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E 0538 LIGHT
The word " light " is of Germanic origin .
H 0529 ט א
ל
Concept of root : lightness
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ט א ל
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leath
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light
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Related English words
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light,
Old English leoth
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Comparison between European words and
Hebrew
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Languages
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Words
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Pronunciation
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English meanings
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Similarity in roots
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Hebrew
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ט א ל
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leath
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light
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l .(‘) th
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Greek
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ελαφρος
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elaphros
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light
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l . ph
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Latin
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levis
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levis
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light
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l . v
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Old English
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leoht
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light
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l (o) ht
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English
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light
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light
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l (i) g t
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German
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leicht
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leikht
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light
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l (i) kh t
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Swedish
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lätt
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lett
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light
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l . t
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Norvegian
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lett
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lett
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light
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l . t
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Hebrew *LE'ATH --- *LIHT Proto-Germanic < LAGH Indo-European
There are in English two similar words "light", with different origin. Here in this entry we do not refer to the word "light" that is in contrast with "dark", and that is found in entry E 0539 (Hebrew 0542) , but to "light" in the group of senses that comprehends, besides the contrast with "heavy", light rain, sleep, step, touch, matter, voice, air, breeze, whisper, customs, food, drinks, as well as light to support and many others .
Old English is the language that best confirms the similarity between Hebrew and Germanic in this case. It is helped by Old High German and Old Saxon, that both have "liht". We see that the GH-sound in High German "licht", like in Dutch "licht", has developed out of an H-sound. This development from H into GH is a phenomenon we also find rather frequently in Hebrew.
In the Nordic languages the H is not present, let alone a development into a harsher sound GH.
Note:
- Hebrew . Understandably we do not find all those aforementioned English meanings with the word "le'ath" in the text of the Bible or even in Hebrew in general. But there are quite a few different uses that may confirm the kinship, such as whisper, speak softly, step lightly, act gently, go slow . And there are other possibly related meanings with eventually related Hebrew roots. We cite "lath = enchantment", "lathaph = to caress" , "lathiph= delicate, soft" .
Note:
- Proto-Semitic . Regretfully we have no information that would allow a hypothesis for Proto-Semitic.
Note:
- Greek has also the word "ελαχυς , elakhǘs ", that stands for "short, small, little" and is considered a relative of our "ελαφρος , elaphros", condividing the basic shorter root "*la" .
Note:
- Germanic presents differences as shown, but we also see in English and Dutch that the words for "light in weight" and "light, not dark", have become identical. This is not the case in German and Nordic. German has "licht" for "not dark" an "leicht" for "not heavy".
Many scholars see the words of this entry in narrow relation with a group of words to which belongs also English "lung". On this basis the Scandinavian words like Norwegian "lett= light", but also the other Germanic words like "liht" would have their origin in a very hypothetical older Germanic "*linht". This because people, when they threw into the water a piece of lung, saw that it did not sink like pieces of other organs! It is hard to believe that such a kind of "reasoning" lives on. "Lung" is a nasalized word, but nasalization is not so easily lost.
Note:
- Hebrew and Old English have in common the final T combined with an H. In Hebrew this
aspiration is after the T, resulting in TH, whereas in older Germanic this comes before the T,
resulting in HT, that in turn has become CHT or GT. Modern English pronunciation rather
ignores the G.
Note:
- Proto-Germanic All Germanic languages, old and new have the initial consonant "L" and the final consonant "T". The vowel after the "L" is mostly " Ĭ " , but in the Scandinavian tongues " E ", in Swedish spelled "lätt". Old English, besides "lē:oht" also had "liht". The absence of an aspiration before the final "T" in Scandinavian is an indication that Proto-Germanic may have been "*L I T", but it is quite possible that an aspiration was heard before the "T" and that its abolition in Nordic led to the doubling of the "T" that is seen already in Old Norse. Thus Proto-Germanic "*L I HT" is more probable.
Note:
- Indo-European .Old Indian has "laghú-", but also "raghú-" for "light" and comparative meanings as used in English, like "quick, swift"
Avestan uses "ragu-, fem. levi-" for "light" in various meanings as does Old Indian. Interesting is the consonant "V" that is present also in Latin.
Latin "levis" stands for "light" in many senses, from "not heavy" to "quick" and figurative meanings. It is considered as derived from an Indo-European "*laghu-".
Old Church Slavonian had "lĭgŭkŭ = light". There is a similar hypothesis for Slavic.
In all these and in non mentioned others there is no final "T" as seen in Germanic and Hebrew. We have no explanation for this. Indo-European on the basis of the information except Germanic may have been indeed "*L A GH -". The final " T " in Germanic would then just accidentally be similar to Hebrew ? There are so many cases in which Hebrew has a greater similarity with Germanic than with Indo-European.
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 03/11/2012 at 14.42.08 |
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