E 0063          (A)WAKE , WAIT , VIGIL

The words " awake " and " to wait " are of Germanic origin .

The word " vigil is, via Old French, of Latin origin .

H 1047           ל ח י                      

Concept of root : awake,  wait and hope

 Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ל ח י

yighèl

to wait, expect, hope

Related English words

(a)wake , wait , vigil

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ל ח י

yighèl

to wait, expect, hope

y . gh . l <

*w . gh . l

Latin

vigil;

vigil;

vigilia

vigilia

vigil ;

vigil ;

vigilia;

vigilia

awake;

guard;

vigil;

vigilance

v . g . l

English

to wait ; awake ;

vigil

to wait ;

awake ;

vigil

w (y) t ;

w . k ;

v . g . l

Dutch

waken;

-

wachten;

verwachten;

bewaken

waken;

-

wakhten;

verwakhten;

bewaken

to be awake;

to wait;

to expect;

to guard

w . k ;

-

w . kh (t);

w . kh (t);

w . k

 

 

Proto-Semitic *YAGHAL < *WAGHAL < *WAGH --- *WĀK- Proto-Germanic < *WĀG- Indo-European

 

 

Waiting, expecting and hoping form a chain of concepts . Easily the concepts of observing and guarding are inserted in the development of the use of the root in question. There we see the connection between the Latin and Hebrew roots. More sideways seems at first the link with the Germanic words, that do not have the third consonant L seen in Latin and Hebrew. A question is if the Latin final L in vigil is part of the root. This entry is related to E 0063 (Hebrew 1059).

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. The two-consonant combination " Y . GH ", earlier " "*W . GH" is used in three-consonant roots with a series of meanings : single, expectation, hope, together, relation, reference, succession . Therefore the third consonant L can be seen as diversifiying and specifying on the basis of that old " *W : GH" that we find especially in that old idea of "waiting and expecting" .

     

    But if we base ourselves on the message of "to wait" only, without the concepts of hope, expectation, also a quite different reasoning can be followed. Hebrew uses a combination "GH Y L" for a number of concepts, such as "to whirl", "to be strong, succesful", "to recruit, enlist", "writhing, anguish, pain", "wealth", "army, power, soldier". And also "to wait", with the forms "ghol, gholel", hitgholel", all with that same order of message. Some see this related to the verb "yighel of this entry. If this would be right, the similarirty between Hebrew "YIGHEL", Latin "VIGIL" and Germanic "WAKW" would be fortuitous.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . We have no specific information from other Semitic languages that would further contribute to the hypothesis for a Proto-Semitic root "* ו ח ל , W GH L", that anyhow may be considered a probable natural predecessor of the Hebrew root " י ח ל , Y GH L ".

     

 

Note:
  • Latin. There seems to be agreement that Latin "vigil" comes from a hypothetical "*vegilis". Thus it would have been derived from the verb "vēgēre = to make move, animate, to be active", from which English vegetal and vegetate, or more clearly Italian "vegeto = thriving". Related with this verb "vēgēre" is certainly "vīgēre = to be strong , in full strength", that has given English "vigorous".

     

    The reasoning does not convince, because the concepts are too distant. Strength and thriving vigor are not by far the same thing as being alert , waiting and expecting. But also the word "vigil" itself , if derived from "vēgēre", having acquired the L as an adjective , would have had the suffix " –ilis", which it does not have. It has only " –il " as its last part. So "vigil" ends with the L, and on its root " V : G : L " are based the words "vigilare = to be awake, wakeful, alert, caring" and "vigilia = awakeness, guard".

 

Note:
  • Latin, Germanic and Hebrew. The distance between Latin "awake, observe, on guard" and Hebrew " wait, expect, hope " is bridged by Germanic " awake, wait, expect, guard " as in the Dutch words of our table. In other languages than Dutch the root and its developments have undergone more changes in sound and spelling . Examples are English "wait" and German "wart".

 

Note:
  • Indo European and Hebrew. The semantic link between "to wait" and " to hope" is also found in Neo-Latin languages. In Spanish the verb "esperar" carries both messages, and has this double meaning from its predecessor in Latin itself : "sperare". This Latin verb has its own direct relationship with Hebrew, as seen in entry E 0303 (Hebrew 0876) . And in Nordic the root "V . N T", as in Danish "vente", means also "to wait, expect, hope", with the same range of messages seen in Hebrew.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic . First it must be noted that the groups of words to which belong English "wait" and "wake" are not identical. In fact the root of "to wait" is based on that of "wake", and has received a "T" in addition. This suffix "T" has an intensifying and also diversifying function. It has the effect of shortening the preceding vowel "A". Secondly, a third consonant "L" is not present in these Germanic roots, as in Latin and Hebrew.

     

    "WAKE. There are Old Saxon and Old Dutch "wacon", Old High German "wahhen", Old Frisian "wakia", Old English "wac(i)an"; Old Norse "vaka" and Gothic "wakan". Proto-Germanic probably had "W Ā K-".

     

    WAIT. Older languages give Gothic "wahtwo", Old Saxon and Old High German "wahta", Old Dutch "wachte", Old Norse "vakta". Prot-Germanic probably had "W Ă KT-".

 

Note:
  • Indo European . There exist hypotheses of "*WEG-" and "*WOG-", that look like a middle way between Germanic and Latin. The idea "*WEG-" rests also on Latin "vegeo, vegēre = to make move", which has little to do with the concept of "vigil". From other branches of Indo-European there seems to be no contribution.

     

    A proposed cognate of Germanic "wake" and Latin "vigil" is Old Indian "vāja- = force, speed". But the distance in meaning is very great. A hypothesis with vowel " A " seems justified "*W Ā G" . In our view the most probable vowel use is the one seen in both Semitic and Germanic, an " A " and we use that in the comparison. Yet the similarity between Hebrew "YIGHEL" and Latin "VIGIL" makes an alternative possible, for example "*WĪGĔL". Doubts remain well alive.

 

 

 

 
"...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: 16/12/2012 at 11.28.22