E 0608          (TO)  MURMUR

The verb " murmur " is, via Old French, of Latin origin .

H 0597            ה ר מ ,א ר מ

Concept of root : to be rebellious

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

,א ר מ

ה ר מ ;

א, ר מ ו

ה ר מ ו

mar’ŕ

marŕ

mor’é

moré

to protest audibly,

to be rebellious;

protesting audibly,

being rebellious

Related English words

to murmur

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

,א ר מ

ה; ר מ

-

-

,א ר מ ו

ה ר מ ו

-

-

mar’ŕ,

marŕ;

-

-

mor’é,

moré

-

-

to protest audibly,

to be rebellious;

protesting audibly,

being rebellious

m . r .

Greek

μορμυρω

mormüro

to make noise, rumble

m . r m . r

Latin

murmurare

murmurare

to murmur (sea);

to mutter, murmur

( people)

m . r m . r

English

to murmur

to murmur

m . r m . r

Dutch

morren; murmu-reren

morren;

murmu-reren

to murmur, grumble, protest

m . r ;

-

m . r m . r

 

 

Proto-Semitic *MARÀ --- *MĂR- , *MŬR- Indo-European

 

 

With all probability these Hebrew, German and originally Dutch words have "M. R", which Latin has doubled into "M . R M . R". English and again Dutch have loaned the Latin version with the doubled root.

 

When we compare Hebrew and Germanic, we must not forget that the verbal forms that are normally presented show vowels "A", but that other forms of the same verb will show other vowels. In this case "moré = murmuring".

 

 

Note:
  • Greek, as it likes to do more often, has doubled the root, from "M . R" into "M . R M . R".

 

Note:
  • Latin already bears two meanings, the first one that of the sound of the sea, the second one that of the murmuring or muttering of discontent or of protesting . This may also refer to animals.

 

Note:
  • Dutch uses both the single root "M . R" that is Germanic and Hebrew, and a doubled root as is found in Greek, Latin and its daughters and English. "Murmureren" is used to express the protests of people becoming rebellious.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew . This root deals both with verbal protests, disobedience and opposition and with being rebellious. There also has been created an extended root with three consonants ," מ ר ד , "M.R.D" marad" that specifically refers to "to rebel, revolt". THis an important indication of the way Hebrew, or really Semitic, extends roots in order to diversify meanings and messages.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . This root without final "D" in other languages expresses meanings not yet saying out right "rebellion". This is seen in Aramaic " א מ ר י , ameri = he irritated" and Syriac " מ ר י , marai = he contended with". Also Arabic "marā = he stimulated" and "mārā = he disputed with" do not indicate open rebellion.

     

    The extended root "M . R . D " stands for " to rebel " and is found besides in Hebrew in many languages. Aramaic and Syriac have " מ ר ד , merad". OS Arabic " מ ר ד = rebellion" . Ethiopian marād = rebellion". Also Arabic "marada = he was bold in rebellion" goes in the same direction.

     

    Clearly the original two consonant root must have been present in Proto-Semitic, "* מ ר , M R (+ accentuated vowel)", but also the root "* מ ר ד , M . R . D".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic . Most Germanic languages have a vowel "U" , as in German "murren". Some have an "O" as in Dutch "morren" and Swedish "morra", that was preceded though by Old Swedish "marra" , also found in Old Norse. Middle Dutch had "morren, murren, mueren". If Proto-Germanic used just one vowel, this may have been "A", in a hypothesis "*M A RR-". But is also possible that a "modernized" or diversified version "*M Ŭ RR-" came up in Proto-Germanic already.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European . Already in very old times a link has been seen between the natural louder noises of wind, sea and rivers, the grumbling of animals and human muttering and murmuring.

     

    Armenian "mrmram, mrmrim = to mutter, roar".

     

    Slavic has a hypothesis of "*mŭrmŭrati", nearly identical to Old Church Slavonic "mŭrmrati = to murmur". Russian for "to murmur, mutter, grumble" uses a version witrh initial consonant " B ": "бормотать, bormotatj.

     

    Baltic with a hypothesis of a non doubled "*murm-ē-" offers a Lithuanian "murménti", iterative "murmlénti", as well as "murméti".

     

    Celtic, a hypothesis with undoubled "MR", and with the more general meanings of strong continuous noises, has its Irish "muirn".

     

    Old Indian seems to have returned to the expressing of sounds of nature only in "murmurah = sound of fire", "murmurā = the name of a river" and "marmarah" for a "continuous sound as of wind or river".

     

     

    Indo-European has hypotheses of both the single and the doubled version : "*M Ŭ R-" and "*M Ŏ R M Ŭ R-", which is quite convincing, though the first vowel in the doubled version may have been as well " Ŭ ". Seen the use of the vowel " A " in both Germanic and Semitic, a form "M Ă R-" may have been used as well in Indo-European.

 

 

 

 

 
"...the town, to which was given the name Babel, because it was there that the Lord confused the language of all the world on the face of which He dispersed them. GENESIS 11,9"
 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 08/11/2012 at 11.43.16