E 0219          CUP, CAPTURE

The word " capture " is of Latin origin ..

H 0495         ף כ

Concept of root : hand and its palm

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ף כ

kaph

hand, palm of the hand

Related English words

cup, capture

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ף כ

kaph

hand, palm of the hand

k . p

Greek

καπτω

kapto

to seize

k . p

Latin

capere ;

captura;

cuppa

capere ;

captura;

cuppa

to take ;

capture;

cup

c . p

English

cup ;

capture

cup ;

capture

c . p

Dutch

gaps;

gappen

-

ghaps; ghappen

-

handful;

to pick away, steal

g . p

 

 

Proto-Semitic *KAP --- *KĂP- Indo-European

 

 

We refer to the chapter "The human hand and its actions", (Hebrew 0001_aa33) in which we have elaborated extensively on developments in Hebrew on the basis of the root of this entry.

 

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. " Kaph " has its origin in Proto-Semitic " * kap(p)".

     

    Then a second noun has been developed, perhaps on the basis of the same two consonant root, changing the first consonant and extending with a third one , found in the word : "ח פ ן , ghophen = hollow of the hand, handful". Alternatively this root might be just a cognate of the first one.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This two consonant root root is seen in Aramaic and Syriac "כ פ א , kappą = hollow of the hand" . Ugaritic used the same root for "hollow of the hand" and Ethiopian says then "kappu. In these languages the root is often used to indicate, besides the hollow of the hand, a bowl, pan or a scale of a balance. Such meaning can have been derived from the original one. Probably Proto-Semitic had already "*כ ף , K P", with the " P " pronounced as " P ", not yet as " PH = F ".

     

    Also the second root of the previous note, of the word "ghophen", is present in other Semitic languages. Aramaic and Syriac have "ח ו פ נ א , ghuphn'ą = hollow of the hand, handful". Arabic "ghaphną = handful", Ethiopian "hephen, ghephen = handful" and Akkadian, that easily leaves out an initial " GH ", "upną = hollow hands". So probably Proto-Semitic had also "*ח פ ן , GH P N". But in this case, seeing that a change of pronunciation from " P " into " PH " is found in important languages, the process of change for what is this middle consonant, may have begun in Proto-Semitic.

 

Note:
  • Greek with the abovementioned word has a cousin of Latin, as all sustain. We agree to that. "Kapto" has developed already very early into meaning " to eat or drink avidly". But originally it was just "to seize". This is an intensive way of "taking" and also "kapto" is an intensive form of a disappeared verb "*kapo" that should have meant "to rake".

     

    Greek also has the word " κωπή , kopč " for "handgrip, handle" that is seen as related to Latin "capere". Its root should also be "kap", but we do not feel too certain about this.

 

Note:
  • Dutch "gaps" is used mostly in some dialects. It seems clearly related to the root of "kaph" in Hebrew. The verb "gappen" is considered to be of Hebrew origin, be it not as coming from "kaph", but from the word "ghawer", that means friend. Thus "stealing" would have been a typical activity to be practised among friends.
    We disagree. The Hebrew word for friend has been loaned into Dutch as "gabber", meaning exactly "companion", and decidedly not specially in illegal activities like stealing. And in this time and circumstances there is no explanation why the B would have become a P in the middle of a verb.

 

Note:
  • English, Latin and Germanic. The first way people were drinking from rivers and other containers of water probably has been that by using a cupped hand. Thus the Germanic words "cup" in English, "kop" for cup and for low dish in Danish and "kop" in Dutch may be related to Hebrew "kaph" for "palm of the hand" or "hand". This is also possible for Latin "capis" which is a low-shaped dish.

     

    Certainly these words have nothing to do with the words for "head", such as "caput" in Latin " Kopf" in German and the indentically-sounding word "kop" in Dutch". Finally Hebrew "kaph", together with another word , "kappit", also indicates "spoon"! This is in line with the use of the hand for drinking.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. As already mentioned, Dutch "gaps" is used mostly in some dialects. But there is much more evidence. Low German has "gapps(e), gepps(e), geps", from Middle Low German, from which the vowel "A" has not been registered, but probably was present, as it is , with Umlaut, in Modern German's little used "Gäpse". In Old High German there is "goufana", in Middle High German "gouf" = handpalm". And finally Old Norse helps with "gaupn = handful, hollow hand". Probably Proto-Germanic had "*G A P-", as well as "*G U/O P N". The final "S" in some Germanic words is a typically Germanic addition .

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic and Germanic. It is striking that both the two consonant root "K P" and the three consonant root "GH P N", found as Proto-Semitic, have their cognates in Germanic.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. On the basis of Latin, Greek and Germanic one may presume that Indo-European already had the form "*K Ă P-", indicating the hand or the hollow of the hand.

     

    Russian "цапать, tsapatj= to grasp, seize, grip", in which the " K " has become a " TS ", confirms this picture. And even more so the word "хапать, khapatj= to grasp, seize".

     

    Some further information comes from the following languages. Avestan has cognates in "gava = the (two) hands" and "gavō" = hands (acc.)". New Persian is clear with the verbs "Čapsīdan", "Čafsīdan", "Časpīdan", meaning "to take, seize". The basic "K A P" is seen, with two forms of metathesis. Lithuanian has a nasalized "kámpju, kámpt = to seize, take". Albanian has simply "kap = seize, take".

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 24/01/2013 at 18.11.13