E 0418          HAND

The word " hand " is of Germanic origin .

H 1038           ד י                      

Concept of root : hand

 Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

 ד י

yad

hand

Related English words

hand

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

 ד י

yad

hand

y . d <

w . d

English

hand

hand

h . nd <

*w . d

Old English

hand, hond ;

fatian

hand ;

to take

h . nd <

*w . d ;

f . t

Dutch

hand ;

want ;

vat ;

vatten

hand ;

want ;

 vat ; vatten

hand ;

glove ;

grip ;

to grip

h . nd <

w . d ;

w . nt;

v . t

Old Norse

vottr

vottr

glove

v . t(r)

Norwegian

vott

vott

glove

v . t

 

 

Proto-Semitic *YAD < *WAD < *HAD--- *HAD > *HAND- Proto-Germanic

 

 

The everyday English word "hand" is one of those without any etymological explanation. It was "hand" or "hond" in Old English and is present in all sister-languages. Efforts to explain "hand" there are.

 

For example the hypothesis that "hand" is related to "hunt". When the hunt is succesfull the prey is taken. People did this with their hands, and so they began to use the word "hunt" for "hand" ! Keeping one’s feet on the ground it is obvious that the "hand" was one of the first objects man needed to coin a word for, with or without hunting, which was only one of the endless things that were done with the hands, and less typically at that.

 

Another one, not too different, says that the Gothic verb "hindan" meant " to seize, grip", so that "hand", in Gothic " handus ", was "the gripper". Things would be rather the other way about , "hindan ( with suffix –an for the infinitive )" is done with the "handus ( suffix –us for the noun )". The basic part or root of both is " H . N D". English has verbs "to handle" and "to hand" that describe actions of the "hand".

 

With our hypothesis of similarity between "hand" and "yad" in Hebrew we are not less audacious. But with the other part of this entry, the similarity between "vatten" and "yad" we are on solid ground.

 

Note:
  • English and Hebrew. English "hand", in our hypothesis, is a nasalized version of "*had" and the H has developed out of a W : "*had" < "wad". In Hebrew the ancient word "*wad" has become "yad" following a general rule.

     

    The tendency from W to H, is halfway done in many English words , when the W became aspired, as in "who", "when", "where" etcetera. In "hand", still in our hypothesis, this was completed very long ago.

 

Note:
  • Gloves. The word for "hand" is sometimes used to indicate an object strictly related to the human hand. For example a Dutch "washandje" is a "washing-glove". And in Nordic a modern glove is a "handske", which is not a proper translation of German "Handschuh" that would have been "handsko".

     

    The same is the case with a very old word for " glove ", in German "Wante, Want" and in Dutch "want" . In Norwegian there is the still un-nasalized "vott" against Swedish "vant" or "vante". Old Norwegian had the habit of adding an final R to many nouns, "vottr" , but this R later disappeared again.

     

    The English monk "Beda" around 700 e.v. has mentioned the word "wantos", obviously latinised in declination, as used by the Gauls, but the origin of that word was in all probability Frankish or Saxon.

 

Note:
  • German " Hand" is like English and all the others, but the verb "fassen" ( Old High German "fazzon" ) with ZZ --> SS instead of D is an alteration. This kind of change is not too unlike the actual pronunciation of English " the " or of the letter D in modern Greek . This confirms the origin in D.

 

Note:
  • Germanic. One sees in Old English "hond" and in Norwegian "vott" the use of a vowel O instead of A. This can have various explanations, but we know that the original W (Hebrew waw) easily changed into "WO" or "O".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. From the Germanic words in the above Table it is clear that there must have been in Proto-Germanic one basic form . This old form "*H Ă D-"" had two developments. It was nasalized into "*H Ă ND-", and here sometimes used a vowel " O ". On the other side it changed its initial " H " into " W ", was still nasalized but not consequently in all words : "*W Ă NT-" and "*V Ă T- ", also here sometimes using a a vowel " O "

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic and Proto-Germanic.

     

    Semitic languages used in our view more than one root, but with a common origin that was the same as that of several Germanic languages. Of these we indicate first the following, that usually is not considered as such: " * ח ד, GH . D " developed out of an earlier " * ה ד , H . D". This is quite different from the usual opinion, in which Proto-Semitic had only the same root still used in Hebrew. And also a second root, " "*Aleph . D" has been hypothesized. This is based on the existence of this root in the Syrian Aramaic 'īdā and Mandaic Aramaic 'āda as well as in Tigrai 'id. Near this is also Akkadian idu as well as Soqotri and Jibbali wih just ed.

     

    Our hypothesis " * GH . D " < " * H : D", very near Indo European, is supported by the fact that Mehri and Harsusi show in fact these two consonants, with as the word for "hand, arm ( also forepaw) " : "ghayd". It is quite possible that the development into " * W (a) D" and then "Y (a) D" has begun very early . The versions with initial Aleph may have developed directly on the basis of the original "H" . The conclusion , hypothetically, is an original root, for both Proto-Semitic and Proto-Indo European," * H . D".

     

    The developments we dare hypothesize were:

     

    " *H . D" into " GH . D" and "GH Y D" , in some Semitic tongues .(stronger gutturalization)

     

    " *H . D" into "H . N D" in some Germanic languages ( nasalization)

     

    " *H . D" into "W . D " in both groups, Semitic and Proto-Germanic

     

    " *W . D" into "Y . D" in Semitic languages

     

    "* W . D" into "W . ND" , "W . NT" and "W (O) T" in Germanic languages

     

    " * H . D" into "Aleph (A) . D" in some Semitic languages .

     

     

    In this development diversifications were made between nouns ( arms ) and verbs ( actions of the hand ). As an example Germanic nouns stayed at the original initial H, verbs stuck with the initial "V" or "W".

     

    The actual Hebrew root is also found in Aramaic , Syriac, Ugaritic and Arabic, all having "yad", like Hebrew. Ethiopian then shows "'ed, with an initial Aleph . It is probable that this root had already developed in Proto-Semitic : "* י ד, Y D".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European The comparison in this text in fact is based on Germanic. The words for "hand" in Latin (manus), Greek (kheir) and Slavic (ruka ec.) have a fully different origin.

 

 

 

 
"...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: 04/01/2013 at 17.29.00