E 0166         CHIMNEY

The word " chimney " comes from Old French " cheminée " that is of Latin origin.

H 0431          ה מ ח , ם ח

Concept of root : heat

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ם ח;

ם ח;

ה מ ח ;

gham

ghom;

ghamà

hot, warm;

heat;

embers

Related English words

chimney

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ם ח

ם ח

ה מ ח

gham ;

ghom ;

ghamà

hot,warm; heat; embers

gh . m

Greek

καμινος

kaminos

fireplace

k . m

Latin

caminus

caminus

fireplace

c . m

French

cheminée

cheminé

chimney

ch . m

English

chimney

chimney

ch . m

 

 

Proto-Semitic *GHAM --- KAM-IN-OS Greek

 

 

The essential quality of a fireplace is that of creating warmth. That is why these Greek and Latin words are related to Hebrew "gham". And embers, with this same Hebrew root, are typically present in a fireplace. This makes the common origin more obvious.

 

Note:
  • Greek and Latin, with their nearly identical words, consist of three elements: KAM as the root, -IN for the shaping of a noun and -OS or –US as a suffix for the first case of the noun. The Latin word is considered a loan from Greek, though there is no technical indication why the Romans should have needed such a loan. There is some conjection about a family-relation with the words "kamara" and "camera" for a "room" in a building. In entry E 0142 (Hebrew 0367) we have presented this word as related to a different Hebrew root.

     

    The essential characteristic of a "camera" was its type of construction, covered with a curved roof, contrary to that of a caminus that, even if built from stones, has te be open on the upper side to allow the fire to function well and the smoke to get out.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This root is known in Aramaic "ח מ ם , ghamam = was warm " and Syriac "ח ם, gham = was warm". Ugaritic uses the same root for "hot". Arabic "ghamma = it became hot; he made hot, heated". Akkadian "emmu; umma = hot; heat". This root was probably present in Proto-Semitic. "*ח ם , GH M".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. There is no clear indication of an etymology for Greek "káminos" . The word is used for "furnace, oven, kiln, heating conduct, alcove". The basis is the "fireplace", for different uses. It is probably related to the following two words "και ω, kaio< *kawo = to burn", "καυμα, kauma = burning heat" and perhaps as well to "καμνω, kamno = to build, construct", but that is very uncertain. The indication from the verb "kaio" would seem "KAW-", but the words for "kapnos = smoke" and the important "kapnizo = to smoke, to lit fire", make suppose that in "kaio = to burn" a labial was lost. So we hypothesize a Greek "K A M-".

     

    It has been tried to link Greek "kaminos" to Lithuanian "kvapas = breath" , but there is no semantic link. Then we have Albanian "kamnoi = smoke", the most obvious production of fire and fireplaces. The Greek sister word "kapnos" has changed an " M " into " P " before the " N ". This change is not an obvious one.

     

    Old Irish "kemich" is considered a loanword from Late Latin, but it is rather different from "caminus" and it may have an independent origin. Anyhow we have too little information for a hypothesis for Indo-European different from Greek.

     

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 26/10/2012 at 17.06.46