0545_laghan page

E 0291 ELEGY

The word " elegy " is, via Old French and Latin, of Greek origin .

H 0545 ן ח ל

Concept of root : melody

Hebrew word		pronunciation				English meanings
ן ח ל		laghan				melody

Related English words				elegy, from Greek

Comparison between European words and Hebrew
Languages	Words		Pronunciation		English meanings		Similarity in roots
Hebrew	ן ח ל		laghan		melody		l . gh . n
Greek	ελεγος		elegos		melody, song		. l . g
English	elegy				elegy		. l . g

Hebrew LAGHAN < Proto-Semitic LAGHÀ --- ELEG-OS Greek < LĒG- Indo-European

The similarity is limited to two of the three consonants we find in the Hebrew root. L and G are present in Greek, but the N is not.

Note:

Greek shows us a root of only two consonants, but in our hypothesis this language has introduced a vowel as prefix with an original "LEG_", that is well known. It has a variety of meanings around the concepts of "speaking, declaring, announcing, reciting, exposing in words" and this can be seen as connected to the reciting of praising religious texts . The vowel, an E, has a confirming function as it does not change the basic message of the root. We note however, that there is no accepted etymology for this word. Foreign origin, perhaps from Asia Minor, is considered, but a specific convincing hypothesis is lacking.

This Greek root has given a contribution to modern languages through the words "ελεγεια elegeia = elegy" and also "ελεγειον , elegeion = elegiac composition". All the endings of these three Greek words, repectively –os, -eia and –eion, are pure suffixes, each with its own meaning. Also the final N of "elegeion" is not related to the final N of Hebrew "laghan", in which the N is part of the root.

Note:

Hebrew. This root uses also different vowels to express the concept of "to sing" : "lighèn". When we find a three-consonant root in Hebrew that corresponds with a European root that does not have the final consonant of Hebrew, or has a different one, we look for other Hebrew roots that may be related. In this case we see : ל ח ש , laghash . This root has a different third consonant and expresses some related meanings as "to whisper", "to murmur", but also the even more important "to enchant", obviously by words and song.

But the third and fourth meanings are especially interesting : "to enchant, bewitch" and "to pray". We must take into consideration the kind of chanting, singing, for which the root of "elegy" in Greek was used, in the atmosphere of dramatic events and religion ! This strongly confirms the common origin of the Hebrew and Greek words of this entry.

Note:

Proto-Semitic. This root is also found in Arabic "laghghanà = he sang, psalmodized". It may well have been in use in Proto-Semitic : "*ל ח ן , L GH N", Referring to the information in the Note on Hebrew one may presume that also an older two consonant root was used in Proto-Semitic: "* ל ח ה , L GH H (accentuated vowel)".

Note:

Indo-European. As explained in our Note on Greek, in our view "elegy" is related to the important Greek and Indo-European basic form "*L Ē G-" that carries the message of "to read out loud, recite" besides many others.

Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 04/11/2012 at 10.55.24