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E 0380 GOOD
The word " good " is of
Germanic origin .
H 0416 ה ד ח
Concept of root : rejoicing
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ה ד ח
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ghadà;
ghiddè
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to
rejoice; to cheer
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Related English words
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good
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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 ד ח
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ghadà;
ghiddè
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to rejoice; to cheer
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gh d
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Latin
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gaudere
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g(au)dére
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to rejoice
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g . d
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English
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good
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good
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g . d
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Old English
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gōd
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good
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g . d
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German
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gut
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gut
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good
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g . t
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Middle Dutch
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gaden ;
gadelijc ;
goet
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gaden;
gadelik,
ghut
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to please;
joy-bringing ;
good
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g . d ;
g . t
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Proto-Semitic *GHADÀ --- *GĀD- Indo-European
The Germanic words for "good" are usually seen as having their origin in the Indo-European root "*ghedh", saying "to unite, join, fit". If this is right, we find a comparable situation in Hebrew, where words for "unite" and "rejoice" are near to each other in sound, and having in common "GH D", just like Indo-European. A double and with that also cultural similarity that influences on language-building.
Yet our opinion is not identical. We see one group with "GH D" signalling "one" and consequently "uniting". And another one that speaks about "joy" and "pleasure". The word "good" comes into this second group as we see it.
It is useful to take into consideration some older uses of the word "good". We hope it is allowed to call forward once more Dutch with the expression "zich aan iets te goed doen", litterally "to do oneself good at something" and with the message of "to thorougly enjoy something".
A second important support we find in Hebrew. True, the word for "one", "aghad", seems near to "ghadà" of this entry, but to express "to unite, assemble", we find another verb, "gadad", that has been developed from an older briefer root "*G D".
Note:
- Middle Dutch "gaden" has a relatively wide range of messages, an important one of those being the one we have mentioned: "to please", that is the nearest to Hebrew. Other important ones are that of "to suit"and "fit to taste", that have their cognate in Russian words with a vowel "O" instead of "A".
Dutch still uses the noun " gading " for "taste , preference, liking".
Note:
- Proto-Semitic This root is found in Aramaic and Syriac "ח ד י , ghadì = he rejoiced". Ugaritic "ghadiv" and Akkadian "ghadū" have the same meaning. Probably the root found in Hebrew was there as such in Proto-Semitic "*ח ד ה , GH D H (accentuated vowel)".
Note:
- Proto-Germanic About all Germanic languages have the combination "G . D", but Old Franconian and German with its predecessors have "G . T". The used vowel is a long or short "O", sometimes pronounced as "U". Dutch and Middle Dutch express that "U" with a spelling "OE". Old Franconian has "guot" like Old and Middle High German. German has "gut". The probable hypothesis for Proto-Germanic is "*G O D", in which the "O" may well have been long.
Further, the group of words with a vowel "A" that give meanings as in Middle Dutch, is wide enough to suppose that Proto-Germanic also used this second form "*G A D-"
Note:
- Indo-European. Besides Germanic there is Slavic ( see below ) to support a hypothesis. An existing one is "*ghādh-", but we see rather a "*G Ō D-". The aspired pronunciations "GH" and "DH" occur in many instances in languages instead of or besides the standard "G" and "D". Also in Indo-European this may happen, be it locally or even individually. Besides the mentioned version with "O", also one with " A " may have been already present in Indo-European : "*G Ā D-".
Slavic has a hypothesis "*годЪ, godĭ" for "good, fit" . And Russian has a group of words around a basis "G O D-" , of which we give the example "годпый, godnŭj = good, fit, suitable, apt, convenient".
Greek, Doric have "γηθεω, γαθεω, gètheo, gatheo = to feel good, be glad, feel joy" and these are certainly related. There is a supposition that a "W" has been present after the vowel, which may be right, but is based just on the similarity with Latin "gaudeo".
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 26/10/2012 at 10.24.04 |
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