E 0576          MEASURE, METAN

The word " measure " is , via Old French , of Latin origin .

The Old English verb " metan " is of Germanic origin .

H 0569            ד ד מ ; ד מ

Concept of root : measure

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

;ד מ

ד ד מ

mad;

madad

measure;

to measure

Related English words

measure from Latin, Old English metan

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

;ד מ

ד ד מ

mad;

madad

measure;

to measure

m . d >

m . d . d

Greek

μετρον;

μετρεω

metron; metreo

measure;

to measure

m . tr

Latin

mensura;

metiri;

modus

mensura;

metiri;

modus

measure; 

to measure; 

measure; 

m . ns

m . t ;

m . d

English

measure

measure

m . s

Old English

metan

to measure

m . t

Dutch

maat;

meten,

mat

maat;

méten;

mat

measure;

to measure;

measured

m . t

Gothic

mitan

mitan

to measure

m . t

German

Mass; messen

maas; messen

measure;

to measure

m . s

 

 

Proto-Semitic *MADAD < *MAD --- *MĒD- Indo-European

 

 

Roots that carry the concept of measuring will often produce words that acquire the pregnant meaning of either small, limited, big or just right size. The combination in a root of M with D or T is in various languages used for quite different concepts and one has to be careful not to mix them up. Basic remains what earlier living people wanted to express and what new concepts/words might later have developed on the basis of that first word/concept. For the actual entry we should like to point out the idea that the concept of measuring not easily may produce those of meditating or of governing.

 

The main difference we find between Hebrew and most European languages lays in the two dentals : Hebrew D as to the T in the other tongues. This is not a decisive difference if the concept is identical as is the case here. As so often Old English and Dutch are the nearest to Hebrew.

 

As an example we give two verbs that we are just looking at because they are in sound not far from our "madad". They use two different dentals though they serve the same basic concept (which is not that of measuring). They are the verb "MODED" found only in the Bible and meaning "to shake" and the couple of verbs "MOTH, MATHATH" saying "to totter, waver, vacillate".

 

 

Note:
  • Greek. There is agreement that the R has been added to a shorter root "*M . T", but not about the meaning of that older one. Often "metreo" is seen as developed from "μητις , mètis " for "ability, prudence, wisdom" and/or "μητίω , mètio" for "to meditate, prepare", but we find the distance in meanings a bit too long. The original root "*M T" that has led to the Greek root "M T R" for "to measure" must have been related to the Germanic, Latin and Hebrew words with the same message. The R may have been added rather to distinguish the word for "measuring" better from those others with their different messages. Interesting is in fact that the concept of "to meditate, prepare" in Classic Greek is also expressed by roots "M D" (instead of only M T), as in the reflexive(medium) verb "μηδομαι , mèdomai", that possibly is related to "μεδέω , medéo " saying "to look after, protect" . This verb must have been developed from "μεδω , medo " meaning "to govern" , which we meet in entry GR 1212 (Hebrew 0570).

 

Note:
  • Latin in "metior" and "mensura" has not followed Greek in adding an R to the root "M T", but has in several verbal forms lost the T itself, introducing an NS (mensus sum, mensura) that in modern languages sometimes has become S: misura, measure.

     

    Earlier or in the process the "normal" active verb "*metere" had been abolished by concentrating the active sense of "to measure" on the medio-passive form "metor" that further developed into "metior" (infinitive "metiri", as mentioned in this entry). This development may have been caused by the tendency to distinguish words for "measure" from other words with "M T" in their root, such as "metere" = "to harvest" and "metuere" = "to fear, worry".

     

    The other Latin word, "modus" has a different dental. Its meanings are "measure", in quantity, size, volume and in figurative meanings. Also "moderation" in actions, behaviour and life. A second, different concept expressed by modus" is "way, manner". It is quite possible that there are two identical words "modus" with different origin. And "modus" instead of "*medus" for "measure" may be the result of having followed the pronunciation of "modus" = way, manner".

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. The root " מ ד ד , M D D" has been derived from a two-consonant-root " מ ד , M D". Many times we find this kind of development also with two-consonant-roots that are a contraction of and older three-consonant-root with in the middle a W, pronounced as a vowel O : "* מ ו ד , M W D > M O D". But in this specific case there seems to be no conclusive evidence for that kind of supposition. Thus the original root may have been simply "M D", pronounced "mad", like the noun "mad" of this entry.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. Proto-Semitic is credited with the same root, present in Hebrew, "* מ ד ד , madad, maded, M . D . D " , a root based on an older root " *M . D ", of which the second consonant has been doubled. There is no doubt about this as Tigrai and Amharic have practiced a different way of doubling, presenting " M . D . M . D " . The consequence of this is though, that even if Proto-Semitic already had developed " * מ ד ד , M . D . D ", it must have had at least the original " * מ ד , M . D ". And this is the more direct relative of the Indo European words of this entry .

 

Note:
  • Gothic sheds some light on the Greek problem we mentioned. It has the verb "mitan" of this entry and another verb "miton = to meditate, think". This situation is quite comparable to the Greek one we exposed. We have two different concepts served by very similar roots.

 

Note:
  • German again has had a different development, in that the Germanic T that is found in most other Germanic languages, including for example the Swedish verb "mäta, mèta", has changed first into Z or ZZ and then into SS.

 

Note:
  • Dutch lets us see another aspect of kinship exactly in this entry. Even if we do not consider vowels as part of roots, but as additional be it significant sounds/letters, we must point out the following. Dictionaries use for different languages also different criteria to choose the verbal form to represent verbs in their text. In modern European languages this form is the infinitive. In Greek and Latin it is the first person singular in the present tense. In Hebrew they have chosen the third personal singular masculine in the past tense.

     

    This form usually has two vowels A. Thus in this entry madad", and in antique language supposedly "*mad", both meaning "he measured". The striking thing is that in Dutch "he measured" is : hij "mat". In fact English, German and especially Dutch use the vowel A, in several verbs to express the past tense, just as does Hebrew.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. With the exception of Gothic (East Germanic ) "mita = measure", Germanic languages mostly use an E-sound in the verbs and often an "A" in the nouns based on the root of this entry. The obvious hypothesis is that Proto-Germanic had "*M Ē T-" and "*M Ā T-" for these two uses.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. The hypothesis we find for Indo-European is "*M Ē D", certainly influenced by the existence of "modus". But on the basis of the available information also "*M E T-" seems quite and even more convincing, even if a version with "M D" is nearer to Hebrew and may have existed earlier in Indo-European : "*M E D-". One notes that the consonant " R ", that is found after the " T " in Greek and in some Old Indian words, should be seen as a later development.

     

    Old Indian in linguistic luxury offers much information, with "(mi)māti; mitágh; mitigh = pr. measures; pt. measured; n. measure", but also, with an infix " R " as in Greek, "mātrā = measure (n)". Then there is a quite different "mānam = measure (n)", with cognates in Russian Church Slavonic "menzj" and Old Czech "men" with the same meaning.

     

    Avestan as usual is not far away, in "mita; miti- = measured (pt); measure (n)".

     

    Slavic Russian uses verbs with the basis "M E T" to express to concepts of "to throw (metatj)" and "to aim at (metitj)". "To measure instead it has "M E R" in "meritj".Old Church Slavonic has "meto, mesti = to measure, aim, throw" in a logical sequence that has at its basis an action of measuring, that is the place and distance of a target.

     

    Baltic. Latvian "mātas = measure" and "matúiti = to measure". In Baltic one finds similar words with possibly related meanings regarding (measured) time: Old Prussian "mettan = year", Latvian "mets = length of time". As in Slavic, there are Latvian "mest" and Lithuanian "metù, mèsti for "to throw".

     

    Celtic has a hypothesis "*medā", with an Old Irish "med = measure".

     

    Albanian offers the words "mat, mas = measure (vb)", "mates = measure (n)" , "matem = I throw" and "mōt = year".

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 05/11/2012 at 18.26.31