E 0474          HYGE

the Old English word " hyge " is of Germanic origin .

H 0420            ך ח

Concept of root : upper oral cavity

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ך ח

ghekh

palate

Related English words

Old English : hyge

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ך ח

ghekh

palate

gh . kh

Old English

hyge

fauces

h . g

Dutch

huig

h(ui)gh

uvula

h . gh

Italian

ugola

ugola

uvula

. g l

Middle Low German

kake

kake

palate

k . k

 

 

Proto-Semitic *GHIKH < GHOKH --- *HŪKH Proto-Germanic

 

 

The basic difference is that the uvula is not the palate or the fauces, as in Old English. But the general position is thus that it may very well occur that the same root in two languages shifts to the other part in the upper-back mouth.

 

Note:
  • Old English hyge, which must be of the same origin as the Dutch one, says "fauces", or practically the place where the uvula is found. Modern English "uvula" comes from another root that has the same meaning as Dutch "huig" and is found in Latin.

 

Note:
  • Germanic in Middle Low German shows us a rather similar root with several meanings, such as "jaw, cheek, palate", whereas Middle Dutch "caec" is used for "jaw, chin, cheek" but not for "palate". These word are not related to Hebrew "ghekh".

 

Note:
  • Italian ugula, like English uvula is a diminutive. Both are from Latin, and the usual view is that "ugula" is an alteration of "uvula". This "real" name was given because the "uvula" looks like a bunch of grapes. Well, it does not look like a bunch of grapes, and one can hardly say it looks like one little grape, which it does not do very much either. Seen the root in Germanic and Hebrew, we suppose that the name "uvula" or "little grape" has substitued in part the "true" word "ugula", in Italian "ugola". Substituted only in part, because Italian as the natural development (with outside influences) of Latin, kept the original word with G.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. The hypothesis we find is a root "* GH N K", that indeed is seen in Arabic "ghanak" and in Tigre. But in the group Aramaic and Syriac one sees both "ח כ א , ghikk'ą, GH K Aleph" and "ח נ כ א, ghenekk'ą, GH N K Aleph" and even "ח ו ך , ghokh, GH W K", which may well be the oldest one.

     

    Hebrew also uses a root "GH N K" to express two concepts: " to dedicate, consecrate" and "to teach, educate, train". These are then seen as derived from the word of this entry for "palate". The mentioned meanings would have developed out of an original one as "to rub a child's palate with chewed dates". We rather see this Hebrew root "GH N K" as having no link at all with the word "Ghekh".

     

    So there is no full clear answer. Proto-Semitic probably had "*ח ו ך , GH W K" ( see Aramaic "ghokh" ), from which as often has come "*ח י ך , GH Y K", perhaps already in Proto-Semitic, and anyhow resulting in the Hebrew word "ghekh, pl. ghikhim", and Aramaic "ghikką".

     

    The other root " *ח נ ך , GH N K" can be an independent development of a rather uncommon kind, that we cannot explain as such . It is also found in Hebrew "ghanikhaim" and "ghinekkaim" that stand for "gums". Mehri uses the root for both palate and gums. For the introduction of the "N" in the middle there may have been some influence by another root, "Ayin N Q" . This root carries the meanings of "neck" and "throat", but also "uvula" and "inside of the mouth". In Hebrew it says " necklace " and "put around the neck".

     

    It is not probable that the change in pronunciation of the consonant " K " into " KH ", as seen in Hebrew and only partially in Aramaic, has begun in Proto-Semitic. Arabic has the unchanged " K " in "ghanak" and Akkadian in "ikku".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. In Germanic languages there are words for "fauces" with various final consonants. Middle Dutch besides "huuch" that has Old English "hyge" as sister word, offers also "huuf, with the sister language Middle Low German showing "hūk". Also Old English had this version, be it without an initial "H", in "ūf. New German has a dialectal "Hauch", that has via a verb "hauchen" led to German "Hauch" = "(wiff of)breath". It is difficult to make a hypothesis for Proto-Germanic, but there is a certain probability of "*H Ū KH-" .

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. We have no indication of cognates outside Germanic.

     

    There is the Latin word "fauces", that has been lent into English. In Spanish it became "hoz", with Portuguese "foz" and Italian "foce" besides "fauce". We can not exclude that these words are related to Old English "hyge", but there is no convincing etymology for them either. Some link Latin "fauce" to Greek "khao = to open one's mouth" or "phao = to eat", which is little convincing. There is no sufficient basis for a hypothesis for Indo-European.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 24/01/2013 at 10.16.53