E 0736         ROCC ,  ROCK  † ,

English "rock" for "distaff" is out of use .

Like Old English "rocc" it is of Germanic origin

H 0069           א ר י ג

Concept of root: spinning

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

א ר י ג

arig

spun, yarn

Related English words

rock ; Old English : rocc

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

א ר י ג 

arig

spun, yarn

a r . g

English

rock †

distaff

r . ck

Old English

rocc

distaff

r . cc

Dutch

rokken

rokken

to spin ;

distaff

r . k

 

 

Proto-Semitic *ARAG --- *ROK- Proto-Germanic

 

 

As more often, the Hebrew word has a confirming "A" as an added first letter, with the same functions as a consonant in the shaping of words. .

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. Here we find a noun "arig" which refers to the result of an activity, "spinning", that comes before that of "weaving". But we see in entry E 712 "rag" ( Hebrew 0061 arag), that this root means precisely "weave". Consequently we must think that the root "A R G" in Hebrew originally comprehended both phases of textile fabricating : spinning and weaving. In fact we find another word for spun and yarn, " ט ו י, thewai" from a root " ט ו ה , thawą" saying "to spin". In the Bible this root was used for "to warp", an intermediate activity between spinning and weaving. This root is found in Entry E 0937 (Hebrew 1002).

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. The root of this entry is the same we see in Entry E 0712 (Hebrew 0061) and can be supposed to have been present in Proto-Semitic: "* א ר ג, Aleph R G ".

 

Note:
  • Dutch. Once more we find a Dutch word as the nearest one to Hebrew. By the way, this also goes for that mixing or confusing of those two actions of spinning and weaving. The Dutch call a spider a "spin" and his web a "spinneweb". This they call than to be "ragfijn", or "gossamer, filmy". English also says "cobweb" and a Dutch "spinnekop" is a spider of the type that does not make a web. Confusion one can always create in building languages and words.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. Sister words of those in the above table are found in Old Norse "rokkr" and Old High German "rocko". Probably Proto-Germanic had "*R (O) K-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. We have no information from outside Germanic, that would allow a hypothesis different from that for Proto-Germanic. Neo-Latin languages loaned this word from Germanic, as for example Italian "rocca = distaff". Yet Indo-European must have had a word for "distaff" and it may have been similar to Proto-Germanic.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 26/09/2012 at 13.29.44