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E 0401 (TO) GUESS
The verb " to guess " is of Germanic origin .
H 0647 ש
ח
נ
Concept of root : to
guess
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ש ח נ
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nighèsh
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to
guess
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Related English words
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to
guess
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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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ש ח נ
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nighèsh
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to guess, foresee
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n . gh . sh
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English
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to guess
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to guess
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g . s
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Middle Dutch
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ghissen
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ghissen
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to guess, foresee
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g . s
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Proto-Semitic *NAGHASH < *GHÈSH --- *GĬSS- Proto-Germanic
This Hebrew root is related to that of entry E 0400 ("Hebrew 0384 , "gishesh") . The similarity has as only problem : the Hebrew N that is not found in Germanic. But if we look at another word, the verb "gishèsh" that says "groping one’s way" , we may presume that the N of "nighèsh" is a prefix placed in front of an older root "*G SH", changing in the process the G into an aspired GH. In the case of "gishèsh" this same older root has undergone the usual development of doubling the second consonant for grammatical reasons, naturally without changing anything in the G.
Note:
- Hebrew in older language concentrated the use of this root especially on the "guessing" done by foretellers and on presages . Already in the Bible the intensive verbal form "nighèsh" was used instead of "naghash", that remained as a noun for "witchcraft".
Note:
- Proto-Semitic.
This root is found in Aramaic and Syriac " נ ח ש , naghesh = he divined, learned from omens" Arabic has developed a special message for this root in "naghisa = he was unlucky". The root as seen in Hebrew may have been present in Proto-Semitic:"* נ ח ש , N GH SH". Asalready mentioned the relation with entry E 0400 ("Hebrew 0384 ) is an indication that the root "N GH SH" may have developed out of an older two consonant without initial " N ": "*ח ש ה, GH SH ( + accentuated vowel)".
Note:
- Hebrew and Germanic. It is rather intriguing to see that the Germanic verbs of this entry use the vowels I and E , that are those of the intensive form of the Hebrew verb. This is an indication that there has been a common development, and consequently a geographical nearness in the old times when this intensive word developed from the basic one that used the vowel A. See our chapter Getting Intensive (Hebrew 0001_aa26)
Note:
- English. It seems nearly superfluous to say that, also seen the similarity with Hebrew, "to guess" has nothing to do with the hypothetical Indo-European root "*ghend" = "to seize, take". Foretelling or guessing are way apart from seizing or even trying o get. We also doubt very much that that supposed root "ghend" would have produced English "to get", but that is a problem out of the scope of this list .
Note:
- Middle Dutch once more gives a useful help as it still combined the two basic messages of
its Hebrew relative, that in modern English and Dutch have disappeared.
Note:
- Proto-Germanic. This same root is present also in Swedish "gissa" and Danish "gisne". English "to guess" is considered a loanword, probably from Middle Dutch "gissen, gessen, ghissen, ghessen", the sister of which, Middle Low German, had the same words. Swedish "gissa" is seen as a loanword from Low German. It has been tried to link "to guess", that is not found in Old English, to a group of verbs like Old Saxon "bigetan = to grip, seize, find", Old High German "bigezzan = to obtain" and Old English "begietan = to find, seize, to get", that is certainly related to Engllish "to get" and to Old Norse "geta" and Old Danish "getse" with the same meaning. If this is right, the consonant "T" is a Germanic development, realized also via "ZZ" and "TS" out of "S", indicating that the act of "seeking and groping" has led to "finding and gripping, getting". It remains probable that Proto-Germanic had a form "G Ĭ SS-".
Note:
- Indo-European. This similarity is one among many that regard Germanic, without indications of possible cognates out of other Indo-European groups of language.
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 13/11/2012 at 15.07.56 |
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