GR 1238          RAIZO

H 0823             א פ ר

Concept of root :  healing from sickness

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

א פ ר

raph’à

to heal (of sickness)

Related English words

none

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

    א פ ר

raph’à

to heal (of sickness)

r . ph . <

*r . w

Greek

ραίζω

raìzo

to get bet-ter (from sickness)

r . y z <

*r . w z <

*r . w

 

 

Proto-Semitic *RAPH'À --- *RAIZ-O Greek

Proto-Semitic *RAPH'À < ROPH < ROW --- *RAIZ-O < RAWZ-O < RAW Greek

 

 

A narrow interface, in the need of some hypothesis. And yet the words are too similar to be just abandoned. We let ourselves go in an audacious conjecture .

 

Note:
  • Greek "raìzo" , with a root "R Y Z " , in our supposition has come from another , older root "* R W Z". The Z indicates a "make be, become, do". Thus "*R W Z" originated from "*R W". Quite often a W has become an I or Y, in both Greek and Hebrew. This "*R W" we compare with Hebrew.

     

    We must note that Greek scholars also suppose a disappeared W, but in front of the R .

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. There is no doubt about the actual root in modern and Biblical Hebrew, that is also seen in the word for "He who heals = medical doctor" : ר ו פ א , roph’é". We recall that the W can become a vowel, O or U. Thus we have the root "R . PH . א". Oddly, a root "ר פ ה, R P H (accentuated vowel)" has the contrasting meaning of "to be weak, feeble, to decline", besides being used as a double of the root with final Aleph of this entry, to express "to heal, cure".

     

    We know that the letter W is an adventurous girl, that may become a vowel or a combination of a vowel and consonant, be it still in line with her character. At the end of a word the sound may become PH. If in becoming PH, the O is not abandoned, the root that contains the W, let us say "R W", can become "R (O) PH" and be written "R W P". In our case the original W at the end of the word, sounding like "F" , would have become the same as a final or central P .

     

    Once the choice of alphabetic writing has fallen on P instead of W , further developments may well be influenced in that sense . The Aleph as a third consonant, is not always used and thus may have been a secondary development , especially if we take into account that an identical root without Aleph is also used to express the concept of " getting weaker " , a kind of opposite to " healing ". In the past opposite concepts were often served by one and the same root . In this case the basic expression of the root would have been " Change in health or strength " .

     

    This is the hypothesis that has come to our mind upon noting the similarity in meaning and the nearness in sound between the two words of this entry.

 

Note:
  • Raphael, the name of the Archangel , says " God has healed " .

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This root is found in Phoenician and Syriac "ר פ א , = to heal" . It may well have been used as such in Proto-Semitic "*ר פ א, R P Aleph". But in Arabic "rafa'a" as well as in OS Arabic and Ethiopian "raf'a" the root " R P Aleph" expressed " to mend, repair, stitch together".

 

Note:
  • Therapy. The question has been put if the word " therapy " is related to the roots of this issue but this does not seem the case . " Therapy " is related to Greek "θεραπων , therapon" that says " servant, assistant " and "θεραπευω , therapeuo" = " to serve , look after " .

     

    These words come from a shorter root , "*TH . R" , usually indicated as "θερα- , thera- " . Thus the third consonant , P , is a later development . There exist various theories, one also looking at the Hittite language .

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 31/12/2012 at 16.16.05