E 0381         GORE, GOR

The words "gore" and Old English "gor" are of Germanic origin

H 0123            ר כ ע , ר ו כ ע

Concept of root : turbid

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ר ; כ ע

-

ר ו כ ע

‛akhar ;

-

‛akhur

to make turbid ;

muddy

Related English words

gore

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ר כ ע  ,

ר ו כ ע

‛akhar ;

akhur

to make turbid; muddy

‛a kh r

English

gore

gore

g . r

Old English

gor

dung, dirt

g . r

Middle Dutch

gore

ghore

muddy ditch

g . r

 

 

Proto-Semitic *‛AKHAR, *‛AKHUR --- *GOR- Proto-Germanic

 

 

One can see the Germanic words use the "O", to be compared with "U" in the Hebrew participle "akhur". The difference between the KH and the G/GH exists, but in many cases this is not significant or decisive, like here as we suppose. The Hebrew beginning of Ayin plus vowel A may be the rather common result of intensified expression. But there remains uncertainty if this similarity really is based on a common origin.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew uses this root also in the, in a way figurative, senses of "to stir up, disturb, trouble, hinder". The word "akhur" and derivatives are found in Post Biblical texts, but they may well have existed earlier as well.

 

Note:
  • English has three fully different words "gore", as in known. One is the verb " to gore " that stands for "to pierce " especially with horns or tusks . The second one is a triangular piece of land . The third one has to do with this entry and today has the limited meaning of coagulated blood, but comes from Old English that still used "gor" for several kind of dirty-like things, such as mud or dung.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. There are similar words in many languages. Old English "gor" = "mud, dung, filth", Old Norse and Old High German "gor" = "cud, slimy mud", Middle Dutch "gore" = mud, dirt, dung" Proto-Germanic may well have used the same combination "*G Ō R-. Related words are Old English "gyre" and Dutch "gier" that both mean "manure, dung".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. In Celtic, there are Old Irish "gor" and Welsh "gôr" that say "matter, pus" and these words may be related to the Germanic ones, but this is not enough to make a hypothesis for Indo European.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. Proto-Semitic may be supposed to have had the same root "*ע כ ר , ‛akhar" we see in Hebrew, as this root is also present in Aramaic "‛akhar" with the same meanings , "Syriac ‛akhar = to hinder" and Arabic "‛akira= was turbid".

 

 

 

 
"...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: 22/12/2012 at 14.14.49