E 0247          DEEP

The word " deep " is of Germanic origin .

H 0987            ל ב ט , ע ב ט                       

Concept of root : immersion

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

; ע ב ט

ל ב ט

thav‛à ;

thaval

to immerse (oneself);

to immerse

Related English words

deep, Old English dēop, dīepan

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ע ב ט ;

-

ל ב ט

-

thav‛à ;

-

thaval

-

to immerse (oneself);

to immerse

-

th . b . (‛) ;

-

th . b . l

-

Old English

dīepan;

dyp(p)an

-

to immerse;

to dip, immerse

d . p

English

deep; to dip

deep; to dip

d . p

Gothic

daupjan

daupyan

to immerse, baptize

d . p y

German

taufen

taufen

to immerse, baptize

t . f

Dutch

dopen ;

-

indopen;

dompelen

dopen ;

-

indopen ;

dompelen

to baptize, immerse;

to immerse;

to immerse

d . p ;

-

d . mp

-

 

 

Proto-Semitic *THAB‛À --- *DŌP- Proto-Germanic

 

 

From the two Hebrew roots that differ only in the third consonant and are divided simply between the transitive and intransitive meanings around actions of immersion, it is clear that the basic concept of this going or pushing under water was already contained in the two consonants "TH B". This is similar to basic combinations we find in the Germanic words with identical message, like "T F" or "D P".

 

In the comparison we see that the Gothic word "daupjan" is the nearest to Hebrew, as it in fact uses an Y, though this is not necessarily a third consonant. One often sees a Germanic Y correspond with a Hebrew Ayin. Of course this has nothing to do with the fact that both are the same character : ע and Y . This similarity has quite a different cause. When the Greeks through their contacts with the Phoenicians all over the Mediterranean Sea, learned of the Hebrew alphabet and loaned it, they did not know vowel-stops like the Aleph and Ayin. But they needed some signs, letters, for sounds the Semites did not have or did not express in writing, such as especially the vowels. The Greeks chose to use the Aleph for the vowel A and the Ayin for the vowel U.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew in modern language uses the verb " thav‛à " for "to drown, sink to the bottom", but "thaval" has stuck to the subject of immersion.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic The first root, TH B Ayin, is seen in Aramaic, and Syriac "ט ב ע , thew'à = he sank, was drowned". Ethiopian "thamava = he immersed" and Akkadian "thebu = to sink in". This root probably was used in Proto-Semitic "*ט ב ע , TH B Ayin".

     

    The second consonant " B " certainly knew its original pronunciation. It is unclear of the variation " V " has begun to appear in Proto-Semitic.

     

    The other root of this entry, TH B L, is present in Aramaic "ט ב ל , theval" and the basis for a hypothesis is not wide, but it may have existed already in Proto-Semitic "*ט ב ל , TH B L".

     

    Anyhow the pronunciation of the middle consonant has been the original " B ".

 

Note:
  • English like its sisters, has an adjective "deep" with the same root. In German this is "tief", in Swedish "djup" and in Dutch "diep". English no more uses this root for a verb but has formed another one with different meaning : "to deepen".

 

Note:
  • Germanic. In earlier Christian periods, baptizing took place by full immersion, following the Jewish example, and as some sects still practice. This important practical use has led to a near-monopolizing of the Gothic verb "daupjan" for the specific meaning of baptizing. The Goths were very early among the Germanic people in adopting the Christian belief, be it in a clearly different form than Catholicism. Perhaps as a consequence of this a nasalized form has developed, like Dutch "dompelen", that has no relation with English "to dump".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic . Besides the words mentioned above, there are Old Saxon "dopian", Old High German with a typically German development "toufen", Old Frisian "depa" and Old Norse "deypa". The first consonant is "D", the second "P". In order to better define the vowel in between, we look at nasalized Dutch dialectal "dompen" that has given the iterative "dompelen = to dip, immerse". The probable Proto-Germanic form was "*D Ō P-". The " Y " in Old Norse is a common development out of the vowel model "O/U" and the "E" was called to help. Gothic , choosing "U", diphthongued this with the adding of "A", also a very common development. Old Frisian does not like to keep its "O"' too much, something it has in common with English.

 

Note:
  • Italian has loaned this root, like hundreds of other Germanic ones, and says " tuffare " , using this verb as well for " to dive ".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. There are a few possible cognates in Celtic. Cymric has "dwfn = deep" and Old Irish, abolishing the " P ", "domain = deep". It has been proposed to see words for "bottom" and "hollow" as cognates, but these concepts are too different from "immersion" and also from "deep". Something hollow may be deep or not. And a bottom may be just below a surface, besides not needing water for its definition. Our comparison for now has to stay between Semitic and Germanic.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 07/02/2013 at 14.42.27