E 0714          RANK

The word "rank" is of  Germanic origin .

H 0180        ך ר ע

Concept of root :  rank and file

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ך ר ע

ך ר ע ו

ך ר ע

‛arakh ;

‛orekh;

‛erekh

to arrange;

arranging

rank, file

Related English words

rank ; choreography from Greek

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ך ר ע

ך ר ע ו

ך ר ע

‛arakh, ;

‛orekh

‛erekh

to arrange;

arranging;

rank, file

‛a r kh ;

‛o r kh

Greek

ορχος;

ορχαμος

orkhos, orkhamos

file, rank;

commander

 o r kh

English

rank

rank

r . nk

 

 

Proto-Semitic *‛ARAK --- *RAK- Indo-European

 

 

In both languages, Greek and Hebrew, this root is especially used for the disposition of the troops for battle.

 

 

Note:
  • Greek. The well-known Greek word χορος , khoros, has its origin in common with the words of this entry. Khoros has given us the words coreography and choir. Originally it should mean a file of dancers or singers or dancer/singers on the stage. It lacks the initial vowel, but we believe that that vowel, both in Greek and in Hebrew , is the fruit of a development. This is a common phenomenon, that in our severely regulated written languages is blocked by spelling.

     

    If one hears Italian news-speakers, one remarks that they insert a totally undue "A" before very many words. In order to say "the president", they should pronounce in Italian "il presidente". Instead, in reality they more often then not say "il apresidente " Just a common way of wordshaping, but that cannot be officialized on account of spelling-rules.

     

    A second reason for our opinion is that "to dance" exists with an initial vowel : "ορχευομαι" , orkheuomai", that is the same as "χορευω , khoreuo". It will be clear that we do not think that "khoreuo" has anything to do with the Greek word "ερχομαι" , meaning "to come", as some people suppose.

     

    In Dutch such a dance is called a "rijdans", or "row-dance", which expresses clearly the concept, as well as the relationship between rank and dance we proposed here.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. This root is considered to be the same one we find in the entries E 0284 (Hebrew 0179), GR 1219 (Hebrew 0182) and also GR 1143 (Hebrew 0181), but this last case is not fully certain.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. Proto-Semitic probably had this same root, found also in Aramaic and Syriac, which gives us some basis for a hypothesis. The probably related meaning seen in entry GR 1143 (Hebrew 0181) is also found in Arabic. Further the similarity with Indo European makes it probable that Proto-Semitic was not far from, if not similar to Hebrew : "*ע ר ך, Ayin R KH" .

     

    The pronunciation of final " K " as " KH ", seen in Hebrew , according to a common view had not started in Proto-Semitic.

 

Note:
  • English. The word "rank" is of Germanic origin. The usual opinion is that English "rank" came from Old French "rang" which is quite possible. But Old French, a Latin spoken by a mixture of Romans, Celts and Germanic Franks, had many words from the Frankish language of Germanic stock. A typical phenomenon in Germanic is the frequent nasalization before a K-sound or G-sound. See the next Note.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. As remarked in the previous Note, the word "rank" is seen as loaned from Old French "reng" also spelled "renc", but Old French had many words from the Frankish language of Germanic stock. A typical phenomenon in Germanic is the frequent nasalization before a K-sound or G-sound. In this case "rang" came from Old High German "*ranc". The existence of Celtic words as Breton "renk" , combined with the French pronunciation of "E" as a short "A" may have influenced the choice of the written vowel "E".

     

    It is wrong to link these words for "rank" to Old High German "hring = ring", as the concept is quite different and the kind of "arrangement" one sees in a "ring" has totally other scope than that of "rank and file". Proto-Germanic probably had "*R A NG".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European.

     

    Celtic uses the same root in Cymric "renghe" and Breton "renk".

     

    Sanscrit has rana" for "battle" in many composed words. But in fact the root of this wordpart has nothing to do with "rank". Its " N " is the second consonant and does not have as in Germanic and Celtic a nasalizing function. There is in Sanscrit also a nasalized "RANG" with and older "RAG", but its basic meaning is "brilliant" and there is not link to "battle-order", to "rank" or anything similar.

     

    Indo-European just may have had a form similar to Germanic and Celtic, also not yet nasalized : "R A K-".

 

 

 

 
"...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: 22/01/2013 at 16.00.40