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E 0991 (TO) WELK, WELKEN
The
word " welk " and Middle
English " welken "
are , via Middle
Dutch, of Germanic origin .
H 0631 ל ב
נ
Concept of root : to
wither
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ל ב נ <
ל ב
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nawal < bal
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to
wither
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Related English words
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to
welk; Old English :welken
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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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ל ב נ <
ל ב
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nawal < *bal
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to wither, welk
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n . w . l <
* b .
l
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Middle English
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welken
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to welk
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w . l k
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English
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to welk
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to welk
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w . l k
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German
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(ver) welken
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(ver)
welken
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to wither, welk
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w . l k
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Dutch
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(ver)
welken
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(ver)
welken
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to wither, welk
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w . l k
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Proto-Semitic *NABAL < *BALÀ --- *WÈL-K Proto-Germanic
We see a very close relationship with the identical and rather specialized meaning of the withering of plants and flowers. The differences are that Hebrew has an N that lacks in Germanic and does not have the final K of that group of languages. As to the N, this difference is insignificant as we explain here below. In Germanic this root is found in West-Germanic only and we must suppose that it is a later extension, after the separation of the various groups of languages. In fact we find also in Hebrew a root with after the consonants B and L a third one Q: "balaq" says "to devastate". This is relatively far off in meaning .
Note:
- Hebrew has here once more a word that has a three-consonant-root with the first one being N, and the meaning of which is already carried by the other two consonants. That is shown by the existence of a verb "
ב
ל
ה , balà = to decay, wither" and also "to grow old" partly identical but also covering a wider field than "nawal". See entries E 0346 (Hebrew 0244) and (Hebrew 0245).
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. "N B L" as a root is found in Arabic "nabilah = corpse" and Akkadian "nabultu = corpse". Corpses do decay. Then in Hebrew an intensive verbal form " nibbèl" , besides saying "to cause to wither, decay", also stands for "to make ritually forbidden by improper slaughtering". These two might be semantically related with the word of this entry. Other meanings expressed with a root "N B L" are "foolish, senseless" in Aramaic, "despised" in Aramaic and Syriac and "wretched" in Arabic. These are far off and the roots may be just identical, without common origin. The evidence is limited, but there may be room for a hypothesis for Proto-Semitic "* נ ב ל, N B L", related to ב ל ה, B L H (accentuated vowel).
As already shown, the middle consonant " B " in Akkadian and Arabic is pronounced " B ", as is the case in many forms in Hebrew as well. The change into " V " probably had not yet occurred in Proto-Semitic. This middle consonant was the first in the original two consonant root "*B . L".
Note:
- Germanic had this word "welken" already in Old High German, like in Middle Dutch. There is also a word "Wolke" in German ( Dutch "wolk"), that means "cloud". English still has poetical "welkin" for "firmament". Consequently scholars say that the words for "to wither" and "cloud" are of one and the same origin; thus they say that the word first meant "full of water", and then for plants and flowers changed into "without water". We do not believe this, also somewhat on account of the relationship with Hebrew.
Note:
- English. Middle English had loaned the word "welken" from Middle Dutch. Old English had
"wolc" for "cloud", like Middle Dutch. Modern English "to welk" is practically out of use.
Note:
- Proto-Germanic The presence of the words "welk" and "welken" is limited to German and Dutch and their direct predecessors. There seem to be no clear relatives in North or East Germanic . Old Norse used "visna" that has sisters also in Old English and Old High German, besides in the other Nordic tongues. Yet there is no other origin for the words of this entry then a probable Proto-Germanic "*W È LK-".
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 28/01/2013 at 17.08.44 |
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