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E 0024 ALTITUDE
The word "altitude" is
of Latin origin
H 0124 ה ל
ע; ל ע
Concept : high
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ל ע ;
ה ל ע
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‛al; ;
‛alà
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height ;
to rise
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Related English words
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altitude
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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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; ל ע
ה ל ע
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‛al;
‛alà
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height ;
to rise
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‛a l
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Greek; Dorian
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ηλιβατος ; αλιβατος
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èlibatos; halibatos
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high, elevated
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a l ; h(a) l
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Latin
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altus
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altus
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high
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a l t
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English
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altitude
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height
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a l t
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Proto-Semitic *‛ALA --- *AL, *ALT Indo-European
Note:
- El Al is the name of the principal airline of Israel. It means "to above, the heights": "el", written with an Aleph , means towards, whereas "al" with the Ayin means "height, above".
The similarity between Latin "altus" and Hebrew "‛al" looks about perfect, but there seems to be a problem in the Latin word, that is considered as having been derived from a verb "alare", meaning "to feed, grow". English speakers, but in fact most Europeans know this root from the composite word "alimentation". See entry E 0021 (Hebrew 0125).
Yet this problem about "altus" is not a real one. If Latin "altum" is the past participle of "alare", this verb means "to raise" and "to rise", just as its Hebrew sister "‛alà". If, as we believe, "alare"= "to rise" is in fact the same word as "alare" "to grow, raise" , then the latter version in Latin has just become the principal meaning of most of its verbal forms, with the exception of the word "altus" which has also maintained the original meaning; "altus, altum". Thus "high" is he who (or that what ) has risen or has been raised.
A further confirmation of this picture might be imagined in the Latin word "ala", which says "wing", or an important means by which one rises ! Even now that there are airplanes. Meanwhile the presence in some Celtic words of a "T" in the same position as in Latin "altus", puts a question mark to the accepted thesis that "altus" is a partecipium of "alare = to grow, raise".
Also the second similarity of this entry is rather obvious, if one sees that the whole second part of Greek "èlibatos" comes from a word for "to go, walk": "βαινω , baino". The word is very isolated. Therefore it is understandable that some scholars have thought that it would have meant "gone to the sun". Sun in Greek is "ηλιος , hèlios", a word very well known in composed English words that begin with "helio-", such as heliotherapy. But there is no getting away from it, the similarity of the first part with Hebrew is evident. This becomes even more clear from the Dorian word from the table, "halibatos", the first part of which is even nearer to Hebrew. We see, as more often, Greek "ha" corresponding with Hebrew " ‛a " ( Ayin + a).
Note:
- Greek. The word "èlibatos" looks a bit like English "elevated", but the origin is quite different. Elevate comes from Latin "elevare", composed of "ex" and "levare". The word "levare" is still recognizable in English "levy" talking about raising money.
Note:
- Hebrew. The letter " י , I, "Yod" can be seen in a number of verbal forms, where it is usually considered as a third consonant of the root, though it is pronounced as the vowel " I ". It has been introduced as an extension of the original two-consonant root "‛ l" as a way to shape a verb. This is confirmed by the existence of the noun " 'al " for "height" and the preposition " 'al " for "on".
Note:
Proto-Semitic is seen with a third consonant "Y" developed out of an earlier "W". This is based on the existence of a vowel "U" in Akkadian . In fact frequently we see in Semitic how an original "WAW" (pronounced W, O, U or F) develops into a "Y" ( pronounced as Y or I). In this case it is probable that this change has occurred already during the period of Proto-Semitic.
Others suppose a doubled root "*Ayin L Ayin L" or even "*L Ayin L". These are indeed possible ways in which an original root may develop. But that original Proto-Semitic root remains " *ע
ל * Ayin . L + accentuated vowel". That accentuated vowel became indicated by a " Hé " in Hebrew, after the invention of the AlephBet. Proto-Semitic had no Alphabet.
Note:
- Indo-European. Celtic shows cognates that are related to the concept of "high", using a root similar to those seen in this entry. We cite Middle Irish "alt = height, (high coast)", Kymric "allt = wooded rocky hill(side)" and the less clear Old Cornish als = coast (i.e. a high Cornish coast?)". This points at a Celtic "*A L T-".
On the basis of Latin, Greek and Celtic a hypothesis is possible for Indo European "*A L_" as well as an extended "*A LT-".
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 22/12/2012 at 14.16.46 |
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