emphasizing or of indicating a starting action. Greek also followed its own taste in doubling the initial G that Latin in a second phase has abandoned. Perhaps the I in "gignosko" is a changed W as third consonant, placed before the old root G N instead of inbetween the G and N.

     

    Latin "gnosco", the older form, is certainly of common origin with Greek "gignosko", but should not have been derived from it. In North-Western Greece there was found the same word " γνωσκω , gnosko ", and Latin did not get its great number of Greek words from there, but as a consequence of meeting Greek civilization with its centre in Athens.

     

    In classic Latin the initial G is lost, and the word becomes "nosco". This word has ceded its place to a composed one, "cognosco" that is living on in Neo-Latin languages.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew "ken" in the Bible has many nuances, but all clearly confirming, such as : "right, true, straight", but also "so, like this, anyhow, therefore". What we do not find are sisterwords, like verbs, of this same specific root and meaning. So the origin of "ken" has kind of disappeared into the darkness of the unknown. But in Entry number 0155 (Hebrew 0523) we will encounter a probable daughter of "K N", named "K N N", with a message of "ready, prepared".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. The root "K . N" is found in Syriac, Ugaritic and Akkadian, the one with the O, "K . O . N" in Aramaic, Syriac, OS Arabic and Akkadian. It is quite possible that both versions already lived together in Proto-Semitic: "*כ ו ן , K O N" as well as "*כ ן , K N" .

     

    Several instances are available in which Semitic languages express a rich range of concepts with these roots . Ugaritic "k . n = to be", Ethiopian "kona = to become, exist", Arabic "kana = it was, existed, occurred", OS Arabic "kon = exist, occur", Aramaic "kun = made straight, put right", Syriac "keną = right, just" , Akkadian "kenu = firm , strong ", Hebrew "kaną = give a name ( or title)", Aramaic "keną = to give a name".

 

Note:
  • English and Classic. English "to know" seems nearer to Greek and Old Latin, because it has no vowel between the sounds "K and N". It goes back to Old English "(ge)cnawan". One might remark that also the doubling of the K-sound, be it softened into G, is present in Old English like in Greek. But this kind of prefix "ge-", frequent in German and Dutch and disappearing in Old English, has different ( be it not with full certainty defined ) origin or origins .

     

    We see that in the present tense we find the O only in Modern and Middle English. In the past tense it is " E " in "knew" and " E+O " in Old English "(ge)cneow", whereas in the past participle that O was absent in Old English "(ge)cnawen" but has appeared in Middle English "knowe(n)". All this is a clear example of how the sounds that are expressed by the Semitic letter "ו, W " , called "WAW". may develop. They may carry on as they are, change into a vowel like O, or double itself into W plus O or even into O + W. And if it remains W, a vowel , like E or A, is needed for an acceptable pronunciation.

 

Note:
  • Dutch. Germanic tongues in general do not have the clear distinction in two versions that is seen above between Dutch "kennen" that refers to knowledge and "kunnen", which is about ability. Here "kennen" is even defined as a causative of "kunnen", but this is only factually, not linguistically right. He who knows is, or at least may be, able to do something. But the root with a third consonant (W > O) in the middle has been built up on the basis of the C.C-root with only K N. And Dutch uses both, up till today.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. The two concepts of "knowledge" and "ability, capability" in old and new Germanic languages are dealt with in words that have as central units 1. "K O N", "K Ŭ N", "K Ö N"; 2. "K A N", "K E N". These basic units cannot be divided between the two basic different meanings. The hypothesis that "KEN" would be a causative of "KON" is simply baseless. We will have to accept that fact. The most certain basic form is Proto-Germanic "*K Ŭ N". But it is quite probable that others were already there for diversified uses in Proto-Germanic, like "*K È N" and "*K Ă N".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. There are cognates of English "can" in the various groups of Indo-European languages. The basic two-consonant combination varies between "K . N" and "G . N". And this combination of two consonants undergoes different changes as can be seen. Often there is no vowel between the two consonants. And the first consonant, K or G, often changes into "Z" or a similar one.

     

    Old Indian. The first consonant becomes "J", which is not uncommon. Sometimes this "J " is doubled. "To know, apprehend" has the basic form "jānāti" with a perfectum "jajñau" and a participle "jñātá-" and a "jñātár-" = "knower, someone who knows".

     

    Avestan "changes the first consonant in "Z" : "znātar" = "person who knows".

     

    Armenian shows the couple K + N with a vowel A inbetween in "canauth = known", "caneay = I recognized" and "an-can = unknown".

     

    Slavic has changed the first consonant in "Z" and the common hypothesis is "*znāti", which is Old Church Slavonian. This is in harmony with Russian "знать, znatj = to know".

     

    Tokharian with "knānat = you knew" is rather near English and even more German "kanntest".

     

    Hittite has an interesting "kanes- = to recognize, know (by)", also somewhat near to Germanic words.

     

    Latin is a particular case, as generally the classic verb "nosco, noscere" is = to learn to know, recognize" with the perfectum "novi = to know" is cited as basic. This is not sufficient, as Old Latin had "gnosco", similar to Greek. The "G" before the "N" simply has been abandoned in speech. The original form was "gnosco", in which as in many other languages there was no vowel between the two consonants ( G and N ), but a vowel after them. This is not always an "O", as for example Latin "ignarus" meaning "ignorant, unaware" and "ignotus" saying "unknown". In the well-known "notus" meaning "known" the initial "G" has been abolished. .

     

    Indo-European may have had either "*K vowel N" or "*G vowel N". The most probable vowel seems to be " Ā ", but " Ĕ " remains a possibility. The development into " GNO- " may have taken place in more steps and in an early stage. In our comparison we mention "*K È N", "*K Ă N" and "*K Ŏ N".

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 31/10/2012 at 17.01.10