E 0216          CRUST

The word " crust " is of Germanic origin .

H 0451            ס ר ח

Concept of root : crust

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ס ר ח

gheres

crust

Related English words

crust

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ס ר ח

gheres

crust

gh . r . s

Latin

crusta

crusta

crust

c r . s

English

crust

crust

c r . s

Dutch

korst

korst

crust

c . r s

 

 

Proto-Semitic *GHĒRÈS --- *KRŬS Indo-European

 

 

There is little doubt about the fact that the T in these European words is not a part of the original root. Thus the European and Hebrew roots are well-nigh identical and have the same meaning.

 

The Hebrew word here is used in relation to the skin, whereas the European ones refer to any kind of crust.

 

 

Note:
  • European languages amongst them show the phenomenon of metathesis, that is here the shifting of the position of the R with that of the vowel within the word. As to the origin, many believe that the Germanic words have come from Latin. The occurring metathesis , in which the R shifts place around the vowel O or U , makes this less probable. Anyhow, regarding our similarity with Hebrew the picture does not really change if on the Indo European side we find Latin or Germanic or both .

     

    The word "crust" in all these tongues is used as well for "crust of bread " as "crust on wound". On account of this second meaning the word might have been formed from the noun "cruor", that stands for "blood". And the meaning of a crust on a wound would so be the principal one. In reality crusts on wounds are not formed especially by blood. And we would like to ask how bloodthirsty one should be to give to his bread a bloody name ! The evident thing is that the root simply stands for the (result of the) process of forming a crust.

     

    We should note that Latin "cruor" is considered the name for "blood outside the body", that becomes dry and may form some kind of crust as well.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew . This root is written with a Samekh "ס" as third consonant. Another root is found with a Sin "ש", that also expresses an S-sound. This root indicates "earthenware, potsherd" , but as well "clayground", that has a crusty surface. It is seen as probably related, or as being even the same word that has been spelled with two different letters " S ".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . This root is seen in Aramaic "gharsą" and Syriac "ghersą" : "ח ר ס א ", where it means as well "scab" as "to harden, be rough", all possibly related concepts. It has a cognate in Arabic, with GH R SH, carrying the meanings of "to scratch" and " be rough". Our root in Hebrew is also used to express the adjective " rough" and it may well have existed in Proto-Semitic : "*ח ר ס , GH R S". In our comparison we presume that Proto-Semitic may have used vowels " E ". as seen in the Hebrew words with final " Samekh " as well as final " Sin ":

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic has a hypothesis of "*khrú,sōn" . Modern German has both "Kruste" and "Kurste". There is a rather general opinion that these words have been loaned from Latin, but as Old High German besides "krusta" also had "hroso, hrosa" this can be excluded. The adding of a final "T" is anyway a quite normal Germanic development. The presence in Old English of the word "hruse = earth, ground, soil" supports this view. The Old Germanic word "hrosa" is responsible for the name of Monte Rosa, on the border of Italy and Switzerland, the second highest mountain in the Alps: " Ice-crust Mountain". It has in fact by no means a pink colour, though coloured reflexes occur in the evening in various shades in the Alps. The reader who has seen this spectacular massif, with its eternal heavy ice-crust, understands why people gave it this name.

     

    Sister words are found in various Germanic languages. Proto-Germanic indeed probably had "*K R Ū S-", possibly already extending into "*K R Ū ST-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European . The concept of "crust" is sometimes seen as related to that of "(very) cold)", as seen in entry E 0218 (Hebrew 0766). There is no basis for this, especially as the forming of crusts is not fundamentally determined by cold, with the exception of the freezing of water.

     

    On the basis of Germanic and Latin the existing hypothesis of "*K R Ŭ-" can be amended into "*K R Ŭ S- and even an extension into "*K R Ŭ S T-" perhaps might be justified as a development during Indo-European, seen its presence in more groups of Indo-European languages.

     

    Slavic has a hypothesis of "*krŭkha" and "*krŭshiti". The narrowly related Russian word "короста, korosta" is used for "scab, sald, scall, scurf, mange", that can be considered distantly related meanings.

     

    Baltic with a hypothesis of "*krush-ā" has indeed in Lithuanian "krustā = crust", with an added "T" as in Latin and Germanic.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 27/10/2012 at 16.55.32