RU 1273          TSHWYÈT

H 1008              ע ב צ                   

Concept of root : colour

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ע ב צ

tsew‛à;

tsaw‛à

colour ;

to colour

Related English words

none

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ע ב צ

tsew‛à; tsaw‛à

colour ;

to colour

ts . w (‛) .

 Russian

цвет ;

-

цвета ;

цветить

tswyet ;

-

tswyeta ;

tswyetitj

colour , flower ; colour;

to colour

ts w . t

 

 

Proto-Semitic *TSEB/W‛À --- *TSWYÈ-T Russian

 

 

When we compare Hebrew with Indo-European languages, it often happens that we find a similarity with only one or two of the branches, without finding cognates in other groups. The most common is that one sees similarities with Germanic only, but also Greek has quite a few on its own. In the case of this entry we have Russian.

 

Russian does not know the sound of the Hebrew "Ayin" , that is in fact a guttural interruption of the flow of sound. But Russian can use other consonants for emphasizing as the Ayin does, for example the T it has in the two words of this entry.

 

Besides this the Russian and Hebrew words share sound and meaning.

 

Note:
  • Russian. The basic word of this same root, "цвет , tswjet" , also stands for "flower", as does the extended word "цветок , tswjetok". Thus , among the various ways of defining a word for "flower" , the Russians have chosen the very pleasant "the coloured one". Before people learned to fabricate colours and paints, flowers in nature were the most typically coloured things.

     

    In West Slavic we see an initial " KW " instead of the Russian "TSW ". Polish "kwiat = flower" , like Czech "kvèt". This may be an indication towards that so important shift between the sounds " K" and "TS, TSJ", seen in and between many languages. And especially between western and eastern branches of Indo-European tongues.

     

    For "colour" we see in Polish "barwa" and in Czech "barva", in what looks like a metathesis of German "Farbe".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . This root is present in Aramaic and Syriac " צ ב ע , tsew‛à = he dyed, dipped"". It has cognates in Ethiopian "tsabagha", Arabic "tsabagha" and Akkadian " tsibu" all with the same meaning. It was probably used in Proto-Semitic : "* צ ב ע , TS B Ayin". In our comparison the Hebrew pronunciation is maintained. It may have been present in the old language as such.

     

    The pronunciation of the consonant " B " certainly was the original one as seen in various languages, before it changed into " V " or " W " as it did in Russian. It is unclear if and to what extent this dvelopement may have begun in Proto-Semitic already.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. There exists a hypothesis that the origin of the Russian words of this entry would lie in a Indo-European "*kuietio" for "to shine". But the essence of colour and flowers is not that of "to shine", though some flowers in the light of the evening may seem to reflect shining. The essential reality is "colour".

     

    Indications for cognates in other groups of Indo-European seem not to be available. The comparison remains between Semitic and Russian.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 07/02/2013 at 15.11.27