E 0828          SIR,  SIRE

The words " sir " and " sire " are of Germanic origin .

H 0880              ר ר ש , ר ש

Concept of root : domination

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

;ר ש

-

ר ר ש

sar ;

-

sarar

dominating person, chief, ruler, nobleman;

to dominate

Related English words

sir , sire

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ר ש ;

-

-

-

ר ר ש

sar ;

-

-

-

sarar

dominating person, chief, ruler, nobleman ;

to dominate

s . r

English

sir, sire ;

shire

-

sir, sire ;

district of rule

s . r ;

sh . r

-

Old English

scir

authority, supremacy,

ruling district

sc . r

Old Norse

siri, sira ;

skiri

siri, sira;

skiri

lord, sir ;

shire

s . r ;

sk . r

 

 

Proto-Semitic *SAR --- *SĬR- Proto-Germanic < *SĂR, *SĪR Indo-European

 

 

The Hebrew word "sar" stands for a number of qualifications of high-placed personalities, such as "head, commander, nobleman, distinguished official, superior ", even above human level. Both the English words originally carry the same sense, indicating a superior person, of high rank, such as a nobleman or even a king.

 

Note:
  • English. It has been tried to see "sir" and "sire" as derivations from Latin "senior = the older one", passing via an abbreviated form "*seior". This form is totally hypothetical though .

     

    This tendency to relate Germanic words to Latin is well known . It is a tendency that forgets the possibilities of common origin. Here we have a rather improbable supposition. It occurs that older people rule, are considered noble figures and consultants, but the basic meaning "old" is rather too far different from that of "to dominate".

 

Note:
  • Old English " scir " , also written as " scyr " , does not so much indicate a physical person as the office, appointment, authority . And as well the district , province or " shire " these are related to .

 

Note:
  • Old Norse " sira " is hard to explain as coming from Old French , though this is done . It is perhaps more probable that French has its word not from Latin " senior " but from a Germanic origin .

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. Looking at the previous notes, the possibility of a Germanic origin of "sir" cannot be excluded. This would then be for Proto-Germanic simply "*S Ī R-". The vowel probably was long, as found in the word "Sire" with which kings were addressed. As already remarked, this word sometimes is wrongly considered an abbreviation of Latin "senior"!

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This same root is used in Phoenician with the same meaning. Aramaic and Syriac have " ש ר א , serą = master". A cognate is seen in Akkadian "sharru = king". As to Proto-Semitic for a root bearing the meaning of prince, superior person, commander , there are two suppositions : " * S R W " and "* S R N ".

     

    " S R W " is based on the presence of the W in some Southern Semitic languages. among them Arabic. But Arabic "sarīr" also uses a root SRR with doubled "R" , just like Hebrew . So one might consider the W in Arabic "sarw- = chief, prince" as a later extension of original "S R", comparable with Akkadian.

     

    " S R N " seems to be based on the Hebrew word " ס ר נ י ם , seranim ", that stands for " princes " or " commanders ". But this " seranim " is a probable plural of " seren ", a noun in which the final N is an old suffix , used to shape that noun on the basis of the root " S R " . This noun is spelled with Samekh instead of Shin : " ס ר ן, seren".

     

    The probable Proto-Semitic root is then just "*ש ר , S.R " , identical to the Hebrew one .

 

Note:
  • Indo-European may have used "sar" or "sir" and we rather mention both in the comparison.

     

    A word "sar" with the meaning of "head, chief" is found in Urdu and Persian. And in English there is the related "sirdar" = military chief" as used in India and Egypt. This is composed of two elements, the second meaning "possessor".

     

    In Sanscrit "siras (also sira)" means "head, chief, first". With the vowel " A " there is the unit "SÂS" that expresses the concept of "command, rule".

 

 

 

 
"...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 18.31.13