E 1009          WOMB

The word " womb " is of Germanic origin .

H 0816             ם ח ר

Concept of root : childbearing

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ם ח ר

reghem;

ragham;

righèm

womb;

to love;

to have compassion;

Related English words

womb

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

     ם ח ר

reghem; ragham; righèm

womb;

to love;

to have compassion

r . gh . m

Latin

gremium

gremium

womb

g r . m

Russian

черево;

чрево

tsherewo;

tshrewo

womb

tsh . r . b;

tsh r . b

Italian

grembo

grembo

womb

g r . mb

Dutch

kraam- ;

kraambed

kraam ;

kraambed

childbirth-;

bed of childbirth

k r . m

Old Germanic

*wambo

wambo

womb

w . mb

English

womb

womb

w . mb

Old English

wamb

womb, heart, belly stomach

W . mb

 

 

Proto-Semitic *RAGHAM --- KRĀM- Dutch < *KRĀM- Proto-Germanic < *KRÈM- Indo-European

 

 

The various words for "womb" in the different tongues have acquired also figurative meanings, that are not fundamental for our considerations. Interesting are though the Hebrew ones, also found in Arab. We refer to this in entry E 0429 (Hebrew 0017) on "ahav = love". The root "R GH M" , following its basic meaning around childbearing, is also used for "motherly love" as distinct from other kinds of love. And as a consequence of this concept of altruistic and complete love it talks about "be full of compassion, merciful".

 

Between the Hebrew version and the European ones we see what we tend to consider a metathesis : "G R" < > "R GH". This is not a very frequent occurrence, but it happens now and then.

 

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic is thought to have used "*ר ח ם , R GH M" just as we see in Hebrew. It is to be noted that whereas about all Semitic languages use with this root the vowel "A", ( in Hebrew also "E"), Arabic has "raghim-" and "righm- ". Interesting is that Akkadian with "remu, rimu " does not have, or has lost the central GH, as it seems. It expresses besides "womb" also the concept of "mercy, compassion" for which other tongues use a plural, that also sometimes means "bowels". Aramaic and Syriac as so often add a final Aleph in "ר ח ם א, ragham'à (A), regham'à (S) = womb".

 

Note:
  • Latin. "Gremium" consists of two parts. The suffix "-ium" qualifies as related to "grem". A word "grem" is no more found. "Gremium" itself is used to express the concepts of cure and safety that are characteristic for a "mother" and this is culturally comparable to the development of Hebrew "reghem".

     

    For "gremium" also a derived meaning of "lapful" had developed in Latin. This has led to further derived meanings as "armful, sheave".

 

Note:
  • Russian "TSH" frequently corresponds with "G" or "K" in other European languages. Therefore the similarity is strong. The use of the Russian word "tshrewo" has been slanglike extended to "belly" and "stomach".

 

Note:
  • Germanic shows us two different words. The hypothetic Old Germanic word "*wambo" , and English "womb" have an initial W versus the Latin G (or Hebrew GH). This is not at all unusual. But it is unclear why and how the R was lost, if it has been there before . Thus the similarity between English " womb " and the other words of this entry remains small and therewith the possibility of them being cognates .

     

    The other root is found in Dutch only and shows similarity with Hebrew.

 

Note:
  • Italian, a language that can be considered a natural development of Latin, yet has received much input from Germanic speakers, like the Longobards and, a bit less, the Goths. In "grembo" it gives an example of combined influence, accepting to pronounce "Latin "grem" with a final MB as in Germanic.

 

Note:
  • Dutch "kraam" is a special case. Scholars consider this "kraam" to be the same word as "kraam" in entry GD 1060 (Hebrew 0774), that means "marketstall". Their reasoning is that women gave birth behind a curtain, a curtain was comparable to the cover of a market-stall. Thus "clothwoman" became the specific word for a woman at childbirth. Desperate etymologic reasoning may lead to oddities !

     

    We have seen the origin of the word "kraam" for market-stall in GD 1060 (Hebrew 0774). Besides this, stalls are open to show the wares, not closed to hide them. Thus if a woman in childbirth in small houses was hidden from the other kids by a curtain, this is a practice opposed to that of stalls. On top of that stalls, once they came to be used, no more had the spreaded cloth that was a "kraam" originally, on the ground as in less-developed countries, but a tarpaulin above to protect the wares against rain. And anyhow, in the composed Dutch word " marktkraam = marketstall ", the second word is related to the noun " Kramer = vendor , he who sells ".

     

    "Kraam" in Dutch , as said in the specific word , is used in composed words regarding childbirth, like "kraamvrouw = woman in childbirth or who just had a child", "kraambed" as her bed, "kraambezoek" as her visitors, "kraamverpleegster" as the nurse assisting her and many others. We think it is obvious that this "kraam" is related to the other words of this entry, with which it shows interesting similarities. And this is just one of many cases in which we find a specific word only in Dutch.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic The supposed Proto-Germanic "*wambo" is not too convincing. In Middle Dutch and Middle Low German "wamme", Dutch "wam" and Danish "wam" with comparable meanings, the "B" is not present. There are other instances of a "B" having been added to a final "M", as in English "lamb". Middle High German had three versions, "wamme, wambe, wampe" . Proto-Germanic must have had "*W A M-" , though a second version "*W A MB" may have begun to develop. The other root, "K R M", that is so much nearer to Semitic, also in its specific field of application, is found specifically in Dutch and as "C R M" in Middle Dutch. Besides "*W A MB-", Proto-Germanic may well have had as well "*KR A M-" .

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. The information from Latin, Slavic and Germanic leads to a hypothesis of "*K R M-" or "*G R M". The words of this entry, with the meaning of "womb", are often seen as related to a group of words from various Indo-European languages that have a root with "G R M" and say "heap, multitude, community, large size" and various others. This has no semantic link at all to "womb" and cannot be taken into consideration.

     

    Old Indian for "womb" has the word "gárbha-" that is certainly related.

     

    It is quite possible that the Germanic "K" corresponds to an older "G" and that the Germanic vowel "A" is the successor of an "E". Thus Indo-European may have had a form "*G R Ē M", though a version with vowel "A" cannot be excluded.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 31/12/2012 at 16.09.32