E 0128          BULA

The Old English word "bula"is of Germanic origin .

H 0251            ט ו ל ב , ט ל ב

Concept of root : emerging

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ט ל ב,

ט ו ל ב

balath;

baluth

to emerge, protrude ;

acorn, gland

Related English words

Old English : bula

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ט ל ב,

 ט ו ל ב

balath; baluth

to emerge, protrude;

acorn, gland

b . l .th

Greek

βαλανος

balanos

acorn

b . l .

Old English

bula , byl(e)

bump, swelling

b . l

Dutch

bult, buil

bәlt

bump,boss

b . l t ;

b . l

Middle Dutch

bulte, bule

bәlt

bump, boss

b . l t ;

b . l

 

 

Proto-Semitic *BALATH < *BUL --- *BUL- Indo-European

 

 

The interface in this entry is rather narrow, but looks yet interesting.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew uses the verb "balath", at least in modern Hebrew, in the figurative way, like "emerging socially". But the meaning of the second word indicates relation with the supposed Indo-European root *bhel", saying "to swell". This root we find in many Germanic words, such as "ball". It is uncertain to what extent swelling and to what extent roundness are the base of this "*bhel", but anyhow the two phenomena often go together.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic This root we see also in Aramaic and Syriac, languages that are near to Hebrew. This is a narrow but not unrealistic basis for a hypothesis that the root was already there in Proto-Semitic: "*ב ל ט

     

    A further possibility, or even probability, is that the third consonant, " TH " is the result of a diversification on the basis of an older root "*ב ל ה, B + L + accentuated vowel".

     

    A further step back can be set, if we look at a Hebrew word "ב ו ל", bul, that carries the meaning of "grown produce, grown fruit", that has swollen to maturity. This is linked with "י ב ו ל", with the same meaning. As in many cases, possibly also here existed earlier a root "*ב ו ל, B U L" meaning to grow, swell". Semantically this can not be related to a concept of "to bear, carry, conduct", as sometimes is thought.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic We find in many Germanic languages words that have the consonants "B L" with in between a "U", and that carry a meaning of "swelling, lump, bump" or a related one. The vowel may have various developments, as in German "Beule", with its predecessor "biule" , "bulla" and "baula", Old Saxon "bula" , Swedish "bulin = swollen", Old English "bula" and "byl" and Middle Dutch " bule" and "buul". The foregone conclusion is that there was in Proto-Germanic a root "*B Ü L", with a long vowel in pronunciation . But there is a complication when we find in Middle Dutch and Dutch, as well as Frisian, also words with a final T, as shown in the above Table. This makes it possible that there existed in Proto-Germanic also a root "*B Ŭ LT", with a short vowel.

     

    Probably related is English "to bulge", that carries a similar meaning and is wrongly seen an derived from Latin "bulga" that should not be Classic Latin . It says "leather sack" and rather has been loaned from Celtic. Proto-Germanic probably had as well a form "*B E L G" as found in Old High German "belgan = to bulge, swell". A common predecessor of "B L T" and "B L G" should have been a "*B L-", that lived in Indo-European.

 

Note:
  • Dutch has indeed another word with the same meaning but without a final T : "buil", similar to Old English "bula". They mean "swelling, bump".

 

Note:
  • Greek balanos also is used for "chestnut" and "date", somewhere comparable fruits, as well as for gland and suppository. The idea of swelling seems to be found only in a rather particular specific word meaning "with swelling" : "ballaneiomphalos". It is quite uncertain if the sometimes considered words "βωλος, bōlos = lump-, clod of earth, ball" and "βολβος, bolbos = (flower)bulb, onion" are related to the words of this entry. "Balanos" seems not to have more related words in Greek itself and the contribution remains uncertain.

 

Note:
  • Latin presents "bulla= bubble" and "bullio, bullire = to bubble up, well up" . This indicates a "B Ū L-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European The usual hypothesis is "*BHEL" for "to swell". We see as improbable for Indo-European he idea that "B" was always pronounced as "BH". Just like today, individual and local pronunciations vary, but basically the sound is " B ". And the indicated vowels are " U ", sometimes " O ". So we propose a "*B U L-". Some further contributions are :

     

    Celtic offers an Old Irish "bolach = lump, bulge", and

     

    Slavic in Serbocroat "buljiti = to bulge".

 

 

 

 
"...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: 08/10/2012 at 15.34.50