E 0857          (TO)  SPELL

The verb " to spell " is of Germanic origin .

H 0861                ר פ ס

Concept of root : telling

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ר פ ס

sippèr

to tell

Related English words

to spell

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ר פ ס

sippèr

to tell (tale)

s . p . r

Middle Dutch

spellen

spellen

to tell (tale)

s p . l

Old English

spellian

to announce

s p . l

Middle  English

spellen

to read out

s p . l

English

to spell

to spell

s p . l

 

 

Proto-Semitic *SAPAR, *SEPER --- *SPÈL- Proto-Germanic

 

 

In our chapter "Cultural-linguistic links" we compared a couple of developments of meanings regarding some non-related roots in Latin, Germanic and Hebrew. We also mentioned how the root "ס פ ר , sippèr, S P R", that we find in this entry, served the concepts of "to count", "to tell" and "tale. This "sippèr" is the intensive form of the verb. From its concept "to count" English still has the word "cipher". But this same root has as well the basic form "ס פ ר , saphar = he counted, numbered".

 

Now we see for this same root a rather exceptional kinship with a Germanic root that has a consonant " L " against the Hebrew consonant " R ". We know that R and L sometimes get mixed-up, either in the way foreigners pronounce them, or just within one language. Greek has several examples, such as "adelphos" that is the same as "aderphos". Therefore we cannot exclude that the same thing has happened sometimes between Hebrew and a European group of languages.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. An identical root "S P R" serves the concepts of "to cut, scissors, blade" with "barber, hairdresser" and another one still, that of "border, fence".

     

    The root "S P R" of this entry is also used to express as "sepher" the related meanings of "book, letter, document". Our root in this sense is seen in Aramaic and Syriac with the word "ס פ ר א, sifrà = book". Arabic "sifr= book" is considered a loan from Aramaic, but this may be wrong. Ugaritic uses the same root for the concept of "writing, letter" and an Akkadian cognate "shipru" has the same meaning . We do not consider the words in the other languages as loanwords from Akkadian. Anyhow this root was probably in use in Proto-Semitic:"*ס פ ר , S P R". We use in the comparison also two vowels " E ", though various other vowels were certainly used.

 

Note:
  • English "spell" has three different basic meanings, of which only one is related to this entry. But the meaning has shifted off very much in the course of the centuries, a process that had already started in Middle English .

 

Note:
  • Middle Dutch. The meaning "to tell (a tale)" is not the only one for this verb "spellen", that also says "to explain, name, foretell". But it is confirmed by Gothic "spellon = to tell (a tale)" and Old Saxon "spellunga = tale".

 

Note:
  • Dutch "spellen", like English, has lost the old meaning , but is still used in the meaning of "to foretell", though mostly people use here the composite verb "voorspellen".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. Modern German and modern North Germanic have abandoned the combination Root/Message found in this entry, with the exception of German "Beispiel", that has changed its meaning into "example". Gothic (East Germanic) had "*spill" and Old Norse "spjall", but the other older and newer languages show the vowel "E", also Old and Middle High German. Consequently Proto-Germanic presumably used "*SP E L-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. As very often it is Germanic that presents a similarity with Hebrew, without any indications from other branches of Indo-European.

 

 

 

 
"...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: 28/11/2012 at 11.08.48