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E 0572 MAT
The word " mat " is of Germanic origin .
H 0613 ה
ט
מ
Concept of root : bed
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ה ט מ
ע צ מ
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mithà;
mats‛à
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bed
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Related English words
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mat,
Old English matte
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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 ט מ ע צ מ
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mithà
mats‛à
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bed
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m . th
m . ts
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English
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mat
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mat
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m . t
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Middle Dutch
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matte
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matte
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sleeping-place,
pallet
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m . t .
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Dutch
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mat
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mat
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mat
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m . t
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Hebrew *MATSÀ, MITHÀ --- *MĂT Proto-Germanic
A mat for milennia has been and often still is the thing people sleep on. Therefore there can be no surprise if this Hebrew word, the common word for "bed", is related to a Germanic word for "mat". This would perhaps be insufficient to talk about a common origin. But Middle Dutch "matte" has those specific meanings of sleeping-place and pallet. This justifies this entry.
There exists also a seldom used Latin word "matta" = "cover" that is then seen as a loanword from Phoenician. Some see the Germanic words for "mat" as coming from this rare Late Latin one. The difference in message between a cover and a mat makes this seem rather improbable and we prefer to suppose a simple common origin. In fact, if a word is found just in Late Latin and Germanic, mostly the origin will be Germanic A phoenician origin would be in fact hard to explain, seen the course of history.
Yet we will keep strong doubts about the probability of a common origin, as explained in the Note on Hebrew .
Note:
- Hebrew. There is a habit to explain words beginning with an " M " as having been shaped by placing a prefix " M " in front of an older root without " M ". And there are indeed very many such words in Hebrew. The considerable number of pages for words beginning with " M " in dictionaries demonstrates the result. But in quite a few cases the hypotheses are not convincing.
The word "mithà" is seen in relation with an old root "N.TH.Y" that carries messages like "to stretch (out)", which makes think of beds, "to bend, turn", already further off, but also even more different ones like "to push off strongly". We consider it quite possible that the two are sisterwords, but that in the root "N.TH.Y" the N is a prefix , like is the case in many roots that begin with an N. It may even have absorbed an older M if already present .
If we take into consideration for example the word "mathà= downward", we see a nearness in meaning with "bed" , but as such much less with the messages of "N.TH.Y" . And a word "muthà" speaks about the spreading out of wings, relatable to "N.TH.Y", but hardly to a bed.
Comparable but stronger reasonings have been brought up regarding "mats‛à", a word that, very interestingly, also means "couch". Here the reference is to a root "*Y TS Ayin", that in a verb in the causative form, "hitsi‛à" indeed speaks of "to spread (a bed)". Looking for cognates one finds an Arabic "wadza'a = he laid down", not very near the concept of "bed" and Aramaic "ats'à = to expound". In Post Biblical Hebrew the root "י צ ע, Y TS Ayin serves different messages, as to arrange, unfold", leading to Modern Hebrew "to propose, suggest". Very far from a bed to sleep on.
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. If the word "mithà = bed " has indeed been derived from "natha = to stretch out", the similarity in this entry is fortuitous and no common origin with the European words can be supposed. For "mithà" as such we have no evidence that would allow a hypothesis for Proto-Semitic. For "yatsà" the lack of clarity about its basic meaning is another impediment.
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 08/11/2012 at 17.53.02 |
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