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E 0684 (TO) PICK
The verb " to pick " is of Germanic origin .
H 0681 ע
ג
פ
Concept of root : aimed
hitting
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ע ג פ
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pag‛à
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to hit, come upon, attack
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Related English words
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to pick
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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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ע ג פ
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pag‛à
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to hit, come upon, attack
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p . g (‛).
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Italian
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pacca
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pacca
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a blow, slap
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p . c
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Dutch
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pak
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pak
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a blow, slap
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p . k
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Italian
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picchiare
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pikkiare
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to hit
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p (i) c
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English
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to pick
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to pick, hit
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p (i) k
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Dutch
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pikken
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pikken
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to hit
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p (i) k
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Proto-Semitic *PAG‛À --- *PĬK-, *PĂK- Proto-Germanic
This entry has two rather different sets of European words. Italian "pacca" is a "blow" and Dutch "pak" is used only in a some expressions, where it indicates spanking. There are unsolved problems about the etymology of these isolated words. But also the second group does not have a clear-cut story.
The meaning is certainly that of an aimed way of hitting, also of hitting precisely, which can be done also with a pointed instrument as a pick.-axe or the way a "woodpecker" does. This bird in Italian is a "picchio" and in German and Dutch a "specht", with an S as neutral prefix. These names are all of the same root, and the vowels they use are those Hebrew uses in more intense forms, such as "pig‛è", with the root of this entry. This may be an extra indication.
Note:
- Hebrew uses this word or an identical one also to express messages like : "hit upon somebody (a specific way of encountering)" and "beseech somebody".
A woodpecker and a pick-axe have their names in Hebrew from different roots. The bird is seen as making cave-like holes and is therefore called a "
נ
ק
ר, neqer" from the root "naqar" that unites the two concepts of "excavate" and "extract". A pick-axe is a "makosh" .
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. Proto-Semitic has as supposed root the same "* נ ג ע, P G Ayin" we see in Hebrew. It is also found in Aramaic and Syriac " נ ג ע , peg‛à= he came across, attacked" and has a cognate in Arabic "faja‛a = he lighted upon, attacked". Here the " G " has become a " J ", as is often the case.
Note:
- Proto-Germanic. In older languages we have Old Norse "pikka" and "pjakka" and Middle Dutch "picken, pecken, pēken. In Old English we do not find the verb, but there is the noun that indicates the instrument "pic". Modern German has "picken" and the probable Proto-Germanic form is "*P Ĭ K-". Meanwhile for the Dutch word "pak" we find no etmology at all, though it can hardly have been shaped after "PIK" and may thus indicate a second version in Proto-Germanic "*P Ă K-". This is reinforced by the existence of the isolated Italian word "pacca" with the same meaning and a possible origin in Germanic.
Note:
- Indo-European. No etymology either is available for Italian "pacca", that then is considered sound imitating, often a practical "solution" of a problem. ltalian "picchiare" has as explanation that it is related to the Germanic words of this entry, probably finding its origin in them. The comparison stays with Germanic.
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 15/11/2012 at 18.19.04 |
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