E 0568          MASON

The word " mason " is of uncertain but Indo European origin .

H 0609           ת ק צ מ

Concept of root : masonry

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

 ת ק צ מ

matséqet

mason’s ladle

Related English words

mason

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

 ת ק צ מ

matséqet

mason’s ladle

m . ts . q

Dutch

metselen

metselen

working masonry

m . ts

Middle Dutch

metselen, metseren. maetselen, metsen, maetsen; metse, maetse

metselen, metseren, maetsele, metsen,

matsen;

metse,

maetse

working masonry

-

-

-

mason

-

m . ts

German < Old High German

(Stein) metz

steinmezzo

(stein)mets

steinmetso

mason

m . ts

Latin

maceria

makeria

wall

m . c

 

 

Hebrew MATSÉQET --- *METS- Germanic

 

 

This word "mitséqet" is Modern Hebrew, shaped with an initial or prefix "M" after an old Biblical root "Y.TS.Q" . This root , or identical ones, carried three groups of meanings :

     

  1. to pour, cast ;
  2. pipe, tube ;
  3. to set , place .

     

    It has been used to shape modern words like our "mitséqet" regarding masonry and others in the field of casting etc..
Obviously a common origin can not be indicated by such newly shaped words, unless a root is used that in itself is similar to the roots in the words from the European languages. This is here not the case. So we left this entry in our list just to show how easily an in itself convincing reasoning can be totally wrong :

 

" A mason’s ladle" is a very characteristic instrument. If we look for a verb with the same root of this word for ladle: "mitséqet", we just find "mitsèq" that means "to solidify". The function of cement is that of solidifying a structure by solidifying itself. "Mitsèq" is an intensive form, but the basic form "matsaq" is not used. Here below we will quote some other words with the consonants "M S Q" that seem to confirm the common origin of Hebrew and Dutch in this entry.

 

The Dutch word is nearly a solitary one in Germanic. No etymology has been found. Some try to link it to the root of "to make" but that looks rather like a shot in the dark, just to coin an explanation. There is an Old High German "steinmezzo = mason".

 

It is possible that the Hebrew and Dutch words of this entry, that indicate specifically the work of a mason, as well as the Latin word that specifies the result of such work, are related to the concepts of "to mix" and "to knead" and others, such as in the entries E 0591 (Hebrew 0601), E 0570 (Hebrew 0604) and RU 1268 (Hebrew 0605 ) .

 

Note:
  • English does not offer a specific verb to express the work of a mason. It circumscribes this as "to set bricks", "to lay bricks" "to build (a wall)". The work done is "brickwork" but also "masonry". The word "mason" is also of uncertain etymology. It possibly came from Norman French "machun", via Middle English "machoun" and "masoun", but further back the supposition is again that of a sisterword or daughterword of "to make". This would mean a specific creation of a new word to express the concept of "he who makes masonry"on the basis of an existing word for "to make", but without coining a verb for this. Odd and far-fetched it seems.

 

Note:
  • Dutch and Middle Dutch "metselen" etcetera are iteratives of Middle Dutch "metsen", and "maetsen" . These verbs express the work done by a "metse" or mason, but…

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. A possible reasoning would seem the following :

     

    " The root "M TS Q" , especially seen the Germanic and Latin words, should have been developed from an earlier one with two consonants: "*M TS". We find many other words with those two consonants , of which quite a few have some possible connection to the combination of stones and masonry or mortar. These are : " מ צ ב ה , matséwa , obelisque, momument of stone", " מ צ ד , metsad , fortification" , " מ צ ו ד , matsod , bulwark, rampart", " מ צ ו ד ה , metsudà, high fortification"," מ צ ו ק , matsuq, column, foundation", " מ צ ו ר ה , metsurà , fortress ", " מ צ פ ה , mitspé , watchtower ". Sufficient to conclude that "M TS" in Hebrew is firmly related with "M TS" in Dutch "metselen", independently from the road followed by the modern creators of "mitséqet"."

 

Note:
  • Latin K is of course very different from "TS", but it should not be seen as impossibly far from that sound in the other tongues if we take into consideration that Latin itself in its natural development into Italian has changed in very many cases the K-sound into "TSH".

     

    In fact Late Latin had "macio" for the work of a mason, and this shows that, with or without written testimony in Classic Latin, and anyhow demanded by the logic of the word "maceria" ( in Italian with a shift in meaning "matsheria").

     

    If we use the expression "written testimony" we mean that the written texts of Classic Latin are many, but not complete. Many times as much has gone lost, and Latin etymology is a very difficult subject."

 

 

 

 
"...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: 08/11/2012 at 16.08.50