0357_galad page

E 0184 COLD , GELID

The word " cold " is of Germanic, but " gelid " of Latin origin .

H 0357 ד ל ג

Concept of root : solidifying

Hebrew word		pronunciation				English meanings
ד ל ג		galad; gelid				to freeze, congeal, jell; ice

Related English words				cold , gelid

Comparison between European words and Hebrew
Languages	Words		Pronunciation		English meanings		Similarity in roots
Hebrew	ד ל ג		galad; gelid		to freeze, congeal, jell; ice		g . l . d
Latin	gelu, gelus; gelidus		gelidus		frost; ice-cold		g .l . ; g . l . d
Old English	ceald , cald				cold		c . l d
English	cold , gelid				cold , gelid		c . l d
Gothic	kalds		kalds		cold		k . l d
German	kalt		kalt		cold		k . l t
Old Norse	kala; kaldr		kala; kaldr		to freeze; cold		k . lk . l d
Norwegian	kald		kald		cold		k . l d
Old Swedish	kalder		kalder		cold		k . l d
Swedish	kall		kal		cold		k . l

The two concepts of " to coagulate " and "cold " are here considered related. It must be mentioned that in Latin languages we find well-nigh identical words that do not mean " cold " but "warm" . Latin " caldus " that has led to "caldo" in Spanish and Italian, is a contraction of "calidus", a participle of the verb " calére = to be hot " .

These two roots for " warm" and "cold" are not too different. Perhaps in very old times there was a root " *K/G – L " that stood for " different temperature ". Cultural development then may have led to the diversification, when people wanted to specify the kind of difference in temperature : higher or lower .

Proto-Semitic GALAD --- GĒLÈD-" Indo-European

Note:

Latin "gelidus" has a D, a dental like the others, but it may be just part of a suffix. To freeze in Latin is "gelare" without D. And in Latin we see " typically " the roots "C L" and "G L " for respectively " warm " and "cold ", in line with the above mentioned hypothesis of a common origin of the two concepts . Originally Latin may have had both "G . L-" and "G . L . D".

Note:

Hebrew. There exists a word "ג ל ד , geled" meaning "skin" , confirmed by other Semitic languages. Therefore some scholars consider " galad " as having been derived from a concept of "it was covered by skin". But the comparison of the phenomenon of the warm protective human skin with the hostile cold layer of ice on water excludes such a hypothesis . Probably the Bible never required in its text the specific use of "galad" for "to freeze", that is found in Post Biblical texts .

Note:

Proto-Semitic probably had two similar but independent roots "*ג ל ד , G L D " . One, saying " skin, hide " is seen in Aramaic and Syriac "ג ל ד א, geled'à and giled'à = skin, hide". Arabic, as often changing the initial "G" into "J", has with the same meaning jild (with J L D), Ethiopian and Tigre show "geled" . The Akkadian word "giladu" also means "skin, hide".

The other similar root "G L D" , carrying the meaning of " to freeze, congeal, jell" is besides in Hebrew, used in Arabic: "jalida = it froze, was frozen, congealed".

Note:

Germanic .This is one of those many cases in which Germanic is nearer to Hebrew than Latin is. And this is also one of the reasons why we are not so certain that the "tree"-concept of the development of different languages reflects for 100 percent reality. Due to the great number of migrations in human history, some branches may stay or return together for some time and develop together further, also after a initial separation.

This is a possible effect of migrations. And some changes do occur at different moments and perhaps among other group-compositions. A consequence of this thinking is that English "cold" and German "kalt" have their final dental not from a kind of participle, as often is thought, but within their root. It is sufficient to look at some older Germanic versions of the words for " cold ", that , with the exception of modern Swedish, all have a dental, that is nearly always a D . And yet in English we also find " cool " without a final D . And cool has its sisters all over in Germanic languages .

Note:

Dutch has " koud ", in which the L has become a "U" in a diphthong . This is just a common phenomenon in Dutch, and it is also found in French , specifically in " chaud " for "†caldus = warm". An interesting thing, these similar words, German "kalt = cold" and Italian "caldo = warm" with their opposite messages.

Note:

Proto-Germanic. In the field of "cold, freeze" there are words in Germanic languages that have a final dental, D or T, and those that do not have it. English shows this clearly with the series "cold, chill, cool". As to the words of this entry, the final dental is nearly generally present ( the exception is modern Swedish"kall"). A final "LT" is there in German and its predecessors, but the other languages have final "LD". The central vowel is an "O" in English, Danish, Dutch and Low German. The other languages have maintained an "A". Proto-Germanic probably had "* K A LD-" and "* K Ū L-", comparable with Latin.

Note:

Indo-European. We find in Latin and in Old Norse roots that have only the two consonants "G . L". But Proto-Germanic had begun to use already the third consonant "D", absent in one form of Old Norse, but present in the others. From other groups the contribution is limited.

Slavic enjoys a hypothesis of "*zjeldj = cold", that seems not to have cognates in Russian.The initial ""ZJ" easily corresponds with "G" in other Indo-European branches. The hypothesis is based on Old Church Slavonian "жледица, zjleditsa = frozen rain".

But the particular thing is here that in Russian we also find the word "холод, kholod = cold, coldness", with many related words. Another word is " гололедица, gololeditsa =glazed frost, icedness". There are cognates in other Slavic languages. Thus Slavic may have had a "*G Ŏ L . D-".

Greek has a word for "hail" that may well be related to the words of this entry : χαλαζα, khalaza ". According to Greek scholars this word, also used to say "blizzard", derives from an older "khelad = ice". It can be compared with the already mentioned word in Old Church Slavonian "жледица, zjleditsa = frozen rain".

Indo-European probably, on the basis of the available information from Latin, Germanic, Greek and Slavic, had two forms, an older " G È L-", as well as already " G È L È D-".

Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 24/12/2012 at 16.41.44