E 0138          (TO)  CALL

The verb " to call " is of Germanic origin .

H 0785             ל ו ק

Concept of root : voice and use of it

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ל ו ק

qol

voice, sound

Related English words

to call

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

     ל ו ק

qol

voice, sound , talk

q (o) l ;

*q . w . l

Greek

κελαδος;

-

καλεω,

-

κλεω

-

-

kelados ;

-

kaleo;

-

kleo

-

-

voice, sound ;

to call, name;

to call, name,make famous

k (e) l ;

-

k (a) l . ;

-

k (a) l .

-

-

Latin

calare

calare

to call, convoke

c (a) l .

Russian

голос

golos

voice, tone

g (o) l

English

to call

to call

c (o) l

< c (a) l

Old English

ceallian

to call,  shout

c (a) l

Old Norse

kalla

kalla

to call, name, say

k . (a) l

Dutch

kallen

kallen

to speak, say

k . (a) l

 

 

Proto-Semitic *QOL --- *KĂL- Indo-European

 

 

Of the various European words, Russian is rather near to Hebrew, be it with a suffix for the forming of a noun. The meaning is the same, "voice", the opening guttural is softer (G versus Q) , but the used vowel is again the same. The other languages have a verb that expresses the use of the voice , but Greek has a range of words that cover the full ground . But also in Hebrew the noun " qol " expresses the meaning of " that what is said, talk, gossip, rumour ".

 

European languages commonly use words for "voice" to make verbs that indicate the use of the voice. Examples are Latin "vox – vocare", Italian "voce – vociare", Greek "φωνη, phonč – φωνεω , phoneo". In Germanic we find German "Stimme – stimmen (to vote)" and others.

 

English and also Scandinavian show an interesting development on the basis of possibly the same root. Squeal and squall are forms of specific loud use of the voice, in which the "S" may be seen as a characteristic Germanic prefix, that this time has been used to diversify, specialize a message. Old Norse has a comparable "skvala= to cry, call, roar". Another development, without "S", is seen with the use of a prefix "H": Old Norse "hvellr = shouting, crying, loud". Old English had its "hwelan = to roar". By the way, Old English used "ceallian" for "to call, shout".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic is considered as having had the same root we see in Hebrew : "*ק ו ל , Q W L". The root "ק ל , Q L" in the sense of this entry is found in Phoenician, Aramaic, Syriac and Ugaritic . Ethiopian has "qāl". Akkadian "qālu = to shout, cry". OS Arabic "ק ו ל , Q W L". Finally Arabic has "qaul = speech, uttering, word" and "qāla = he said".

 

Note:
  • Greek and Hebrew. Also Greek has not forgotten the double meanings we find in Hebrew . The noun "κελαδος , kelados" carries both . It says "voice" as well as "noise". Besides that it covers " clear calling " . And there is of course the verb "κελαδεω , keladeo" that is a " louder " form of "kaleo " .

 

Note:
  • Russian and Hebrew. In both languages the main meaning is "voice", whereas that of "sound " is secondary. Russia is the Indo-European language that uses the vowel O like Hebrew .

 

Note:
  • Germanic and Hebrew. The Germanic verbs deal with the use of the voice. The other message, found in Hebrew and Russian, that of "sound" has not disappeared, but is dealt with by the use of an S as prefix. We see this in German "Schall = clear sound" and Dutch "schallen = to sound clearly".

 

Note:
  • Latin , like Greek, has developed other roots on the same basis , as those we find in for example " clamare = to call loudly, cry " , " clangere = to cry, make noise ( with voice )" and the adjective " clarus = loud ".

 

Note:
  • English "call" may not come from Old English, but from Old Norwegian " kalla " , to say, call.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic Nearly all Germanic languages that have this word, present "K A LL-", with the K-sound sometimes spelled "C" as in English "call". An exception is Old Frisian with "kell-a" and the spelling of Old English "ceall-ian". Proto-Germanic probably was "*K Ă LL-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European There is a lack of convincing contributions from other groups of languages. Old Indian "utsā-kalagh = rooster" should not be seen as related to "to call", like "the calling animal", but rather to Latin "gallus = rooster", that has no relation with the verb "calare". The hypothesis for Indo-European remains based on Greek, Latin and Germanic and is "*K Ă L-".

 

 

 

 
"...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: 21/05/2013 at 15.49.04