|
LA 1249 FETTA
H 0732 ת
פ
Concept of root : piece
of bread
|
Hebrew word
|
pronunciation
|
English meanings
|
|
ת פ
|
pat
|
|
|
|
|
Related English words
|
pat
|
|
|
Comparison between European words and
Hebrew
|
Languages
|
Words
|
Pronunciation
|
English meanings
|
Similarity in roots
|
|
Hebrew
|
ת פ
|
pat
|
piece of bread
|
p . t
|
|
Italian
|
fetta
|
fetta
|
slice of bread
|
f . t
|
|
English
|
pat
|
|
little piece of something
|
p . t
|
Hebrew PAT < Proto-Semitic *PAT'À --- PAT English < *PĂT Proto-Germanic
The word "pat" in Hebrew was used to indicate especially a piece of bread, ready to eat, a piece also that one could put in one’s mouth. This is the same basic concept of Italian "fetta" that is a slice of bread , prepared for eating individually. Some people break bread with their hands, as the Jews of the Bible did, others cut bread with a knife. The habits of course also mix !
It is nearly funny to see how no etymology is found for Italian "fetta". Suppositions about an origin in Latin "findere = to split" are rather far-fetched. Apart the physical difference between splitting and the preparing of a slice of bread, the indicated road seems to us too arduous to follow . Starting from " findere" an unknown and unexisting form is hypothesized : "*findita". This would be a bit like the well known form "condita" in "ab urbe condita", used by the Romans for their calender. "*Findita" would then perhaps mean "split".
From there one carries on : findita > fendita > fend’ta (very un-Latin to do) > fen’ta > fetta. Just to see how one may reason.
Note:
- Hebrew on the basis of this brief root has also shaped a verb, simply by doubling the T of the root "P T", thus obtaining "P T T". This word obviously meant and means "to break bread into small pieces, to crumble bread" as an evident preparation for eating it. In modern language it also says "to divide into small pieces" in a more general sense.
Note:
- Hebrew The already Biblical word "petut = bit, crumb" , was certainly related to the words of this entry. And the same might be true for the word " pittą ", internationally known and present in modern Hebrew.
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. This root is also found in Aramaic and Syriac "פ ת א, pittą", that has lived on until today and is widely used in many countries. Further, with initial F instead of P, there are Arabic "fatta" and Ethiopian "fatata". It probably was used in Proto-Semitic: "*פ ת א , P . T '. ".
Note:
- English. It is said that this word has been shaped after the well-known verb " to pat". And this is thought because "pat" is used also for a (little) clump of butter, a substance that may have been "patted" to shape a little clump. But a "pat" of butter is not necessarily shaped by "patting", but in any other fit way. And however, a "pat" is a little piece of anything, not just of butter.
Note:
- Proto-Germanic. The information is very limited, but there may have been a Proto-Germanic "*P Ă T-".
|
|
|
| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 20/11/2012 at 17.21.07 |
|