E 0307          ETESIAN

The word "etesian" is based on Greek .

H 0194         ת ע

Concept of root : period of time

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

 ת ע

‛et

time, period

Related English words

etesian, from Greek

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

 ת ע

‛et

time, period

‛e t

Greek

ετος ετεα

etos, etea

year, years, time

 e t

English

etesian

etesian

 e t

 

 

Proto-Semitic *‛ET --- *ET-OS Greek

 

 

This entry is in all probability related to entry E 0308 (Hebrew 0112) that may be read together. Greek "etos" consists of the root, expressing "et" and a suffix "-os" for the forming of a male substantive. The first part "et" is as good as identical to Hebrew "et" , with the only difference being that the Hebrew word starts with an audible guttural stop of the flow of sound.

 

One may note that the sound T is frequently present in many languages in words that deal with the concept of time. Examples are seen in English "time", Latin "tempus", Swedish "tid".

 

In Greek the meaning of "etos" seems to have developed from the basic idea of time via that of a "period of time" to the more specific one of a "year" .

 

We see as little convincing comparisons with words without dental from other Semitic tongues.

 

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic probably had this same root that is also seen in Phoenician and that lived on in Hebrew : "* ע ת " .
Note:
  • Proto-Germanic had for the concept of "time" certainly a basic form *T Ī D-". In the Nordic languages an additional second form has been developed "T Ī M-." for the concepts of "lenght of time, point of time" that also was used simply as a second word for "time" and was brought to English as such. Perhaps this version was present also elsewhere, as in Allamanic with zīme = time, occasion" (already changed from "*time"), but it did not conquer vast territory elsewhere.

     

Note:
  • Indo-European has, besides Germanic, a contribution from Armenian, in the word "ti, gen. tioy for "time" and related meanings. This is not much to establish an original form. And however, the link with "ET" from Greek (and Hebrew) is unclear. We see no possibility of a solid hypothesis for Indo-European at the moment.

     

    It occurs that in Hebrew a single consonant root is built with a vowel in front of that consonant, whereas Indo-European places the vowel after the consonant. This might theoretically be the case with Hebrew "et" and Indo-Europea "ti(d)", but we have here as well an Indo-European (Greek) "et-". So there is no such explanation available.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 04/10/2012 at 16.49.40