E 0506         (TO)  KNOCK

The verb " to knock " is , perhaps via Middle Dutch, of Germanic origin .

H 0638            ח ג נ

Concept of root : pound and pummel

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ח ג נ;

ח ג נ ו

 nagagh;

  nogègh

pound, pummel;

pounding, pummeling

Related English words

to knock, Old English cnocian

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ח ג נ;

-

ח ג נ ו

-

nagagh;

-

nogegh

-

to pound, pummel

pounding, pummeling

n . g . gh

Old Norse

hnöggva ; hnöggr ;

knoka

hnöggva ; hnöggr ;

knoka 

to bump, hit ; hit;

to hit

hn (o) ggv; hn (o) gg;

kn (o) k

Dutch

nokken;

knokken

nokken;

knokken 

to bump, pound;

to fight

n (o) k

kn (o) k

Old English

cnocian

to beat, pound

cn (o) c

English

to knock

to knock

kn (o) ck

 

 

Proto-Semitic *NAGAGH < *NOG --- *KNŎK < *NŎK Proto-Germanic

 

 

This entry is to be seen in relation with number E 0507 (Hebrew 0639) . See also entry E 0512 (Hebrew 0764).

 

A language as clear as English is not easy to find, but in the fields of hitting and putting it is not very specific and this makes it sometimes difficult to express well the nuances one finds in some other tongues. The root "N G GH" as well as that of the next entry "N G PH" seem to be specified best by words like pounding and pummeling. A simple single hitting would not be enough.

 

This kind of hitting is also found in Dutch "nokken" and Middle Dutch "nocken".

 

Note:
  • Hebrew, besides this root "N G GH", has another one, "N G PH", shown in entry E 0507 (Hebrew 0639), that refers to a stronger quality of hitting, with death as a possible consequence. The existence of the two mentioned roots, that have the first two consonants, "N + G", in common, implies that this combination in itself carries a basic meaning common to both verbs. We have already found in entry E 0618 (Hebrew 0637) that "N G" suggests " near and touch". There we find indications for other, probably related, roots begining with "N G".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. In miust be remarked that Hebrew has one further meaning than the European tongues : " to gore". This is also found in Aramaic " נ ג ח , negagh", but in Ugaritic we find with this root only the meanings of " to push, thrust". Proto-Semitic probably used this root "* נ ג ח , N G GH", that just might be an extended one from older " *N G", but perhaps without the meaning of " to gore". The older root, instead of "*NAGÀ", may indeed have been "* נ ו ג N W G, nog", which is nearer to the use of the vowel " O " as seen in Germanic. And very many old roots of two consonants had a central " W ", pronounced " O ". We presume this in our comparison.

 

Note:
  • Germanic languages have not given much attention to this root. Low German uses it in the verb "noecken". The second root, of the verb "knokken" seems to be a reflexive meaning, that of two or more people pummeling each other. Anyhow this reflexiveness is not found the same way in English that uses also that expanded root :

 

Note:
  • English "to knock" is related to Old English "cnucian, cnocian", but comes from Middle English "knokken" that is identical to and probably has been loaned from Middle Dutch. Those verbs all have a meaning, comparable to that of Hebrew "N G GH". The difference in development seems to be that Hebrew added GH at the end of the old root "N G", whereas English and Dutch, in a way of doubling that expressed intensity of action, added an extra " K " in front of that comparable root "N K". This unless the unit "KNOK" has been used under influence of the similar word "KNOOK, knōk = BONE (of the human body)" as discussed in the following Note on Dutch.

     

    Obviously Modern English has varied the intensity of the meaning of "to knock" from that of "to knock" softly on a door to "knock-out = K.O". Besides this English lost the initial " K " in pronunciation.

 

Note:
  • Dutch "knokken" for "to fight" may as well have been shaped under the influence of the noun "knok" or in Middle Dutch "cnoke" that means and meant "bone, joint". This noun has a diminutive, that in Middle Dutch "cnokel" stood for some smaller bones and joints, such as "vertebra" and especially "finger-knuckle". In Modern languages this clarity was lost and "knokel" came to be used for "bone" in general.

     

    Fighting, beating and pummeling are done with the fists and the part of the knuckles is what hits. Thus the general supposition is that there may have been an influence of "knokel" (originally only "knuckle") on the verb "nokken", changing it into "knokken". Or else, shaping directly a new word "knokken". However this be, the similarity between "nokken " and Hebrew is there.

     

    On the other hand, Middle High German "knochen" still had the same meaning found in Old English. In Modern High German it is out of use. A particular development in Modern Dutch is that this same verb "nokken", with the use of a different vowel of dialectal origin, has become the common verb "neuken" that in English can be translated by "to fuck".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. In Germanic languages we find "KN O K-" , both in Old Norse and Norwegian" knoka", Swedish dialect "knoka ( with O-sound as in "awe")", English "knock", Middle High German "knochen" ( typically with K becoming CH) and Dutch "knokken". Proto-Germanic probably had "*KN O K", after an older "*N O K" .

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. Outside Germanic we have no indications for Indo-European cognates and the comparison remains between Semitic and Germanic, a frequent phenomenon.

 

 

 

 
"...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: 12/11/2012 at 17.28.06