E 0751         SÆLIG

The Old English word " sælig " is of Germanic origin .

H 0912            ם ו ל ש 

Concept of root : situations of peace

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ם; ו ל ש

-

ו ל ש

-

shalom;

-

shalev

-

peace, well-being, health, being unharmed; tranquil, carefree, restful at ease

Related English words

Old English sælig

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ם; ו ל ש

-

-

-

ו ל ש

-

-

-

shalom;

-

-

-

shalev

-

-

-

peace, well-being, health, being unharmed ;

tranquil, carefree, restful, at ease

sh . l . m ;

-

-

-

sh . l . v

-

-

-

Latin

salvus

salvus

be healthy, unharmed, in well-being

s . l v

Old English

sælig

happy, healthy, prosperous

s . l

Middle Dutch

salich

salikh

healthy, happy, prosperous

s . l

 

 

Proto-Semitic *SHALAM + *SHALEV < *SHALÀ --- *SAL-V- Indo-European

 

 

The main and most generally known message of the noun "shalom" in Hebrew is "peace". And in modern language that is what the word means, period. But in Biblical times it stood also for a number of things that also in other languages are served with roots that have "S + L", like the one seen in entry E 0845 (Hebrew 0911) , but do not have M as a third consonant .

 

This entry presents besides "SH L M " another narrowly related three consonant root, "SH L W". Both have in common a predecessor "SH . L + accentuated vowel".

 

Interesting is that German does not, but Latin does share the third consonant of that second Hebrew three consonant root, "SH L W/V" : "shalev". And as well that the Germanic words have two consonants only, just like the predecessors with two consonants in Semitic.

 

Note:
  • Latin and Hebrew . Latin shows us here a root "S.L.V" . Hebrew, besides the root "SH.L.M" of this entry, presents as well a similar root "SH . L . W" that gives the verb "shalav" in which the third consonant is pronounced "V" as in Latin. And the meaning is near : "to live carefree, in quiet, tranquillity".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. If we compare the Hebrew root with other Semitic languages, we see that most also have "SH L M", but that Arabic has " S L M". This has left scholars uncertain and there are two hypothetical roots for Proto-Semitic, "*SH L M" and "*S L M". We might note that "* S L M " may have been present in Proto-Semitic, as also the Indo European words of this entry show us "S L M ". But on thwe other hand we see a frequent shifting between the two forms "SH" and "S" as well as sometimes "TS", also in the pronunciation of modern European languages. So we stick to the majority for a Proto-Semitic "*ש ל ם , SH L M". The specific messages of "unharmed" and "health" are also found elsewhere, besides in Hebrew.

     

    Both three consonant roots of this entry have as predecessor a two consonant "*ש ל ה , SH L + accentuated vowel".

 

Note:
  • Germanic. The concept of the root of the words of this entry has been influenced very much by the Christian Church, identifying it with Latin "beatus". So it now , today , stands for "blessed". But more recently, like words as "heavenly" and even "divine" it is again used for many more trivial things.

     

    A root S.L.M. with meanings related to moments of quiet and peace are found in English "to slumber", German "schlummern" and Dutch "sluimeren". These verbs are intensive forms. In Old English one sees "sluma = slumber", Middle Low German has the verb "slommen" > slomern " and Middle Dutch "slûmen > slûmeren". These words have a root "S L M" that may be related to the Hebrew one in "shalom".

 

Note:
  • English. Old English and Old Norse "sæld", like Middle Dutch "saelde" , stand for "happiness" and have for that reason not been inserted in the above table.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. In older and newer Germanic languages we see regarding this entry an initial "S" that is pronounced "Z" in German and in Dutch also spelled with "Z". The second consonant is "L". The vowel in between is mostly an "A", that in the Northern countries is spelled "Ä" and pronounced "E". Old English has "sæl". Sometimes there is a vowel "E", as in modern German and as a second choice in Middle Dutch and Middle High German. Consequently the probably Proto-Germanic form was "*S A L-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. The similarity between Latin and Proto-Germanic is great. The question remains if the third consonant "V", seen in Latin and in one of the two Hebrew roots, was present in Indo-European. As in Hebrew, two versions may have been in use in Indo-European.

     

    The sister languages of Latin clearly have that third consonant. In Umbrian "saluvom, salvom we see a version in which the "waw" or "W" is split in "vowel + consonant", which makes it doubly present. Oskian "salavs" confirms the third consonant " V ".

     

    Old Indian has with " R "instead of " L ", as often seen : "sarvah = uninjured, unharmed, whole". It confirms the " V ".

     

    Avestan shows the word part "haurva-" with the same messages, confirming the " V ".

     

    Greek holos = unharmed, whole, sane, safe", but as well "whole, all" and we have here two independent developments. The confirmation of the consonant "W" is seen in the hypothesis of Greek scholars of a predecessor "*solwos".

     

     

    Indo-European, also with the absence of the third consonant in Germanic tongues, has a hypothesis of "S A L V-".

 

 

 

 
"...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: Thursday 7 February 2013 at 16.12.34