E 0410          HÆFTAN

The Old English word " hæftan " is of Germanic origin .

H 0501            ת פ כ

Concept of root : to tie and attach

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ת פ כ

kaphat

to tie, connect, attach

Related English words

Old English haeftan  

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ת פ כ

kaphat

to tie, connect, attach

k . ph . t

German

haften;

-

heften

haften;

-

heften

to be attached;

to attach

h . f t

Old English

hæftan

to tie up

h . f t

Old Norse

hefta

hefta

to attach, tie up

h . f t

Norwegian

heft

hefte

to attach,

detain

h . f t

Dutch

hechten

hekhten

to attach

h . kh t

 

 

Proto-Semitic *KAPHAT --- *HÈFT- Proto-Germanic

 

 

In this entry the Germanic consonant H corresponds with Hebrew K. There are various examples of Germanic having an initial H where Hebrew, and for that also Latin, have a K-sound.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. It must be said that this Germanic root "H.P.T" is one of many that find two versions in Germanic in general, one with FT and the other with CHT (phonetically GHT or KHT). Thus the German words we see in this entry correspond with Dutch sisters that have a root "H GH T", such as "hechten" = "to attach". This version seems not te be found in older languages and therefore may be considered a specific Dutch development.

     

    In older languages there are Old Saxon "heftian", Old High German "heften", Old Norse and Old Frisian "hefta", Old English "hæftan" and Middle Dutch "heften, hechten". Probably Proto-Germanic had "*H È FT-".

 

Note:
  • Latin has the word "captivus" for "captive", that together with the verb "captare" is considered related to Germanic "haften". Reason would be that a "captive" is tied. We think that the relationship exists, but it is more indirect. An important indication is that German "Haftling" means "captive" and Dutch "hechtenis" says "detention". Latin "captare" means "to seize" and is an intensive form op the verb "capere" or "to take". Thus the consonant T is not part of the basic root, but indicates an intensity of the action. We see this Latin root, "C P" as related to the Hebrew word "KAPH", for "hand" or "palm of the hand".

     

    Hebrew "kaphat" of this entry is also related to that same word "KAPH", and its third consonant T is the result of diversifying by the shaping of a new three-consonant-root. The action is not that of seizing, but of tying or attaching.

 

Note:
  • English. It is quite possibe that "to hitch" is related to the above mentioned Dutch word "hechten" = "to attach". There is a possible metathesis, between CH-T and T-CH. But that is not sufficient to make a second hypothesis for Proto-Germanic.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. We have not much information for a hypothesis. There is Arabic "kafata = he restrained". It is possible that Proto-Semitic already had this root "כ פ ת , K P T". There is uncertainty about the question to what extent in Proto-Semitic " P " already became "PH ".

     

    Proto-Semitic certainly had an original unchanged " P " ; but seen the " F " in Arabic the introduction of a pronunciation " PH = F " may have begun in Proto-Semitic itself. We presume in our comparison a " PH ", the same sound present in Germanic languages.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. Information from other Indo-European groups of languages regarding cognates is lacking. The comparison remains between Semitic and Germanic, as often is the case.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 25/01/2013 at 15.19.03