E 0648         OVEN

The word "oven" is of Germanic origin

H 0048          א פ ה

Concept of root: to cook

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

א פ ה

א ו פ ה

apha ;

ophé

to cook, bake;

cooking

Related English words

oven 

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

א פ ה ;

-

א ו פ ה

apha ;

-

ophé

to cook, bake ;

cooking

a p ;

-

oph .

Greek

ιπνος ; έψω ; έφθός ; οψον

-

ipnos ;

hepso ;

hephthòs ;

opson

-

oven;

to cook;

cooked ;

prepared food

i pn ; 

e ps ;       

e ph th ;       

o ps

-

German

Ofen

ofen

oven

o f

Old English

ofen

oven

o f

English

oven

oven

o v

 

 

Proto-Semitic *AP(H)A, +OP(H)E' --- *OF- Indo-European

 

 

This entry is related to number E 0649 (Hebrew 0208).

 

For the Hebrew word "'aphà" we have in this comparison given the pronunciation of two different verbal forms in order to show more clearly the relationship with the other languages.

 

Note:
  • Germanic. The last part of the Germanic words "ofen" and specifically the final letter N in "oven" is just a suffix, as a specific Germanic development. Further the root is well-nigh identical to the Hebrew one, and the English noun "oven" indicates an instrument with which the activities meant by the Greek and Hebrew word are realized.

 

Note:
  • English in Old English "ofen" is still a bit nearer to the Hebrew root for "cooking".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic The English word "oven" has " identical" sister words in Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Dutch, Middle Low German an Middle High German. Very similar are Old High German "ovan" , Old English "ofen" and German "Ofen" as well as Danish "ovn" that no more uses the mute "E", as Old Norse and Old Swedish do in "ofn". With regard to the consonant after the vowel, possibly this opening vowel, a long "O" has led in several languages to a voicing of the following consonant, that was "F" and became "V". Presumably Proto-Germanic had the form "*O F N-".

 

Note:
  • Greek. The word "ipnos" is seen as derived from an older "wipnos". This may true, and the origin would have an initial " W", that as a consonant, but as well as a combination "WI" can be compared with the vowel "O", from which it can have been derived. This vowel is indeed to be found in the word "opson", that stands for "food, prepared in an oven". The indication from Greek is "*OP-"

 

Note:
  • Indo-European On basis of the information from Germanic and Greek a hypothesis can be made. Presumably Indo-European had the form "*O PH-" or "*O F-" .

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This root is found in Aramaic and Syriac, with the usual final Aleph instead of Hé : א פ א and the meaning "to bake". Aramaic is 'aphà and Syriac "epha. Ugaritic "apy" and Akkadian "epū" also say "to bake" with the same root, just using different vowels.

     

    Particularly interesting for our comparison with English "oven" are Ethiopian "mōfet" and Arabic "mīfan" that both mean in fact "oven". They use a prefix "M" that in Semitic shapes a noun and a final "T" respectively "N" that have a similar function. The root is the same as found in Hebrew.

     

    Proto-Semitic in all probability used already the same root still present in Hebrew: א פ ה . One must remark that the final "Hé", ה is just a reading help, that was not recognizable in a non written language. It recalls that a final vowel is accentuated.

     

    The pronunciation of the consonant " P " as " PH = F " is found in the North West, in Hebrew and Aramaic, be it as usual only in part of the forms. Also Arabic "mĪ = oven" and Ethiopian "mōfet = oven" have the newer pronunciation " F ". But in Akkadian there still is the " P " : "epū = to bake". The change from " P " into " PH " may have begun during Proto-Semitic.

 

 

 

 
"...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: 25/01/2013 at 17.50.57