E 0813          (TO)  SHORE

The verb " to shore" is, via Middle Dutch, of Germanic origin.

H 0889            ן ע ש

Concept of root : support

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ן ע ש;

ן ע ש ו

sha‛an;

sho‛èn

to support;

to supporting

Related English words

to shore

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ן ע ש;

ן ע ש ו

sha‛àn;

sho‛èn

to support;

supporting

sh . (‛) . n

English

to shore

to shore

sh . r

Dutch

schoor;

schoren

skhoor; skhoren

support ;

to support

skh . r

Old High           German

scorenstein

scorenstein

chimney-support

sc . r n

German

Schorn-

stein

shornstein

chimney

sh . r n

Old Norse

skorda

skortha

support,

to support

sk . r d

Nordic

skorsten

skorsten

chimney

sk . r

 

 

Hebrew *SHA‛ÀN, *SHŌ‛ÈN --- *SKŎR-N Proto-Germanic

 

 

This entry is related to number E 0812 (Hebrew 0950), in which a further developed similarity is present. This verb "sha‛àn" means "to support". Then the passive form " נ ש ע ן , nishәàn = to lean on " and the causative form " ה ש ‛ י ן, hish‛in = to support ". Two nouns are " מ ש ע ן , mishә‛àn = support" and " מ ש ע נ ת , mishə‛enet = stick, crutch ". With that the root and its meaning are sufficiently clear.

 

The first difference with the Germanic roots is that the Hebrew guttural introduction of a vowel, the guttural ע , Ayin, corresponds with the Dutch guttural R . The second is that Hebrew has a third consonant , N , that is not used in English and Dutch, but in fact is found in German.

 

Note:
  • English "to shore" has been lent from Middle Dutch.

 

Note:
  • German and Dutch have a composed word for "chimney" that is respectively "Schornstein" and "schoorsteen". It meant originaly the "supporting stone" for a chimney, directly above the fire. The root of the first part is the one of this entry.

 

Note:
  • Nordic . Swedish, Norwegian and Danish have the same word "skorsten", behaving like Dutch, not like German. The older words, like Old Norse "skorda" are no more present.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew and German share also the third consonant of the root, the N . This reinforces the similarity, though we see no certain explanation. It is not certain at all, that the group of Indo-European languages has split "en bloc" from the Semitic group. There are many indications of similarity between Hebrew and Greek or Hebrew and Germanic that are not shared with the other Indo-European sub-groups.

     

    Possibly the N was there before Germanic and Hebrew fully lost contact and has been abandoned later by Dutch and Low German, but not by High German. But this is just guessing.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. We lack information that might allow a hypothesis for Proto-Semitic different from Hebrew.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. As usual, the initial consonant(s) in older and newer Germanic languages vary from "SK" to "SH" and "SGH (spelled SCH)". The following vowel is "O" and the closing consonant is "R". Though Hebrew already shows the sound "SH" as in English and German , the impression is that Proto-Germanic had "SK" and that some languages, like English, then "returned" to "SH" as well. Proto-Germanic may have had "*SK Ŏ R-", but it is quite possible that the final " N " was present : "*SK Ŏ R- N-

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. We lack information that might allow a hypothesis for Indo-European different from Proto-Germanic.

 

 

 

 
"...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: 02/01/2013 at 11.29.18