E 0260          (TO)  DISPERSE , SPREAD

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

The verb " to spread " is of Germanic origin .

H 0709            ד י ר פ ה ; ד ר פ *

Concept of root : dispersing

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ד ר פ ;

ד י ר פ ה

ד ר פ ת ה

parad, perad;

hiphrid;

hitparèd

to divide, separate;

to disperse;

to be scattered, dispersed

Related English words

to spread, to disperse

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ד ר פ  ;

-

ד י ר פ ה

ד ר פ ת ה

-

-

parad, perad;

-

hiphrid

hitparèd

-

-

to separate, divide;

to disperse;

to be dispersed, scattered

p . r . d

Latin

dispergere, spargere;

sparsum, spartum

dispergere, spargere;

sparsum, spartum

to spread, disperse;

spread, dispersed

sp . r . g

sp . r . s

sp . r . t

English

to spread ;

to disperse

to spread ;

to disperse

sp r . d ;

p . r s

Dutch

spreiden;

verspreiden

verspreiden

to spread ;

to disperse

sp r . d

Italian

dispergere; spargere;

disperdere

dispergere; spargere;

disperdere

to disperse;

to disperse, destroy

p . r . g

p . r . s r

*p . r . t

 

 

Proto-Semitic *PARAD --- *SPRĒD- Indo-European

 

 

This entry is to be seen in relation with entry E 0865 (Hebrew 0719). Two Hebrew roots, "P R D" and "P R S", have the first two consonants in common and share the meaning "to disperse". Therefore they are also related to the same European words, be it not in an identical way. The difference is that we find there as a third consonant in Hebrew an S and in Germanic the same D we are presenting in this actual entry.

 

Both Hebrew and Dutch have a composite word, on the basis of identical roots and with identical meaning, but with the difference that the point of departure in Hebrew is intransitive and in Dutch transitive. This is not too significant as both aspects often are mingled during development of languages.

 

Note:
  • English and Dutch have the basic verbs "to spread " and "spreiden", with a prefix S that is not changing the message of the original root "P R D"; such an S is a very common prefix in Germanic tongues. The composite verb in Dutch adds a prefix "ver-", ( as " for", less used in English ), again among the most frequent in German and Dutch, and that may indicate an intensification, but also that an action goes further than intended. Thirdly the prefix "ver-" may be used for a specialized meaning on the basis of the original one. This is the case with the word "verspreiden". Along this road the meaning "to disperse" is expressed. Also English "to disperse" is a composite verb, but it comes as such from Latin.

 

Note:
  • Latin has two composite words, that do not have the same meaning : "disperdere" and "dispergere". Obviously they have also two different basic verbs : "perdere" and "spargere", that share two consonants of their roots: "P R". There is also a verb "pergere = to continue (an action)" and that has a less direct relation with this entry. Of the other two the verb "perdere" means "to destroy" in all senses, and in second place also "to lose". "Spargere" stands for "to strew, scatter, sprinkle" and has led to "dispergere". The main forms are "dispergo, dispersi, dispersum", on the basis of "spargo, sparsi, sparsum".

     

    For "sparsum" also a version "spartum", has been in use. Thus we mention various possible roots. In the table the basic verb "spargere" has been mentioned with its possible roots.

     

    In reality the verb "perdere" is not based on an old two-consonant root, but has been built up out of a prefix "per- " and a verb "do" .It can be compared with another verb "pereo", constructed out of that same prefix "per-" and a verb "eo". It has continued as such in Italian "perire" and they say "to perish". Finally "perdere" in the sense of "to lose" may well be of a different origin from "perdere = to perish".

 

Note:
  • Italian seems to have made a certain mix-up of "disperdere" and "dispargere", changed into "dispergere". Now both share the meaning of "to disperse", and "disperdere" besides that has kept some of the old meaning of Latin "disperdere".

 

Note:
  • Hebrew and Latin both show a basic two-consonant root "P R", but Latin uses as a third consonant G. Besides this it has added a prefix S to shape "spargere". The root is "P R G", with the same meaning Hebrew has expressed with "P R D".Both languages have chosen a different build-up and an identical basis. In Hebrew "P R D" talks about separation and distinctions, finally leading in the composite verb with causative form "hiphrid" and the reflexive form "hitpared" to the message of "to disperse". Latin in "P R D", of different origin, expressed a very strong way of causing or experiencing separation. And this does not change in the composite form with the prefix "dis-". Only in Italian the same word has acquired in some way the same meaning we find in Hebrew "hiphrid".
Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. We have not much information from other languages as support for a hypothesis for Proto-Semitic, but probably that old language used the root of this entry "*פ ר ד , parad ". For "P R D" as a root we find in Aramaic "פ ר ד , perad", that besides "he separated" also says " he scattered, drove off". The same "perad" in Syriac means "he ran, fled". Then Arabic has farada = was single, sole". The picture is not fully clear, though one might consider these meanings related. Probably Proto-Semitic, having this root "*פ ר ד , P R D", among its meanings also expressed "to scatter, disperse".

     

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. Older and newer Germanic languages , if and where they have in use the sister words of "to spread", show "SPR" and also the dental "D", but this with the exception of some dialects and Old High German that had "sprītan, spreitan", while Middle High German used both dentals (spriden, spriten, spreiten). High German lost the use of the word "spreiten". Some examples are Old English "sprædan= to spread", Swedish "sprida= to spread" and Danish "sprede = to spread, scatter".

     

    The vowel in between is in Old and Middle High German a long " Ī " in intransitive verbs and "EI" in transitive verbs. An E-sound is found in Old Swedish and Danish and in fact in Old English and English. In Middle Dutch one finds both "spreden" and "spreiden", but without a clear distinction in function. "Spreiden" has become modern Dutch. Danish "sprede" is transitive and as often the medio-passive gets an "S" added : "spredes". Swedish in this case uses "sprida" and "sprida sig".

     

    The probability is that Proto-Germanic used an E-sound: "*SP R Ē D-", though also "*SP R Ī D-" is possible. .

     

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. There are some indications of possible cognates.

     

    Greek has a name for a group of islands that are spread out, scattered along the eastern coast : "Sporades", from the root found in " σπορας, σποραδος, sporas, sporados = dispersed" and "σπειρω, speiro = to disperse, spread, disseminate". Greek indicates "S P Ē R " as well as "S P Ō R Ā D-".

     

    Old Irish in "sreïd = to disperse, throw" has abolished as so often the consonant " P ", has has the " D ".

     

     

    Indo-European. This information means that the initial " S " was present in Indo-European, but not always the final " D". And again we have a case in which the similarity between Semitic and Germanic is stronger than that with Indo-European in general. Here it is that third consonant " D " , in Germanic the fourth consonant, that is similar between Semitic and Germanic, and lacks in some Indo-European words. This may have disappeared, for example from Greek "speiro". Indo-European may have had the same form as seen in Proto-Germanic: "*SP R Ē D-".

 

 

 

 
"...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: 19/11/2012 at 17.47.47