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E 0342 (TO) FLY
The verb " to fly " is of Germanic origin .
H 0713 ח
ר
פ
Concept of root : to
fly
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ח ר פ
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paragh
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to fly
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Related English words
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to fly,
Old English fleōgan
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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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ח ר פ
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paragh
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to fly
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p . r . gh
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Latin
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volare;
volucer, volucris; voluculum
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to fly;
flying(bird)
bird;
small bird
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to fly;
flying(bird)
bird;
small bird
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v . l ;
v . l . c
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German
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fliegen;.
Vogel;
Flügel
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fligen;
vogel;
flügel
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to fly;
bird;
wing
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f . l . g
v . g . l
f . l . g
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Dutch
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vliegen;
vogel;
vleugel
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vlighen;
voghel;
vleugel
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to fly;
bird;
wing
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v . l . g
v . g . l
v . l . g
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English
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to fly;
fowl
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to fly;
bird
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f . l .
f . w . l
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Old English
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fleōgan;
fugol
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to fly;
bird
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f . l . g;
f . g . l
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Proto-Semitic *PARAGH --- *FLŪG- Proto-Germanic < *PLŌG- Indo-European
This is a particular case of common origin, in which there is the difference between R in Hebrew and L in Germanic. This happens, though it is not very frequent. That R and L are sounds that are mixed up sometimes, we famously constate when Chinese people learn English. They easily will pronounce L for R and vice-versa, at least to the European ear. But also in the development of Indo-European tongues this kind of change occurs. This time we see Germanic choosing the L and Hebrew the R.
A second peculiarity is that we see an "internal" metathesis in Germanic: VLG versus VGL, without any doubt about their common origin. This metathesis, that in fact also still divides in English "to fly " from "fowl", is very old. We may dare to establish as original the sequence "V L G" on the basis of the similarity with Hebrew.
It is useful to compare this entry with entry E 0339 (Hebrew 0700), that also deals with the concepts of fleeing and flying.
Note:
- English "to fly" is a strong contraction, with Old English having "fleogan".
Note:
- Latin. There is a theory that Latin "volare" originally comes from "gvolare" or "guolare". If this would be right we would have seen a metathesis between Latin" G V L "and Germanic " V G L". But we are quite uncertain about this.
The other aspect is that the derived words we quoted may in fact have conserved an original guttural that has been melted with the suffixes. In that case "volare" has lost its guttural and the similarity is straightforwardly between " V L G " and " V L C ".
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. One sees this root also in Aramaic and Syriac "פ ר ח , peragh = he flew". Interesting is Syriac "פ ר ח ת א, paraghtà = bird, insect" to be compared with the forming of English "fowl" and more clearly German "Vogel". This gives a basis for a hypothesis that this root may have been in use in Proto-Semitic: "*פ ר ח , P R GH".
Note:
- Proto-Germanic. In nearly all Germanic languages, old and new, we find the combination of the three consonants "F L G". Sometimes, as in English "fly" the final "G" disappears, or rather becomes a "Y", in this case unified with the vowel that has become an " I ".
There are different vowels used. In the verbs meaning "to fly" we find Old Norse "fljūga" besides "fleygja", Swedish "flūga" , Old English "flēogan", Old Franconian "fliugon", Old Frisisan "fliaga", Old High German "fliogan" and German "fliegen". Then we find, as is very common "V" instead of "F" in Middle High German "vliegen" and Middle Low German "vlegen" , Dutch "vliegen" and Middle Dutch "vlieghen".
In the nouns meaning "flight" there are Old Norse "flug-r", Norwegian "flukt". Swedish "flykt", Old High German "flug", German "Flug" and Dutch "vlucht. In some other developments one sees for "wing" German "Flügel" and Dutch "vleugel" with its predecessor Middle Dutch "vloghel" together with already "vleughel". A vowel "O" is of course present in English "fowl" as in German "Vogel" and Dutch "vogel" with the same meaning. Old English here had "fugol" , Old Norse "fugl and Gothic fugls".
The conclusion must be that Proto-Germanic had "*F L U G-", probably already diversifying for various meanings into words with the vowels " I " , " Ū " and " O ".
Note:
- Indo-European. Supposition A. Latin "volare" and Proto-Germanic "*flug" are related. Then the useful information is practically concentrated in Latin and Germanic, that have in common the "V" and the "L", with the vowel "O/U" in Latin in between and in Germanic with an unstable position on account of the extension of the basic root with "G", from two consonants to three consonants. Supposing that the added third consonant is a Germanic development, Indo-European might have had, like Latin, a form "*V Ō L-". In this case the similarity of the third consonant between Semitic and Germanic is not yet fortuitous. Instead it is one of those many cases in which the similarity between Semitic and Germanic is stronger than the similarity between Semitic and Indo-European.
Suppostion B. Latin "volare" has a similar meaning , but is of different origin with respect to Germanic and Hebrew. Then Indo-European may have had already a form like Germanic, more probably with a vowel "O": "*F L Ō GH-". But this may have been as well ""*P L Ō GH-", as an Indo-European consonant " P " often is the predecessor of "F" or "V" in Germanic as well as Latin.
In Old Indian, Avestan, Greek and Celtic the concepts of "to fly, to flee" and some related ones are expressed with a root "* P . T" , with vowel " A " in the first couple and " E " in the other two. To fly does not belong to the meanings served by Latin "peto, petere".
Finally it must still be remarked that the important means with which a bird is able to fly, its wings and secondarily its feathers, in many Indo-European languages are expressed by words beginning with "PAR-" and also "PER". In Greek there is "PTERO" as seen in "helicopter", but with uncertain etymology. In Hebrew we see instead "kanaph = wing" and "notsà = feather".
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 19/11/2012 at 15.40.10 |
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