E 0591          (TO) MINGLE , MIX

The verb " to mingle " is of Germanic origin .

The verb " to mix " is , via Norman French, of Latin origin .

H 0601         ך ס מ

Concept of root : mixing

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ך ס מ

masakh

to mix

Related English words

mingle, to mix

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ך ס מ

masakh

to mix

m . s . kh

Greek

μειγνυμι,

μειγνυω;

μισγω;

μειγμα;

μιγας

meignümi,

meignüo,

misgo;

meigma;

migas

to mix;

-

-

mix;

mixed

m . g

Latin

miscere

miskēre

to mix

m . sk

Russian

мешать

meshatj

to mix

m . sh

Old English

mengan

to mix

m . ng

Middle English

mengen ;

menglen

to mix

m . ng

English

to mingle ;

mix

to mingle ;

mix

m . ng

 

 

Proto-Semitic *MASAK(H) --- *MĬSK- Indo-European

 

 

A clearcut case of similarity that can leave no doubt about the common origin of these various Indo-European languages and Hebrew. Meanwhile it is interesting to see that the European tongues use the vowels that Hebrew would use in an intensive version of the same verb: "*missèkh". But in Modern Hebrew several things have changed. See entry E 0592 (Hebrew 0623 ) .

 

 

Note:
  • Greek. More words are shown here to better view the picture. The two verbs are one of those cases in which the Greeks made use of both options to form the first person singular of a verb. There is always the root, and a suffix must indicate that the person (subject) of the action is the first person singular. The pronomen for this is "εγω , ego" in the first case or nominative but "με , me; μου , mu; *μι , *mi" in other cases. In this instance both versions were adapted, and the result was one verb with the suffix O and another one with the suffix MI, both meaning the same thing.

     

    The existence of the third verb with the same meaning, "misgo", the noun "meigma" and the word "migas" demonstrates clearly that the original root was "M G".

 

Note:
  • Russian "SH" corresponds with Latin "SC=SK" , but also with Germanic "G", all according to established rules of diverging development between these Indo-European groups.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew "masakh" today is used to say "to pour (a drink)", probably meaning one that had been mixed before.

     

    A specific noun has been coined : " מ ס כ ה, miskà" = "cocktail", naturally in the revival of the Hebrew language in the 20th century. Then the passive form of our verb is still used today: " נ מ ס ך, nimsakh " for "to be mixed, poured".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic This root " מ ס ך , M S K " is seen in Ugaritic for " to mix". Aramaic and Syriac have the cognate " מ ז ג , M Z G in mezag = he mixed". A different cognate of this last root is present in Arabic "mashajia = he mixed ". Probably Proto-Semitic used both "* מ ס ך , M S K " and "* מ ז ג M Z G ".

     

    We have no certainty about the pronunciation of the third consonant, " K " in Proto-Semitic. This may well have been, still, an original " K ", or also have already changed into " KH ". In the comparison we leave open the alternatives.

 

Note:
  • Germanic has "nasalized" this root, that is it has inserted an "N-sound" before the G. This is a frequent change in Germanic.

 

Note:
  • English as often has words from both Latin and Germanic origin. The verb "to mingle" is of Germanic origin and is a frequentative form of the verb that in Old English was "mengan", similar to German and Dutch. The A-sound in this position (infinitive) is supposed to have been common in ancient Germanic and is normal in Swedish. Comparable with "to mingle" is Dutch "mengelen", also an iterative form of "mengen".

     

    The " X " in the other verb "to mix", that comes from Latin, should not surprise us, as we see the same phenomenon in Greek, that in company with the abovementioned words, also has "μιξις, mixis" as a noun for "mixture". They used this same word as well for "sexual union" !

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic . First it must be noted that some Germanic languages have words for "to mix", that like this English verb, have no nasalization. We name German "mischen", Old High German "misgen" and Old English "miscian . These are considered to have been derived from Latin "miscere" and this may be right, though uncertain. So there may not have been this non-nasalized version in Proto-Germanic: "* M Ĭ SK- ".

     

    Besides this nearly all Germanic languages, older and newer, have "M E NG-". The rather obvious hypothesis for Proto-Germanic remains thus the already nasalized form "*M E NG-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. An existing hypothesis is "*M EI K-" . More probable seems that the use of a vowel " E " is a later development, in nasalized Germanic and in Slavic, and that the original form had as vowel " Ī " or " Ĭ ". Further a consonant "S", seen in many instances, probably was already present : "*M I SK-" or "*M I KS-"

     

    Old Indian in "mimiktsati = he mixes" has doubled the initial "M". But in its usual rich variation there is also "miśrah = mixed".

     

    Slavic. The existing hypothesis "*mesjiti" is identical to Old Church Slavonic for "to mix".

     

    Baltic with hypotheses of "*meitsh-, *maitsh, *mitsh-" has Lithuanian "maishyti", Latvian "maisit" meaning "to mix" and Old Prussian "maysotan = mixed". Lithuanian "mìshras" also says "mixed".

     

    Celtic. An existing hypothesis is "*misk-" for which there are Cymric "mysgu" and Breton "meski", both meaning "to mix".

 

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 28/01/2013 at 15.56.05