|
E 0112 B O Y
The word " boy " , Middle
English "boye" , is of uncertain origin .
H 0288 א ו ב
Concept of root : coming
|
Hebrew word
|
pronunciation
|
English meanings
|
|
א ו ב
|
bo’
|
to come, to go
|
|
|
|
Related English words
|
boy
|
|
|
Comparison between European words and
Hebrew
|
Languages
|
Words
|
Pronunciation
|
English meanings
|
Similarity in roots
|
|
Hebrew
|
א ו ב
|
bo’
|
to come, to go
|
b o
|
|
Old Frisian
|
boi, boy
|
boy
|
young gentleman
|
b o i
|
|
Middle Dutch
|
bode; boy
|
bode,
boy
|
he who comes (with errand)
|
b o i
|
|
Dutch dialect
|
boje
|
boye
|
bringer of errand
|
b o
|
|
Middle English
|
boye
|
|
male servant
|
b o
|
|
English
|
boy
|
|
boy
|
b o
|
We have maintained the text as written hereunder, that reflects some searching into the origin of the word "boy". It was written before we found and inserted the Old Frisian word "boi = young gentleman". This interesting word is related to a number of other Germanic words that instead of the final " I " have an older final " V " or " B ". Old Dutch "bouve, boef" meant "youngster" and from there other meanings have developed : servant, knave, scoundrel". Middle English "boie" ( ca 1250 e.v.) meant indeed "boy, knave", and from the practical function of boys or youngsters meanings like "servant" were the consequence. Middle High German had "buobe", that said "lad, youngster" and then "servant". Modern German, especially in the southern part of the country, has maintained a word "Bub" = "boy", that has reconquered respect also further north.
Proto-Germanic probably had a form "*B O V- and perhaps already "*B O Y-".
Consequently the similarity that we have seen between Hebrew and English, is in no way due to a common origin. The more humble and less flattering meanings for the words meaning "boy" are not original but consequences of the social use and misuse of youngsters in European society.
The etymology of English "boy" is quite uncertain. It has been tried to explain it as "fettered", via Norman French from Old French and Vulgar Latin " in+boiae". This word "boiae" would be a kind of an abbreviated "boiai dorai" that should have meant "bovine skins". From these the fetters would have been made with which the "boys" would have been tied down. So they were called "the fettered one", and that would be the origin of the common name for a young male in our society! Well, anything is possible in this world, but the most characteristic thing of a boy, be he a servant, an errand boy or just playing around, is anyhow that he has to move and be lively, and not fettered down.
The Latin word "boiae, boarum", in plural only, is real. Plautus used jokingly a singular that anyhow was at the origin. This word meant specifically "collar" referring to a kind of collar used to tie down slaves and criminals. Seen this use it certainly was of metal, at least as soon as metal was available, and before that in wood. The Latin word had descendants in Romanic tongues. The supposition that the word would be linked to "bos" or Greek "bous" = "bovine, as the fetters were made of cow hide, is a nice fantasy. It is further highly improbable that the word was loaned into Germanic, where there are a number of words that may be cognates of Latin "boia". We begin with "boei, boeien" = "fetters" in Dutch. Middle Dutch had "boeye, boye", Middle Low German "boie". Neo-Latin words like Spanish "boya", Portuguese "boia" and Italian "boa" are loanwords from Middle Dutch, but this refers to a different word "boei", developed out of the first. The Dutch were leaders in seamanship and marine techniques and this "boeye" was a marine term that was also loaned into English as "buoy".
Note:
- Boy as he who comes for an errand, is perhaps also seen in Italian "ragazzo". Most scholars say this word comes directly from Arab "raqqas" that stands exactly for "errand boy". And in Middle Dutch this is exactly the meaning of the word "boy". This word should not have been lent from English, but be a more popular pronunciation of "bode". Such a popular way of saying this word is still practised today in dialects or local speaking, f.e. in The Hague. This pronunciation is not limited to the "vulgus", but also used by the chique nobility!
Note:
- Hebrew. Our guess is (was) that the root used for "bode" and consequently "boy", a welcome arrival who brings messages or things we need, coincides with that of "he who comes" in Hebrew. And, in older language also "he who goes", as seen in Exodus 10:1, when God tells Moses : Go to Pharao". So in fact the "boy" of this entry is "he who comes and goes ( for his errands) ". We confess, that this is a bit of a a guess , untill something better comes up . Up till now nothing believable has explained the etymology of "boy" (Problem resolved, see above).
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. Arabic "ba'a", in using this same root, says " to return ", a typical function of an errand boy. Then we have Akkadian "bā'u" with various meanings like Hebrew. Proto-Semitic probably already used this same root "*ב ו א, B W Aleph".
|
|
|
| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 10/10/2012 at 15.50.30 |
|