E 0702          PULSE

The word " pulse " is of Germanic origin .

H 0743            ל ו פ

Concept of root : pods and beans

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ל ו פ

pol

bean, beans

Related English words

pulse , from Latin (uncertain)

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ל ו פ

pol

bean, beans

p (o) l

Middle Dutch

pole, puele

pole, peule

pod

p (o) l

English

pulse

pulse

p (u) l (s)

 

 

Proto-Semitic *POL --- *PŎL Proto-Germanic

 

 

First of all we must take into consideration that the types of pulse available before the discovery of the America’s , were considerably less than today. There were peas, lentils and broad beans, but not the today most common types of beans, such as French and white beans.

 

The Dutch word is related to the verb "puilen" that stands for "to swell", exactly what happens with pods and beans as they develop. In modern Dutch the word has become "peul", with that typical "EU" that Dutch shares with French, that has this in for example "feu = fire".

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. Probably also in Biblical times the word "pol" was used as well to indicate the pod of beans. In fact in modern language it has this meaning, identical to Dutch.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic used already the same root as Hebrew "*פ ו ל , P W L" . In Aramaic it was present"פ ו ל א , polà = bean". Arabic shows with the same meaning "fūl" and Ethiopian fāl". The initial P has as usual changed into PH = F.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew and Dutch in this entry once more are very near. We find that the number of similarities between these two languages is particularly high. Obviously Dutch has changed its roots considerably less through history than other Germanic tongues.

 

Note:
  • English "pulse" is seen as a derivation, via French "pouls", from Latin "puls, gen. pultis". This was a porridge, made of bean- and/or speltflour. In old times spelt was the staple grain for the Romans, before wheat took over. If English "pulse" comes from the name of a porridge, we must wonder how it acquired the meaning of leguminous plants and their seeds, such as peas and beans.

 

Note:
  • Latin. It is not at all certain that Latin "puls" is related to the other words of this entry. This kind of porridge was a very common food in older times, before bread became the principal one. Its etymology is uncertain. Some think it is related to a verb "pellere" that says amongst other things "to pound". But the odd thing is that flour is not really made by pounding, but rather by grinding. Pounding does never work brilliantly.

     

    And we can be certain that in old times people distinguished very carefully between various systems of preparation, possibly using different roots or derivations. We see as improbable a direct relation between Latin "puls" and Hebrew "pul" and have not inserted the word in the table.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. To the information in the above table may be added Middle Low German "pōl". The kind of growth seen in pulses was known to the Germanic speakers before the introduction of beans from the New World. Proto-Germanic probably knew the form "*P Ō L .

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. With as seen in the Note on Latin, the there mentioned word "pulse" unrelated to the words of this entry, we have no indication of possible cognates in other Indo-European groups. The chances are not better with the mentioned Dutch verb "puilen" and the comparison remains between Semitic and Germanic.

 

 

 

 
"...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: 21/11/2012 at 14.30.13