GD 1034          BLECKEN

H 0249            ק ל ב

Concept of root : devastate

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ק ל ב

balaq

to devastate

Related English words

none

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ק ל ב

balaq

to devastate

b l q

Middle Dutch

blecken;

-

bloten

blekken;

-

bloten

to ransack, plunder; devastate

b l k;

b l t

 

 

Hebrew *BALAQ --- *BLECK-EN Middle Dutch

 

 

There have been occasions to say that there is more than average similarity between Hebrew and Dutch roots. In this case we even lack any solid indications to expand to other Semitic and European languages. The actions, described by these words, are akin. So they may be of common origin. The differences we constate are : 1. Where the third consonant is practically the same, Q and K, the meaning is somewhat different. 2. Where the third consonants are not the same, Q and D, the meanings are identical.

 

Note:
  • Dutch in its modern version has lost the word "blecken" and no more uses the verb "bloten" in the Middle Dutch sense of this entry. Languages change a lot in the course of time.

 

Note:
  • Greek. One might ask if Greek "polemos" or "war" is akin to the above root. The reason would be that war is the most used and efficacious way of destroying and devastating in human praxis, though it is beginning to suffer the competition of terrorism. We cannot exclude that there is a relationship, but the Greek word is very much concentrated on the meaning of organized military conflict between countries, tribes or towns . Therefore the messages do not cover each other sufficiently to conclude positively.

 

Note:
  • Latin bellum seems to put us the same question. The commonly supposed etymology of "bellum" is that it would be a development of "duellum" which of course says "duel". But the difference in message is too vast. A duel is totally different from war. And a Latin bellum is exactly a war. In fact the word "duellum" has simply continued to exist, as we see from modern English and the neo-Latin languages.

     

    Also "bellum" lives on in many composite words of Italian, French and Spanish . But in order to say "war", all those Latins have preferred the Germanic word "war". Naturally they changed it in the process, pronouncing the W as GU and creating that way "guerre" and "guerra". Just to say how things go in the development of language, of the Germanic tongues themselves only English uses the old term "war", whereas the others talk about Krieg or Krig. Funny impression that gives , as Krieg is in fact a fight to obtain by violence things that others possess. The Dutch are an exception and talk about "oorlog", a word we recognize in Old English orloge. Again this choice of word gives an indication of character of the speakers.

     

    This word "orloge" means "war", but also "fate"! In Old Norse "ørlag" says "end", whereas the same word in plural, "ørlog" means "fate, death, war". Talking about the word "war", one may consider it related to Hebrew, as discussed in the Entries E 0977 (Hebrew 0375) and E 0978 (Hebrew 1061) . Returning to Latin "bellum", the kinship with the root of this entry is possible, but not certain, on the same grounds valid for Greek "polemos".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. We have no basis for a hypothesis. Arabic has a root "B L Q" but it has messages of "desert" and " to open vehemently", too far off in relation to the Hebrew (and Dutch !) words.

 

 

 

 
"...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 15.51.05