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E 0122 BROOK
The word " brook " is of
Germanic origin.
H 0271 ה כ ר ב
Concept of root : place of
water
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ה כ ר ב
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bәrekhà
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pool,
basin, pond
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Related English words
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brook
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Comparison between European words and
Hebrew
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Languages
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Words
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Pronunciation
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English meanings
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Similarity in roots
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Hebrew
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ה כ ר ב
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bәrekhà
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pool, basin, pond
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b . r . kh
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Greek
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βροχη
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brokhè
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inundation, action of
making wet
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b r . kh
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English
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brook
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brook
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b r . k
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Old English
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broc
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brook
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b r. c
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Dutch
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broek
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bruk
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pool, marsh
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b r . k
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Proto-Semitic *BEREK --- *BROK Indo-European
In all probability this root is related with another one that refers to water, "
ב
א
ר , be’er ", seen in entry E 0124 (Hebrew 0228) . And as well with the root "
ב
ר
ז , berez" of entry GD 1038 (Hebrew 0280).
For the comparison it is useful to remind ourselves that roots with three consonants as here "B R K", in Semitic usually receive two vowels, "BEREK" whereas in Indo-European and certainly in Germanic one vowel is more common : "BROK".
Note:
- Hebrew in modern language uses this word also for "swimming-pool".
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. This Hebrew root has cognates in the Ugaritic root "B R K Y" that stands for "pool" and Arabic "birkah = pond" . There is a basis for hypothesizing a similar root in Proto-Semitic : "*ב
ר
ך"
We have no indications that the change in pronunciation of the third consonant, from " K " into " KH " , may have begun in Proto-Semitic. The " K " is present in several languages and must have been in use in Proto-Semitic. The vowels remain uncertain and in the comparison we have "BEREK".
Note:
- Proto-Germanic. There is a certain difference in meaning between English, including Old English, and the other West Germanic languages, that use this root also to indicate "pool, pond" as in Semitic tongues, besides for morass-like wetland. This phenomenon is also seen in other cases, like the Dutch word "ouwe" that says "stream" but also "wetland".
All languages have the B , the directly following R and the final K-sound, besides German that like Hebrew , makes a "KH" (written "CH" )out of the final K: "Bruch", with Middle High German "bruoch" and Old High German "bruoh". Proto-Germanic probably also had "*BROK-" or "*BRUK-", to which it added its suffixes.
Note:
- Indo-European. Greek with a related meaning and the same root indicates that Indo-European may have been similar to Germanic : "*BROK-" . Yet it is useful to see that in Greek the related verb uses a vowel " E ": "βρεχω, brekho", as found in the Hebrew word of this entry.
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 23/01/2013 at 14.13.46 |
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