E 0343          FOLK , PEOPLE

The word " people " is of Latin origin .

H 0695            ך ל פ

Concept of root : people of area

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ך ל פ

pélekh ; pilk-

district

Related English words

folk, people from Latin

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ך ל פ

pélekh ;

pilk-

district

p . l . kh

Old Slavic

pluku

pluku

people

p . l . k

Latin

populus < poplus;

plebs < plebes

populus < poplus;

pleps < plebes

people, nation;

people

p . l

English

folk ;

people

folk ; people

f . l k ;

p . (p) l

German

Volk

volk

people, nation

v . l k

Old Norse

fólk

-

fylki

-

fólk:

-

fylki

-

people, nation;

part of territory

v . l k

 

 

Proto-Semitic *PELAKH --- *FŎLK Proto-Germanic < *PŎL Indo-European

 

 

Old Slavic is the striking example of similarity in this entry. We see a root of three consonants that is identical to the Hebrew one. For the meanings we now will look first at Germanic.

 

The people living in a circumscribed area or district have to be defined with a noun. Such a noun is German "Volk". A possible original circumscription was the fence within which the assemblies of the people were held. The word is very old of course and referred probably first to "all the men that live and come together in this defined area". Later, in line with the development of interhuman relationships its concept came to comprehend as well the women and children.

 

The meaning of "Volk" as those who live in a circumscribed area or region is still present in composed words like "Bevoelkerung" and "bevolking" that say "population" in German and Dutch .

 

Note:
  • Germanic and Hebrew. The difference in application of the same root can be explained by the different organization of nations and ways of governing people. In the Bible the names of the tribes already are used to indicate their regions. Yet one sees in Old Norse also the territorial meaning represented with a sister word: "fylki" says ""part of territory, district".

 

Note:
  • Latin "populus" and the earlier "poplus" have had a doubling of the P. The original root had only one P : "P . L". The other word, "plebes" leaves some doubt about its development. Either the labial has been doubled towards the end or the B is a suffix of uncertain scope. Or, third possibility : a metathesis between the second ( original P ) and the L, with voicing from P into B .

     

    The basic difference in meaning between the two is that "populus" stands for "(all) the people", whereas "plebes" stands for "the common people" , excluding "nobility".

     

    We see that the final K, present in Slavic, Germanic and Hebrew, is not found in Latin. This is an indication for our thesis that there has not been a net and immediate separation between the Indo-European and Semitic developments of language.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This root is seen in Aramaic "פ ל כ א , pilkà = district, province" and also in Akkadian "pilku = province". It may well have been in use in Proto-Semitic: "*פ ל ך , P L K". In the comparison we present a possible "*pelagh".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. Older languages show the following. Old Saxon, Old Frisian and Old Norse have "folk". ONFRanconian, Old High German and Old English the in fact identical "folc". Proto-Germanic probably had "*F Ŏ LK-".

 

Note:
  • Indo European. There are two roots that are often seen as of the same origin. These are the roots that have led to the English words "folk" and "full". But these concepts have no semantic link of any importance. Inevitably a combination of just a couple of consonants, like "F L" or "P L" has to be utilized for more than one concept, or no language would be able to develop sufficient words to satisfy all needs of expression.

     

    We see that Latin has doubled the " P " of an original "*P O L", perhaps but less probably "*P U L". Slavic has ( added ) a third consonant " K " , with metathesis between " U " and " L ". There is also Old Church Slavonic "plŭkj = "host (flock!) of soldiers". In the Germanic words a third consonant " K " is present, without metathesis of the " L ", though there are versions with metathesis, as Norwegian "flokk" and English "flock". And the initial " P " was changed , as more often, into " F (PH) " that sometimes became " V ". The resulting Indo-European form is "P Ŏ L-".

     

    An important question is how come Germanic, and in this case also Slavic , with their three consonant roots " P (F) L K " are more similar to Semitic " P L K " than the two consonant Latin "P . L". This recalls the great number of cases in which a similarity is found between Semitic and Germanic without corresponding cognates in other Indo-European groups of languages.

     

 

 

 

 
"...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: 16/11/2012 at 16.54.41