E 0432         HEAD

The word " head " is of Germanic origin .

H 0409         ד ו ה

Concept of root : head

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ד ו ה

hod

power, majesty

Related English words

head . Old English heafod.

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ד ו ה

hod

having power, majesty

h . d

English

head

head

h . d

Old English

heafod

head

h . f . d

Norwegian

hode

hode

head

h . d

Dutch

hoofd

hooft

head (all senses)

h . f d

Swedish

huvud

hüvüd

head

h . v . d

German

Haupt

h(au)pt

head

h . (up) t

Middle Dutch

hoot, hovet, hoofd

hoot, hovet, hoofd

head

h .t, h . vt, h . fd

 

 

Hebrew *HOD --- *HOVD Proto-Germanic and Indo-European

 

 

The substance of the various words corresponds to the "adventure" of the so-called "waw", that letter or rather "family of sounds" that moves with a maximum of flexibility during the development of the roots it is part of. Thus it ranges from the vowels O, U and Ü to the consonants, W, V and F, all according to its place in words and the environment it encounters.

 

The "üvü" in Swedish , the "oof" in Dutch, between the initial H and final D of "huvud" and "hoofd" are of the same mother "W". The "ea" in Old English was already a natural development from the long vowel "Ō", often seen in both English and Frisian. A clear example lies in the English word " great " that corresponds with German " gross " and Dutch " groot ". Norwegian seems to have kept things simpler as its voice in this entry is like the Hebrew one. In reality this modern word "hode" comes from an older version in which also a " V " was present : "hoved".

 

We believe that two concepts of "head" have lived together from the earliest times in which Man began to think of social organization and command. This is to say that the litteral "head" and the "figurative" head have accompanied each other in language. This lies at the basis of this old similarity in which the Hebrew branch has concentrated on the figurative side of the power and magnificence of the " head".

 

One thing we anyhow not see as realistic is that some not even too close similarities in sound between words for drinking and eating utensils, such as for cup or dish, are at the basis of the words for "head", because as is said to argue this thesis : " in the old times men drank from the skulls of their slain enemies ". Scale = skull etcetera. We rather would suppose that people have begun to choose a word for "head" many millennia before somebody had the ugly idea of drinking from a human skull. Some etymological reasonings are surprising.

 

 

Note:
  • English has changed the vowel , in two steps, so that no O or the like is heard any more. The first step was in Old English, where the first O-sound was changed into "EA", following a quite normal procedure in English. The central consonant was still maintained and, perhaps in compensation for the loss of the first O, an O accompanied it towards the final D. In the end the modern word was created.

     

    This English "EA" is found in more words that had O, such as great (Dutch groot) , dead (Dutch dood), lead (Dutch lood). Clearly the change is in English.

 

Note:
  • German "Haupt" has developed out of Old High German "houbit". The choice of the A instead of O in the diphthong is a spelling-decision without any etymological importance.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. All Germanic words related to English "head" have an initial consonant "H" . Most of them have a final consonant "D", with as a first exception German and its predecessors that have "T" in a typical proper development. Middle Dutch and Middle Low German (hovet) spell a final T because that is the pronunciation, but in modern Dutch the spelling has turned to "hoofd" , though pronounced "hōft". The "D" is the original sound.

     

    The part between the first and the final consonant is based on the group of sounds that is also found in Hebrew, with the flexible sounds expressed by the simple "letter" waw. See our chapter "The Willing and Wilfull W": sounds like "WVOUF" and small groups of these. The "O" may lead to an "I", the "V" may become a "B", an F may become "P" and pronunciation may introduce a vowel "A" as seen in the development of many German words . In another development a long "O" becomes ""EA", as in English "great". A comparison with the trio English "beam", German "Baum" and Dutch "boom", with in the background Old High German "boum" is a clear indication.

     

    For the words meaning "head" we mention thus : Old Norse "hOFUğ", Norwegian "hOde", Swedish "hUVUd", Danish "hOVEd", Middle Dutch "hOVet, hOOFt, hOOt", Dutch "hOOFd". "B", "P" and or "I" are to be seen in Old Saxon "hOVId", Old High German "hOUBIt", Middle High German "hOUBIt" and "hOOPt".The introduction of "A" that creates the diphthong "AU" is present in Gothic "hAUBiþ" and German "hAUPt". Finally Old English "hEAFOd" has led to English "hEAd". There is no reason at all to see a vowel "A" as original instead of "O". Nor is there any indication that the initial consonant may have been "GH". Probably Proto-Germanic had "*H OV D", but a restructuring of the central part may have begun, giving already "*H OV Ĕ D".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. We have no information that would allow us to make a hypothesis. The Hebrew word is as such of uncertain origin and seems rather isolated.

 

Note:
  • Latin has "caput" for "head". There is some debate as to the question if this word , like the Greek equivalent "κεφαλη , kephalè " are of the same origin as the Germanic words of this entry. We do not see this as impossible, even if the Greek word has as third consonant an L instead of a dental. And both words have a comparable use in resembling and figurative directions. Yet it remains improbable.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European.

     

    The differences between Latin, Greek and Germanic are important. There are various suppositions, as simply "caput", identical to Latin, or "*ghebb-elo" that takes into account the "L" in Greek and partly Old Indian. It is hard to come to a clear and convincing conclusion.

     

    Old Indian offers a composed word "kapúc-chala = hair tuft at the back of the head" and that has led to the conclusion that "kapúc" means "head". But there is as well a word "kapāla = skull", a meaning that has some relation with "head". And it has the third consonant " L " seen also in Greek.

     

    Slavic. Russian " голова, golowa, Polish "glowa" and Czech hlava mean "head" and might be the result of a metathesis regarding the "L", that is sensible to this kind of development. Thus their original sequence of consonants might have been "G W L" and "H V L". One notes the "H" in Czech. One also notes once more that the change from " K/G " into " S " or the likes in Slavic is far from being a general rule

     

    Question marks remain , but possibly Indo-European used two versions: "*H OV D-" as well as "*K A P L-". We cannot define a common predecessor. Perhaps there even was none.

 

 

 
"...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: 24/10/2012 at 17.14.34