E 0820          SIGE

The Old English word " sige " is of Germanic origin .

H 0664          ח צ נ

Concept of root : victory

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ח צ נ

nitsagh;

netsagh

to triumph;

victory

Related English words

Old English sige

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ח צ נ

nitsagh;

netsagh

to triumph;

victory

n . ts . gh

Old English

sige

victory

s . g

German

Sieg

zig

victory

s . g

Dutch

zege

zéghe

victory

z . g

Old Indian

sahan

sahan

victory

s . h

 

 

Proto-Semitic *NATSAGH < *TSAGHÀ --- *SĪG- Proto-Germanic < "SĒGH-" Indo-European

 

 

In Germanic languages, but also in for example Italian, there is a certain fluidity in pronunciation and spelling of sibilants. We see Germans writing an S, but pronouncing a Z: But if the Germans write a Z , they pronounce it TS. And often a written S will be pronounced TS. This reflects of course linguistic developments, and such developments may also create differences between Germanic and Hebrew roots that have a common origin.
Already in Hebrew itself we find the roots "צ ה ב , tsahav" and "ז ה ב , zahav" for a mixture of concepts around yellow and gold.

 

In this entry Hebrew "nitsagh" has an initial consonant N that should be considered just a confirming prefix. Then the last consonant shifts from " H " in Old Indian to " GH " in Hebrew and Dutch and " G " in Old English and German. If English would have maintained this word in its vocabulary, the G might have become Y, as it has in the Nordic tongues.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew uses this same root, besides to say "to be victorious" and "victory", also to express the concepts of "commanding" and "controlling" that are a rather natural consequence of victory.
    Strong victories may have a lasting effect, and thus "nitsagh" also stands for "to perdure, be lasting".

     

    We find some not too strong support in roots without N for our hypothesis that the initial N of "nitsagh" is just a confirming prefix and that the meaning of the part "TS GH" is that of the whole root and thus directly similar with the European roots that did not apply such a prefix.

     

    There is " צ ו ה , tsiwą = to command" , an intensive form of which the basic form "*tsawą" is out of use.

     

    Then another group of meanings expressed with our root "N.GH.TS" is "to shine, sparkle". And in that field one finds various words without the initial N, such as "צ ח , tsagh = splendid, dazzling, bright" and "צ ח ח , tsaghagh = to be bright, dazzling". If, as is the common opinion, this root is one and the same, these facts clearly confirm that the "N" of our root is a prefix.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. Proto-Semitic had the root we still see in Hebrew . It is seen in Phoenician " נ צ ח ", with the meaning "he prevailed over". Aramaic and Syriac show " נ צ ח , netsagh = he was victorious" and also "shone, was illustrious". Arabic, with a different cultural approach, in "natsagha" used the root to say "was pure, was reliable". This is near to Ethiopian "natsgha = was pure, was innocent". Proto-Semitic probably used the root "* נ צ ח ", in the two culturally related basic senses of "to be victorious" and "to be brillant, shine". Besides this Proto-Semitic possibly still used the older two consonant root "* צ ח ה , TS . GH + accentuated vowel".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. All older and newer Germanic languages have an initial consonant "S", besides Dutch that has "Z" and German that pronounces the "S" as "Z". The second consonant is "G" with its differences in pronunciation, such as Dutch that makes "GH" out of "G". The in between vowel is mostly a long "I", as in Gothic "sigis", Old Norse "sigr", Old English "sigor", Old Saxon and Old Franconian "sigi-" and German "Sieg" with its predecessors. But Swedish "seger", Danish "seir", Dutch "zege" Middle Dutch "seghe" and Middle Low German "sege" have a long vowel "E". Seen the fact that Old Danish "sighęr" and Old Swedish "sigher" had a vowel "I", the "E" should be considered a specific newer development of some languages. Proto-Germanic thus probably had "*S I G-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. The words that have been proposed as cognates are various. Greek "ekho, ekhein", with the meaning of "to possess" seems too far off . Old Irish "seg = power" may be the consequence of a victory, but not necessarily is so. Yet it may well be related in origin. See the meanings in Sanscrit here below. Avestan "hazaah- = violence, robbery", has no semantic link to "victory". The same goes for the nicer Welsh "hy = brave", as the brave one does far from always win victory. But one important support there is:

     

    Sanscrit sáha = to vanquish, gain in battle, be victorious, have power". This is clearly related. The same root also comprehends a succesful defence! It is used in Old Indian with the same meanings.

     

    It is not easy to define a hypothesis. There is an initial " S " in Sanscrit, Germanic and Celtic. The second consonant possibly was "GH", as found in Dutch and related to both the Germanic " G " and the Sanscrit " H ", but this is just a shot, on account of the lack of information. The vowel " A " is used very much in Sanscrit, also where the original vowel is different. So one may hypothesize a "*S Ē GH-", but upon finding more evidence this may still change.

 

 

 
"...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: 14/11/2012 at 13.02.23