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E 0563 MANY
The words " many ", " more " and " most " are of Germanic origin .
H 0564 ה
א
מ ;ד א מ
Concept of root : multiplying
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ה א מ ;ד א מ
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me’od; me’à
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much;
hundred
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Related English words
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many
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Comparison between European words and
Hebrew
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Languages
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Words
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Pronunciation
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English meanings
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Similarity in roots
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Hebrew
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ה א מ; ד א מ
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me’od; me’à
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much; hundred
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m (e) d
m (e) .
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German
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mehr;
meist;
manche
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mér;
meyst; manche
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more;
most;
many
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m (e) (r)
m (e) (st)
m(a)n (ch)
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English
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mo, much;
more;
most;
many
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mo, much ;
more ;
most ;
many
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m (o)
(r)
m (o)
(st)
m(a)n
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Old English
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mā,
mæ; mā
manig
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more ;
most ;
many
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m (o)
(r)
m (o)
(st)
m(a)n
(*g)
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Dutch
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meer;
meest, menig
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mér;
mést;
ménigh
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more;
most;
many
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m (e) (r)
m (e) (st)
m (e) (g)
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Middle Dutch
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mee,
meer;
menich
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mé, mér, ménikh
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more; much, many
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m (e)
m (e)
(r);
m(e)n
(kh)
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Indo-European
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*me-
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mé
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much
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*m (e)
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Proto-Semitic *ME'À, *ME'ÒD --- *MĒ-, *MĒ-NIG Proto-Germanic < *MĒ Indo-European
The first Hebrew word of this entry , "me’od", is identical to that of the entry number E 0585 (Hebrew 0563), but with quite a different meaning from what is seen there . The second word, "me’à" means just hundred. Their combination has led to the supposition that the basic concept behind both is that of multiplying. And this finds confirmation in a number of Germanic words that also begin with M, often use a vowel E like Hebrew and serve the same concept.
We agree to the above supposition about Hebrew , that is in harmony with the findings of scholars regarding Indo-European. This last language is as we know hypothetical but rather well defined.
Note:
- Germanic. Though various languages have words that are related to this entry, specifically Dutch is again nearest to Hebrew. The endings of the abovementioned words, such as "-r" or "-re" , "- st" and "-ig" , "-ch", "-y" are just well-known suffixes that add to the existing meaning of the basic root. In fact we see that Middle Dutch still conserved the idea near to multiplying that is found in English "more", using just the original root without the suffix "-r".
Note:
- English has the same suffixes for the comparative (more) and superlative (most) forms as other Germanic tongues. But in the word "many" we see a difference, due to a simplification of the English word. Old English still had "manig, monig, menig", comparable to Dutch "menig" and Middle Dutch "manich, mannich, mennich, menich". The difference in spelling between Old English and Middle Dutch is not significant. The sounds of these final consonants were hardly distinguishable, and without spelling-laws the choice scholars made was free.
Middle English has already "many". As is known, the English language was greatly influenced by the Normandic invaders, that spoke Normandic French. The change from "manig" into "many" was one of the countless effects of their influence. Normandy received its name from the Normans who settled there, dominated the region and remained there, forgetting their Old Norse and speaking French.
After having conquered England, they once more lost at least the basic structure of their French language and adapted themselves to the Germanic structure / syntaxis of Old English. But just as modern Frenchmen have great problems in learning other languages, so had the Normandians . Many of their nouns and verbs with Latin roots were introduced into English, and many English words underwent alterations.
Note:
- Proto-Germanic. We see in Old Frisian the words "mē" and "mā", and also "mēr" and "mār". And in Middle High German "mē;" as well as "mēr". It is not quite clear to what extent the words without a final "R" were originally distinct from those with the "R". Possibly the adding of the "R" meant the creating of a comparative form, but we have no solid proof for this. Proto-Germanic "*M E'" for "much" as well as "more" is probable. It must be added that English has "mickle" that is out of use, related to a Middle Dutch word "mekel= much" and with Old English predecessors "micle = much" and "micel = much, many". Sister words of "mickle" also are found in other languages. For our entry the hypothesis for Proto-Germanic is : " *M E".
Words with "N", like English "many" , are found in about all Germanic languages. They invariably also feature a "G"-sound, either directly after the "N" ( German "Menge, manch-" or more often with a vowel between the "N" and the "G-sound" as in Old English "manig" and Dutch "menig". These forms are so frequent that a development already in Proto-Germanic is quite probable. We opt for "*M E N I G".
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. Proto-Semitic had already in use these roots we see in Hebrew. The information can be divided in three versions.
Roots without third consonant D or dental are seen in Aramaic "מ א ה , me'à = hundred", Syriac "מ א א, ma'à = hundred" and Arabic "mi'ah = hundred", besides of course Hebrew.
Roots with a third consonant "D", besides in Hebrew, are used in Ugaritic "mad = to multiply" and "mid = much". Akkadian has "ma'ādu = to be many" and "mu'du = crowd". Arabic has "ma'ada = it grew" and Old South Arabic "מ א ד , M Aleph T = to add" .
Roots with a final consonant T are present in Phoenician מ א ת , M Aleph T ", Ugaritic "mit", Ethiopian "me'et" and Akkadian "me'et" with the meaning "hundred".
Proto-Semitic probably had the root without dental "*מ א ה , M Aleph H (accentuated vowel)" and also the root with the dental "D", "*מ א ד , M Aleph D". The root with final "T" has been derived from the one without final dental without changing the meaning.It may have been present already in Proto-Semitic, but that is unceertain.
Note:
- Indo-European. There is a hypothesis of "*M Ē -", which seems right. Outside Germanic there is not too much information. Latin uses "multus = much", and this begins with an "MU-", but is further very different from the words of this entry. Greek has a fully different "polü", that has its cognates in Germanic, like German "viel" with the same meaning. Then there is also Greek "mala", related to Latin "multus".
In Celtic we find with the meaning "more" the words in Welsh "mrog" and in Old Irish "mó".
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 05/11/2012 at 17.15.19 |
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