E 0104          BOOM

The word " boom " is of Germanic origin.

H 0254           ם ו ב, ה מ ב

Concept of root : elevated, to raise

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

; ה מ ב

ם ו ב*

bamà

* bom

elevated place;

*to raise

Related English words

boom

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ה מ ב;

-

ם ו ב*

bamà;

-

* bom

elevated place;

*to raise

b . m

German

Baum; auf-bäumen

baum; auf-boymen

tree;

to raise

b . m

English

boom

boom

b . m

Dutch

boom

boom

tree

b . m

Dutch

boom

boom

tree

b . m

Old English

beam

tree, beam, rafter; column, pillar; cross, gallows

b . m

 

 

Proto-Semitic *BOM --- *BŌM Proto-Germanic

 

 

The English word in this entry is important, as it has specifically conserved the meaning of "rising". In the Dutch word "boom" and German "Baum" that both mean "tree" this has been forgotten. Trees have as a fundamental characteristic of being plants that rise up high. And no etymology has been found for these Germanic words. They sound very much like that Hebrew verb for "to raise", "bom". But as we will see, the similarity of this entry is not clearly the result of a common origin.

 

Note:
  • English "boom" has various meanings .

     

    Several nautical meanings have been lent from Middle Dutch and in that language have been derived from " boom" = "tree ". They are related to "beam" from Old English "beam".

     

    Sound imitating meanings, like a "booming sound" had their predecessor in Old English "bomben" and " bummen ".

     

    The concept of growth and raising is the central one of this entry . We are not inclined to consider this meaning as a development out of a message of a booming sound. Instead it seems rather an independent word, based on a concept of growth and rising. This can be related to the "boom" that is a "tree". But is must be remarked that "to boom" also is used to say "to move fast forward", without a specific message of "rising".

 

Note:
  • German has the verb of this entry "aufbäumen", meaning "to raise oneself high on one’s feet". It might have been derived from the word for tree, Baum. But it may just as well be a verb as seen in Hebrew, having in common with the noun that root "B M" which carries the message of rising and raising .

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. In older Germanic languages one finds Old Saxon "bōm, Old High German "boum", and Old Frisian "bām"

     

    Old English "beam" has various meanings that are interesting: besides "tree, beam, rafter " there are also "pillar" and "column" as well as "cross" and "gallows" that recall the concept of "to raise". The "ea" is a development out of an earlier "Ō".

     

    The etymology in Germanic is seen as unknown. Indeed the problem is complicated by the existence of words like Old Norse "baðr " (this final R is a suffix), Old Swedish "bagn and Gothic bagms. There may have existed various forms in Proto-Germanic, but among them anyhow "*B Ō M-.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic This root, extended with a "T" , "ב ם ת, B M T" is seen in Aramaic "ב ם ת א, bametà = high place" , Moabite "ב ם ת" with the same meaning, Ugaritic ( M B T , back of animal or person), and Akkadian (" bamtu = slope of a hill, back" ). Arabic ( buhmah = rock ) is a but further off as it does not specify "high rising rock". Both roots probably were present in Proto-Semitic, the two consonant. "*ב ם ה, B M H (= accentuated vowel)" and the three consonant " *ב ם ת, B M T". The meanings vary and though they indicate also living beings, there is nothing in the field of trees. They are considered to have developed out of an older "* ב ו ם, B O M".

 

 

 

 
"...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 15.56.41