T

 

 

 

E 0586          MILD, MOLLIFY

The word "mild" is of Germanic origin, but "mollify"

comes from Old French and is of Latin origin

H 0034          א מ ל

Concept of root: weakness

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

א מ ל ;

א מ ל

amal ;

umal

to be weak, pine ;

to be weak, languish

Related English words

mild; to mollify

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

א מ ל

-

א מ ל

-

ל ל מ א;

ל ל מ א

amal

-

umal

-

umlal ;
amélal

be weak, pine;

be weak, languish;

weak;

weak,miser

. m . l

Greek

α μ α λ ο ς

amalos ;

weak, soft ;

. m . l

Latin

mollis ;

mollificare

mollis ;

mollificare

weak, soft ;

to soften

m . l

Middle Dutch

mol, milde;

milte

-

mol, milde;

milte

weak, soft ;

milt, spleen, softness

m . l ;

m . l t

English

mild;

milt ;

mollify

mild ;

milt ;

mollify

m . l d ;

m . l t

 

 

Proto-Semitic *MAL- --- *MOL- Indo-European

 

 

The concepts "weak" and "misery, sad" are both present here in Hebrew and Middle Dutch. There is no difference of root between the idea’s, but in Dutch, like in English, we see a dental added. And this dental is different in the two cases, with a D or T for weakness and only T for spleen and the organ spleen. In modern Dutch the meaning of melancholy has disappeared and in English it is not found, except with the other name for the same organ, "spleen". The adding of a final dental is a very normal game in the language-group to which English belongs . In German one also sees "mild", but the milt becomes a "Milz". This entry is related no E 0595 (Hebrew 0586). Both roots have been developed out of an earlier two consonant root "M L-", with a meaning around "softness".

 

Note:
  • Hebrew has used a confirming or perhaps reinforcing prefix Aleph, א , that means a vowel as a prefix. This vowel can be a U or an A. One remarks that in the versions "umal" and "amélal" both concepts of misery and weakness are present. In "umlal " it is only weakness. This is all the case in Biblical language. In Modern Hebrew the root has been concentrated and even developed into that of unhappiness and misfortune.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This root expresses, besides "to be weak" also "to be miserable, unhappy". Not too unsimilar to be fully unrelated are Akkadian "ummulu = to be grieved". Much further off is Arabic "malla = to be weary, tired". So there is insufficient direct information from other Semitic languages to support a hypothesis for a Proto-Semitic root "* א מ ל , Aleph M L". But in relation with entry E 0595 (Hebrew 0586) a Proto-Semitic "* מ ל , M L" is possible .

     

 

Note:
  • English. Spleen and milt are two names for the same human organ. This was in the past considered as the seat of melancholy. Interesting, as the word melancholy is of Greek origin and refers to "gall" instead of "milt". Melancholy is "of black gall". With this consideration we see that the figurative meaning of "spleen" in English has developed after the litteral one.

     

    The word "spleen" is found in Latin "splen" and Greek "σπλην , splèn " that, though sometimes used figuratively as " to spit one’s spleen", had not acquired the modern English figurative meaning.

     

    The word "mollify" was in Middle English "mollifien ". In that phase of development of the English language the infinitive form of verbs still had the same final N or EN that has lived on in German and Dutch . "Mollifien" has come into English via Old French "mollifier" that was a normally simplified form of Latin " mollificare".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. Regarding the meaning "mild" as carried by the English word, nearly all older en newer Germanic languages have this "mild". Exceptions are seen in Old High German "milti" and Middle High German "milte". Changing over from "D" to "T" is a frequent phenomenon in High German. But in this case already Middle High German used as well "milde", possibly under the influence of Middle Low German "milde". Modern German is "mild". Rather obviously Proto-Germanic will have had "*M I LD-".

     

 

Note:
  • Latin . The word "mollis" is related to the verb "mollire" with the same root "M O LL-". It is not related , as some believe, to the verb "molėre" = to mill". The words with this root with double "LL" are believe to have developed out of an Indo-European root with "LD" via an unattested Latin "*mold-". We stick for now to the known Latin "M ŏ LL-".

 

Note:
  • Greek . "Amalos" has a prefix "A" (Alpha). Most prefixes " A " are so-called "STERITIK0" which means that the word indicates the opposite of what it meant without that prefix " A ". But a more limited number is simply neutral, as is the case with "amalos". In fact there are several Greek words with the same meaning that begin with "M A L". This is in fact the basic root in Greek for the concept of "soft" and "weak": "M A L-.

 

Note:
  • Indo European.

     

    Celtic Old Irish has an interesting "meldach = soft, tender", and though Breton says "blé = weak" and Kymric "blydd = soft, tender" with a metathesis of the "L" and a change from "M" into " B ", the original form probaby had the "M" : "M E LD-". In fact we see how Old Irish developed a "mlāith = soft, tender", that in Middle Irish became "blāith".

     

    Armenian has "mełm, mełk for "weak, soft" , with a probable origin "M E L-"

     

    Old Indian With the meaning of "soft, tender, mild" there is "mrdú-" as well as "marāla-". We see a consonant " R " where other branches of Indo European languages have a consonant " L ". It is to be noted that for the related meaning "to wither, decay", seen in Entry E 0595 (Hebrew 0586), Old Indian shows the root with the original "L" in "mlāti, mlāyati" = to fade, whither, decay". The added dentals we see, are not present in all forms, and should not be considered part of the original root that can be hypothesized "M A L-.

     

    One may conclude that a first consonant " M " and a second consonant " L "were used in Indo-European, but that the third consonant "D" has come certainly later, to be seen in some branches of languages. The used vowel was probably " Ŏ ", though other vowels ( A, E, I ) may have been used in some forms. "M Ŏ L-.

 

 

 
"...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: Thursday 10 January 2013 at 19.37.08