GD 1061         KRIJG

H 0770             ב ר ק

Concept of root : battle, war

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ב ר ק

qerav

battle, war

Related English words

none

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

     ב ר ק

qerav

battle, war

q . r . v <

q . r . b

German

Krieg

krėg

war

k r . g

Middle Dutch

crijgh;

krabben;

kribbigh

creigh;

krabbĕn;

kribbĕgh

war, fight;

to fight;

quarrel-some

k r . gh;

k r . b;

k r . b

Dutch

krijg

kreigh

war

k r . gh

Swedish, Danish, Norwegian

krig

krėg

war

k r . g

 

 

Proto-Semitic *QĔRAB --- *KRĂB- Proto-Germanic

 

 

We would like to present this as a clear case, but not all the similarities we see do give us the certainty of a common origin. Amongst them Middle Dutch is clear and convincing, with a root "K.R.B" nearly identical to Hebrew "Q.R.B". We have also referred to the German word "Krieg" in entry E 0003 (Hebrew 0506), mentioning that it should not be considered as linked to the concept of "to obtain", served by similar roots in both Germanic and Hebrew. We add that perhaps more ancient wars have been fought on the basis of anger or the wish to conquer and to dominate over grounds and people than just to obtain objects. The concepts are far from identical. Finally, if "war" and "obtain" were linked as said, why do the Nordic languages not use this same root "K R G" also for "to obtain"?

 

 

Note:
  • Latin and Germanic. Latin used the word "bellum" for "war", but Neo-Latin languages loaned a Germanic word that still exists in English "war" and was "werra". Late Latin used this as "verra", but French , Spanish and Italians made "guerre" and "guerra" out of it. We mention these words in entry E 0978 (Hebrew 1061). They seem to be not related to "qerav", though the Neo-Latin words might make one think so. See in particular entry E 0977 ( Hebrew 0375) with the similarities between these "war"-words and another Hebrew root.

     

    An explanation for the change from "bellum" to "war" has been tried. Scholars say that the wars the Romans conducted were very orderly and well organized, whereas the Germans were disorderly and unorganized bands or armed men. When, in the later years of Latin the way of making war changed and became disorderly, people decided to use the Germanic word. Well, one can believe many things if one wants. We may agree about the orderly way of working Roman legions practised. But if the Germans behaved so disorderly on the battlefield, how could they now and then win very big battles ? We think the change of use was just one out of many. When the Germanic conquerors mixed with the people of the Empire, in a process that took a very long time, hundreds of Germanic words came to be part of the vulgar lexikon. Hardly the choices can have been directed by profound intellectual reasoning.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew in "qerav" has a root identical to that of entry GR 1200 (Hebrew 0769), with the concept of "nearness". It is possible that, but uncertain if "qerav = battle, war" was seen as a form of "nearness", and therewith a reason to use this same root.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic." This root in this sense is seen in Aramaic and Syriac "ק ר ב א, qerabā = battle, war", but also in Akkadian "qarābu"and it may well have been used as such in Proto-Semitic "*ק ר ב , Q R B". We present the comparison with the vowels used in Hebrew.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. The etymology of "Krieg" remains uncertain. The same word was in the past also used to indicate "resistance", often an important phase in a conflict. That is certainly an aspect based on a common human way of reasoning. Certainly today people mostly say one must go to war because one has to "defend oneself".

     

    The Dutch words "krabben" and "kribben" that in Middle Dutch have their specific meaning as seen in this entry, near to Hebrew, anyhow will have had their predecessor in a Proto-Germanic form "*KR Ă B- and or "*KR Ĭ B-".

     

 

Note:
  • Indo-European . As in many cases, the similarity with Hebrew is found in Germanic without clear contributions from other groups. Therefore a hypothesis for Indo-European, different from that for Proto-Germanic, is difficult to formulate.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 22/11/2012 at 17.47.21