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E 0888 SWARD
The word " sward " is of Germanic origin .
H 0875 ר י
ע
ש ; ר ע ש
Concept of root : hairyness
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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; ר ע ש
ר י ע ש
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se‛ar;
sa‛ir
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hair ;
hairy
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Related English words
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sward, Old English sweard
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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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ר ע ש ;
ר
‛ ע ש
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se‛ar;
sa‛ir
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hair ;
hairy
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s . (‛) . r
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Old Norse
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svorthr
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svortr
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(hairy) skin of the head
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s v . r (thr)
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Old English
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sweard
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skin ; rind of bacon
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s w . r (d)
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English
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sward
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sward
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s w . r (d)
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Middle High German
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swart(e)
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swart(e)
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hairy skin of the head
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s w . r (t)
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Middle Dutch
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swaert, sweert
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swaart,
sweert
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hairy skin, hairy head
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s w . r (t)
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Dutch
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zwoerd
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zwurd
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rind of bacon
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z w . r (d)
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Proto-Semitic *SA‛AR --- *SWĀRD- Indo-European
The letter
"ע , Ayin ", gives the European speaker problems. Its guttural sound, to the European ear really seems more like an interruption of the flow of sound . In Israel the vast majority of speakers simply do not pronounce the Ayin. They were either born in Europe or their parents or grandparents were, and those did not use that sound either in their daily speech. Consequently, where we find an "Ayin" in a Hebrew root that is similar to an Indo-European one, we will find something else . This can be an H, G or R, anything guttural, even NG. But in roots that have already another guttural, we may even find a W with a vowel.
This seems to be what happened in the roots of this entry. In English and its sisters, the adding of a dental is very common. It can just be a way of having a pleasant pronunciation, that is still found in some modern Dutch dialects. But it can very well be a system of diversifying , for example to shift , as might be the case here, from "hair" to "haired". Both T and D can be used to this end.
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. . Some Semitic languages , like Arabic in "sha‛ira = hairy" and also Ugaritic have "SH" as first consonant, but seen the fact that Hebrew, like Aramaic , has an "S" " the Proto-Semitic root may rather be seen as " *ש ע ר , S Ayin R", the same we have in Hebrew .
Note:
- English and Dutch. The use of this root, that first meant, and in Middle Dutch still did mean the hairy skin of the head, has shifted to that of the hairy skin of swines. In Old English "sweard" indicates both human skin and very specifically rind of bacon. In Middle Dutch all versions, such as the abovementioned "swaert" and "sweert", but also "swarde" and "swerde", mean any kind of skin with hairgrowth, and very specifically the skin of the human head with its hairgrowth. This is very near Hebrew.
A second meaning that has remained in modern English "sward" or "swarth" is that of the crust of the earth grown with grass. This was as well present in Middle Dutch. Presumably this is the same root.
Note:
- Old Norse, besides adding a dental, very frequently still adds also a final R. This is also the case with "svorthr".
Note:
- Proto-Germanic. . The basic initial consonants are "SW-", "SV-" . In Dutch "SW-" has become "ZW-" in a typical local development and in modern German it changed into "SCH-", also a characteristic step.
Regarding the used vowels, Old Norse shows besides "svordr" also "svardar" with in the dative "sverdi" and plural "sverdir" a vowel "E" and then in the accusative "svordu" again an O-sound. In one language, Dutch, one sees a long "O" or "U" in zwoord, zwoerd" besides dialectal "zwaert" and "zweerd". Nearly all languages have a vowel "A", that can be longer (also spelled "ae") or shorter, with Old English having "sweard".
The consonant after the vowel is mostly "D", but in German and its predecessor this became as so often a "T". Danish then abolished the final "D" in "svær = sward". The difference in pronunciation between "SW" and "SV" is about imperceptible and the "ZW" of Dutch is a specific later development. The exception is again modern German that changed to an "SH-sound" in "Schwarte".
Presumably Proto-Germanic had "*SW Ā RD-", with other vowels (E, O) used in some cases.
Note:
- Indo-European. Indications towards cognates in other branches of Indo-European regretfully lack and the comparison stays between Semitic and Germanic.
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 28/11/2012 at 16.58.41 |
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