E 0969          VIS MAJOR

The wordcombination " vis major " has been loaned from Latin

H 1055             ה פ י                    

Concept of root : beauty and strength

 Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ה פ י

yaphà ;

yaphé

to be beautiful;

beautiful

Related English words

none

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ה פ י

yaphà ;

-

yaphé

to be beautiful ;

beautiful

y . ph . <

*w . ph .

Greek

ιφι ;

-

-

ις < *Fις

-

iphi ;

-

-

is<* wis

-

beauty, gallantry, strength ;

strength

-

‘ (i) ph . <

*w (i) ph

-

‘ i

< *w (i)

Latin

vis

vis

strength

v (i)

 

 

Proto-Semitic *YAPHÉ < *WAPPI --- IPHI Greek < *WIP Indo-European

 

 

This Greek word, iphi , expresses two concepts of great merit of persons in the eyes of other people . For men this merit is strength, for women it is good looks, beauty. This corresponds with the Hebrew root of this entry as far as women are concerned. For men we have no indication that "strength" may have been expressed by this same root in Hebrew. But on the other hand there is one other "merit" in " iphi " that comes quite a bit nearer to good looks , that of gallantry .

 

In Hebrew the root "Y . PH . " is also used to say that one has a well-cared for aspect, which is again found in Greek " iphi ".

 

There is an indication that also in Hebrew this root has referred to "power, strength", besides to beauty.
That is in the expression " י פ ה כ ח , ippà koagh " that means " to grant full powers ", or plenipotentiarity.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. With this root one sees the particular fact that the so-called intensive form of the verb, that substitutes the basic vowels "A + A " in this case with " I + A ", becoming " ippà ", instead has a causative meaning : " to make beautiful " . There is not always iron discipline in the use of the various complex forms of verbs !

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . The earlier form of this Hebrew root, " W P (Y)", may be seen in Arabic "wafa(y)" and OS Arabic "wafi= ti be whole, safe", and with a possibly related meaning in Ethiopian "tawafaya = was whole". Oddly, in Syriac there are words that do not have the initial " Y " or " W ": " פ א י, pa'ì= to be beautiful" and " פ א י א, payà = beautiful". It is possible that since long ago two forms existed or that the initial W/Y exceptionally was lost in a later stage. Or again, that the initial " Y ", earlier " W ", was a prefix, that may have carried the meaning of " to be ( beautiful). The answer is not available. The picture is a bit complex but presumably Proto-Semitic had : "* ו פ י , W P Y".

 

Note:
  • Greek " iphi " is considered to be related to the brief word "ις , ìs " that stands for "strength" and expressions of this quality, such as vehemence and violence. It would be an antique dative case. If that is right, it just confirms that "ìs" in the first case has lost the original P or PH that was part of its root, as in Hebrew. Besides, Greek "ìs" is seen as coming from "*Fις , wis". The S is the suffix for the first case.

 

Note:
  • Greek and Hebrew, with Latin. Hebrew "Y . PH ." originally has been " *W . PH .". Greek "*wis, *iphi " is family of Latin "vis" that says "strength". Thus all three languages are again united. Remains that Latin does not have the PH- or F-sound that may have gone lost as in Greek "ìs".

 

 

 

 
"...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 15.16.43