E 0355          GARÇON

The word " garçon " is a loanword from French

H 0240            ר ו ח ב, ר ג ב

Concept of root : youngster

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ר ג ב,

ר ו ח ב,

bagar;

baghur

to become adult;

youngster

Related English words

garçon

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ר ג ב,

-

ר ו ח ב

bagar;

      baghur

to become adult;

youngster

b . g . r;

-

b . gh . r

Greek

κουρος

kuros

adolescent

k . r

Latin

garcio

garcio

youngster

g . r c

French

gars, garçon

gar, garson

youngster

g . r s

English

garçon

garçon

g . r s

Italian

garzone

gardzone

youngster

g . r z

 

 

Proto-Semitic *GOR --- *GOR Indo-European

 

 

This entry should be read in connection with number E 0356 (Hebrew 0387).

 

 

Note:
  • Hebrew.The B at the beginning of the Hebrew words of this entry, not found in Latin and French, to all probability is a prefix that confirms the meaning of an older shorter root "G R". It is important to see that two different but related consonants have been used, a G and a GH, in different words.

 

Note:
  • Latin and daughters. The origin of the Latin word is not clear. It is relatively new and some see it as a loanword from Celtic "gwerch" that stands for "young girl". Others talk about Germanic (and English) "war"+"sohn" (English son), thus meaning "son of war", because a young man coming of age is considered ready for war. Again someone else says "garcio" is original Latin, linked to a word "garzo" for the "heart of cabbage". This would indicate the still tender age of such a young man, in full contrast with that of a "son of war". Sure, in Italy they say baby’s are found under the cabbage, but once they grow up they should have lost that link!

     

    We cannot subscribe any of these hypotheses. Certainly Italian "-one" and French "-on" are common suffixes for something a bit bigger than what is meant by the original root. With loanwords into Latin general rules are hard to apply, but "io" or "cio" can be used as a suffix for latinised pronunciation of a foreign word. So the similarity between European and Hebrew stands, as it would also if those theories about Celtic or Germanic origin were right.

     

    That in a European word a sibilant is added at the end is a quite normal development for words, also without their undergoing any change of meaning.

 

Note:
  • Greek as well has a male and female version, "κουρη , kurè" or more common "κορη , korè " that in Modern Greek with the pronunciation "kori" has become also the usual term for "daughter". And in the diminutive "κοριτσι , koritsi " shares a number of meanings with the French word " fille " .

 

Note:
  • Hebrew itself also gives some further indication that the first syllable " BA " should be a prefix. English, when talking about cubs, may now and then call them " youngsters". Well , the Hebrew word " ג ו ר , gur ", is also used to indicate a " youngster " of animals. See entry E 0356 (Hebrew 0387), that mentions the important words "garçon" and "girl".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic is generally seen as having been similar to Hebrew, and let us see if there is some evidence for that. We remark that we do not see a sufficient semantic link to the verbs "baghar = to choose" or "bakhar = bring first fruit", especially in agriculture . But the root of the abovementioned word "gur" , especially used for young animals, is a convincing base, with the prefix "B" , to indicate young humans. And it has cognates in Akkadian "gerru", Arabic "jirw", Aramaic "gur, gur'à" and Syriac "guriy'à". With "B G R" we see Aramaic "bagir = having reached manhood", that corresponds with Modern Hebrew "bagir = adult". Proto-Semitic probably had a root "*ג ו ר, G W R", but it is far from certain that it may already have used the root "*ב ג ר , B G R", seen in this entry. Also a root "*ב ח ר , B GH R, for we do not have sufficient evidence, may have existed.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. On the basis of Greek, Germanic and with the support of Neo-Latin, hypotheses of "*G O R" and "K O R-" can be made.

     

    In Old Indian we find words like "kâr-ikâ" = servant girl" and "kâr-ya = son of an outcast", that may be related to the words of this entry.

 

 

 

 
"...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: 23/12/2012 at 15.27.09