E 0566          MARSH,  MORASS

The words " marsh "( from old English ) and

 " morass "( from Middle Dutch ) are of Germanic origin .

H 0598         ה ע ר מ

Concept of root : watery terrain

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ה ע ר מ

mire’é

pasture, water-meadow

Related English words

marsh, , morass, měre

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ה ע ר מ

mire’é

pasture, water-meadow

m . r (‘).

English

marsh;

morass;
měre

marsh, morass

m . r sh
m . r . s
m . r

Old English

mersc, merisc

marsh ;

Dutch

mars

mars

marsh, water-meadow

m . r s

Middle Dutch

marsch

-

-

maras

marsgh;

-

-

maras

marsh;

water-meadow;

morass

m . r sgh

m . r . s

Frankish

mariska

mariska

marsh, morass

m . r . sk

 

 

Hebrew *MIRE‛É --- *MIRE English

 

 

The similarity is strong. At first sight there seems little reason for doubt that these words have as their first part the same basic root "M R" that has led to the words for "sea" , "lake" etcetera of entry E 0564 (Hebrew 0595).
Striking is the comparison between Hebrew "mire'é" and English "měre". We have left this similarity in the list also because it is an interesting case of possible mistakes .

 

And yet the doubt must be great, as the common opinion gives "mire'é" , so similar to English "mire", instead as composed of a localizing prefix "M" and the root "R.Ayin.Y" that has the meaning of "to pasture, graze". This is quite convincing , even if this or identical roots carry many extremely different messages, such as "friend, companion, evil, break, intend".
If a "mire'é " would yet be a wet pasture in contrast with a "sadé" as a drier open field, the following remarks regarding Germanic and Hebrew would come in .

 

Note:
  • Germanic mostly has added an S to this root, in order to diversify the meaning from "water" into "watery land".

 

Note:
  • Hebrew has added a guttural sound-stop ( ע , ayin ) to the root "M R" , possibly for the same reason Germanic chose an S. This kind of difference is also seen in other occasions, for example at the beginning of roots: Latin S, Greek H, Hebrew Ayin.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. The root "R . Ayin . Y" is present in Phoenician , Aramaic, Arabic and Ethiopian and has a cognate in Akkadian. It probably was used in Proto-Semitic.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 08/11/2012 at 11.47.34