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E 0289 EFNAN
The word "efnan" is Old English and of Germanic origin
H 0050 א פ ן
Concept of root: regular practice
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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א פ ן
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ophen
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way of
acting
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Related English words
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Old English : efnan
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Comparison between European words and
Hebrew
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Languages
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Words
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Pronunciation
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English meanings
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Similarity in roots
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Hebrew
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א פ ן
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ophen
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way of acting
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o ph .
n
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Latin
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opus
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opus
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work, regular activity
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o p .
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Old English
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efnan
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to practice
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e f n
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German
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üben
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üben
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to practice
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ü b
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Dutch
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oefenen
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ufenen
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to practice
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u f . n
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Middle Dutch
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oeven, oefenen
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uven, uvenen
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to practice
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u v
u f . n
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Proto-Semitic *OPHEN --- *OPEN- Indo-European
The Old English word indicates a habitual activity, which is much like the Hebrew word talking about the way one acts. But also practising is done by repeating a certain kind of action.
There is a difference between on the one hand Hebrew and some Germanic roots and on the other Latin together with some other Germanic roots . This is that the last group, Latin etcetera, does not have the N as third element. Hebrew and the first group of Germanic roots have that third consonant N .
Note:
- Latin "opus" is much used in music and art . It has a third consonant R in for example the genitive case, as can also be seen in the plural "opera". This has become an important word in modern languages, be it is used as singular instead of plural.
This R is not part of the original root, as is confirmed by some composite words as " opifex ", that is "he who realizes , creates a work". Probably Latin has abolished the "N" as the "Latins" who pronounced it did not like it with their suffixes. So it was changed into "R", as in other cases.
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. Several efforts to find an etymology, linking the concept of this Hebrew word "ophen" to that of "face" or "wheel" are little convincing. There seems to be no semantic link.
Instead there is a sister word in Arabic " fann, pl. afnan " that stands for "kind, way", about identical to "'ophen". Further we see in Proverbs 25:11 the translation of "fitful way" or "well turned, well formulated (phrase)".
Interesting remains that the "O" is found in Hebrew and Germanic, but not in these Arabic words. Usually the vowel " O " is used in older words or versions. Proto-Semitic thus may well have used a root with "O", similar to the one in Hebrew : א
פ
ן.
Note:
- Proto-Germanic . There are three elements recognizable in Germanic words with the meaning of this entry : "to practice, perform, try, exercize". The opening sound is an initial vowel, comparable with the Aleph in Hebrew. The vowel itself is mostly an "O", sometimes an "E". The following consonant is "F" in Gothic, Old Norse, Old English and Dutch. An "F" corresponds often with a "P" as a development in pronunciation. In German we find "B" or "V", but in older language also the "F" was (still) seen. As a third consonant one finds an "N", not to be confused with the final N of the verbal infinite form. In fact we see in Dutch two "N"'s: "oefenen".
The Nordic languages have mostly lost the third consonant "N", but in for example Swedish there is still the noun "övning = exercise" that has kept that "N".
Probably Proto-Germanic had a root "*O P N", just as we find in Hebrew "ophen" in this entry.
Note:
- Indo-European. A common hypothesis is "*OP-". If this would be right, the Germanic third consonant "N" would have been introduced in that group. This then notwithstanding the fact that this "N" is also present outside Indo-European, in Semitic.
Old Indian "ápnas" stands for "work", and also for the result of good work, as can be "property, wealth". "Work" is also expressed by a probably shortened "ápas". But the message is clearly a root "Vowel P N", like in Germanic and Hebrew, with in practice the use of a vowel "A".
Indo-European probably had a root with three elements, "*Vowel + P + N", in a form "*O P e N-".
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 25/09/2012 at 14.45.47 |
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