GD 1114          VAAG

H 1049            ל כ י                     

Concept of root : capability

 Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ל כ י

yakhol

to be able, strong

Related English words

vigor , from Latin

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ל כ י

yakhol

to be able, strong

y . kh . l <

*w . kh . l

Latin

vigere

vigére

to be strong, able

v . g .

Dutch

vaag

vāgh

strength

v . g

 

 

Proto-Semitic *YAKHOL < *WAKHOL --- *VĪG-ĒRE Latin, *VAAG Dutch

 

 

He or She ( obligatory today mentioning both ) who is strong, stronger and is capable and able, can do and succeeds in doing . That is the subject of this root. There is hardly any other root in Hebrew that begins with the same two consonants, so that internal comparisons can not be made. Nor can an original two-consonant group be defined. Anyhow the L is not present in the related Indo European roots that consist of two consonants only. That means that in any case, if there is a common origin, that final L is a later development in Hebrew.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. This verb is one of the few that practice a vowel O instead of A in the standard form. As is known, the standard form is the third person male in the past tense, chosen traditionally because it is the most practical for deducting the other forms. In Latin and Greek this is the first person of the present tense, though in our list for Latin in the comparison with Hebrew the infinitive mostly has been preferred .

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . This Hebrew root is seen as well in Aramaic, and its older form "W K L " in Ethiopian. This older root may have been used in Proto-Semitic :"* ו כ ל , W K L". The use of vowels as seen in Hebrew "yakhol" is very old and may have been present in Proto-Semitic. We use them in the comparison.

     

 

Note:
  • Dutch. This word, "vaag", in this meaning ( unlike the adjective "vaag = vague" ) is rarely used in modern language. We have no information about Germanic cognates and consequently no hypothesis for Proto-Germanic .

 

Note:
  • Latin. From Latin "vigēre = to be strong, in full strength ", comes the English word "vigour". It is seen as related to another verb, "vēgēre = to make move, animate; to be active". This "vigēre" is an important word and becomes so even more in its descendants in modern languages, but oddly there is little indication about its etymology.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. With the etymology of "vigēre" unknown, it is difficult to establish a common Indo-European ancester with Dutch "vaag". We have to limit the comparison to the single words.

 

 

 

 
"...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: 05/01/2013 at 15.04.32