E 0965          VEST

The word " vest " is of Latin origin .

H 0540          ש ב ל

Concept of root : dressing

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ש ב ל

lawash

to dress

Related English words

vest

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ש ב ל

      lawash

to dress

l . b . sh

Gothic

wasjan

wasyan

to dress

w . sh

Old High German

vassen

vassen

to dress

v . s

Greek

έννυω,

έννυμι,

έsνυ- <

*Fεσνυ-

evvǖo,

evvǖmi,

hesnǖ- <

wesnǖ-

to dress

h . s  <

w . s

Latin

vestis; vestio

vestis; vestio

dress, cloth;

to dress

v . s (t)

English

vest

vest

v . s (t)

 

 

Proto-Semitic * LAB/WASH < *BASH --- *WÈS Indo-European

 

 

This entry as a similarity of the Hebrew root "L B SH" is based on the supposition that it is composed of the preposition "L" as a prefix and an older root "*B SH". "L B SH" is a transitive verb saying "to dress somebody". In order to express "to dress(oneself)" the reciprocal form "HT L B SH, hitlabbèsh" is used.

 

Note:
  • Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Germanic. A note in entry E 0964 (Hebrew 0205) expresses some doubts about the causes of two similarities that we have found in that entry and the actual one E 0965 ( H 0540). There can hardly be any doubt about the information in this entry, but neither is there much uncertainty about a common origin in number E 0964 (Hebrew 0205) with the Hebrew combination " "Ayin – Thet –" . In that entry the Greek and Latin words do not qualify and the common origin is found only between Hebrew and the Germanic words.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew in fact offers us some three-consonants roots that start with "B SH" that give support for our hypothesis:

     

                                                       "ר ש ב, bashar"       flesh, body

                                                       "ת ש ב, bashat"       shame (for one’s appearance, body)

                and a bit more far off  "ם ש ב, basham"      to perfume (the person, body)

                                                        "ל ש ב, bashal"      to mature (in all senses) 

     

     

    If we consider these four roots, we may suppose that the part they have in common "*B SH" may have carried the message of "body". Consequence that the root "L + B SH" carries the meaning of "to the body" and came to be used to say "to put clothes on somebody", "to put into clothes", "to dress". Our supposition is daring, but may still be right guess.

 

Note:
  • Greek. The consonant W, called "waw" with the Semitic name of the symbol (letter), has disappeared rather early from Greek. At the beginning of a word it easily became a H-sound. The H was popular in Greek and also substitued frequently an S, at the beginning of a word. This " H " in Modern Greek is no more pronounced.

     

    "Wesnu-" became "hesnu-", but also the continuation was interesting. First the S was assimilated and disappeared. Then not one, but two verbs were shaped. One should know that Greek had two ways of shaping a verb , by adding a suffix to a root. We refer, as usual, to the verbal form that is considered the linguistically basic one in Greek, as in Latin. That is the first personal singular in the present tense. The suffix , naturally, had to refer to the first person. In Latin, that suffix was "O", also seen in the word "ego" that stands for "I". In Greek we find mostly also the O-sound, in the letter "ω (omega or big O)", found in Greek "εγω, ego". But in a number of important verbs the accusative form "μι , mi" was used. In the case of "to dress" both possibilities came to practical life, in the verbs "ennuo" and "evvumi".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic This root is known in a number of Semitic languages. Aramaic has "ל ב י ש , liwesh" and Syriac "ל ב ש , lewesh". Ugaritic uses the same root for "to dress oneself" and also Akkadian does so in "labāshu = to put on garments , clothe oneself". There are close cognates in Arabic "labisa" and Ethiopian "labsa" with the same meaning. Proto-Semitic probably used the root "*ל ב ש , L B SH". It is hard to establich when and where pronunciations changed from " B " into " W ", but the similarity with Indo-European suggests that this process had already started before Proto-Semitic. In the comparison a " W "-sound is therefore mentioned as a second possible version besides the original " B " -sound.

     

    The information seen in the Note on Hebrew tells that there should have been an older two consonant root "* ב ש , B SH", naturally in the older language Proto-Semitic.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European is a hypothetical language, of which anyhow the past existence is a certainty. For "to dress" a supposed root "*WES" or "UES" has gone into Greek and Latin as well as into East-Germanic as the Gothic verb "wasjan" but then was lost in the Germanic branch. There are many cognates.

     

    Tocharian "wäs- = "be dressed, get dressed".

     

    Old Indian "váste = to put on, wear".

     

    Avestan "vastē = to put on, wear ".

     

    Armenian "*wesnu- = I dress".

     

    Hittite "wassija-, wessija- = to dress".

     

    Albanian "vesh; vishem> = I dress; I dress myself ".

     

     

    Indo-European "*W E S-" is indeed a probable hypothesis.

 

 

 

 
"...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: 25/01/2013 at 17.18.29