GR 1207          LANKHANO

H 0547          ד כ ל

Concept of root : to obtain possession

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ד כ ל

lakhad

to take, receive, occupy

Related English words

none

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ד כ ל

      lakhad

to take, receive, occupy

l . kh . d

Greek

λαγχανω

lankhano

to take, receive, occupy

l . (n)kh .n

German

1. langen;

-

-

2.erlangen;

-

3.verlangen

langen;

-

-

erlangen;

-

verlangen

1. to lengthen; to take, reach;

2.to reach, obtain;

3.to long for

l . (n)g .n

 

 

Hebrew LAKHAD < Proto-Semitic *LAKAD < *LAK --- *LANG- Indo-European

 

 

This entry has to be seen in connection with entry RU 1269 (Hebrew 0550 , laqagh). The similarity is limited to the first two consonants, "L . K" , in both cases pronounced "L . KH". The N-sound" according to Greek practice in this kind of words spelled with a "G", is not part of the original root, but due to a nasalization. The third consonants differ. This may be due to developments after the split up of Semitic and Indo-European.

 

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This root is seen in Aramaic "ל כ ד , lekhad = he took, seized, captured". Phoenician uses the same root for "to capture". Arabic "lakadah" says "to rush upon, to attack" and it is uncertain if this may be related.

     

    Proto-Semitic possibly already had this root as used in Hebrew : "*ל כ ד , L K D".

     

    It is important to compare these two verbs :

                              ד כ ל      lakhad       to take, seize, occupy

                              ח ק ל      laqagh       to take, grip, seize, capture.

     

    The combination of these two three consonant roots tells us that a two consonant root "L . Q " or "L . K" probably existed, at least in Proto-Semitic, with a message similar to "to take" : "*ל ק ה , L Q H (accentuated vowel), laqà", or a version with " K " instead of " Q ".

     

    The change of the pronunciation of the middle consonant from " K " into " KH ", as seen in Hebrew an Aramaic, but not in all forms, in Proto-Semitic still must have been " K " .

 

Note:
  • German. There is in German first of all the word "lang = long", that has sister words in all Germanic languages. Then there are, as shown in the table, various verbs with rather divergent meanings. True, one can always find reasonings to link black to white, but here it is uncertain if all those verbs are related to the adjective "long" as their semantic messages remain hard to explain that way, just as it is hard to explain why "to long ( for )" should be related to "long". And it must be noted that verbs and composed verbs on a basis "lang", with the meanings of "to take, reach, obtain, occupy, long for" are far from generally found in Germanic languages. There may well have existed two similar basic forms "*lang" .

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. It is about certain that Proto-Germanic had a basic form "*L A NG-", that had a causative verb with the basis "*L Ă NG- (*langēn, langōn), respectively saying "long" and "to lengthen". Probably there existed a second identical basic form "*L A NG-" that has led to a groups of verbs with the various meanings shown in the table for modern German.

     

    In this respect it is useful to note that Latin has the cognate "longus = long", that has not produced any words outside the field of "long, length".

     

    In Old English this variation is not found. There are the two spellings "lengan" and "længan" for two meanings, that are "to lengthen" and "to reach". It is possible that the first one originally was just meant for "to lengthen" and the other one for "to reach". Besides this there is the quite different verb "langian = to desire, long for".

     

    Middle Dutch is not far from German, but Old Norse limits itself to meanings regarding "long" and "length".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. The nasalization is fully present in Greek and Germanic and may have begun in Indo-European. Thus a hypothesis may be "*L A NG-" with a message of "to reach, obtain".

 

 

 

 
"...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 17.34.30