E 0890          (TO)  SWEAR

The verb " to swear " is of Germanic origin .

H 0891            ע י ב ש ה , ע ב ש *

Concept of root : swearing

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ע י ב ש ה ; ע ב ש *

shaw‛à; hishbi‛a

to swear; to make swear, demand insistently

Related English words

to swear

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ע ב ש *;

ע י ב ש ה

shaw‛à ;

hishbi‛a

to swear; to make swear, demand insistently

sh . w (‛);

sh b . (‛)

Old English

swerian

to swear

s w . r

English

to swear

to swear

s w . r

German

schwoeren

shw(eu)ren

to swear

sh w . r

Dutch

zweren ;

bezweren

zwéren;

bezwéren

to swear;

to make swear, demand insistently

z w . r

 

 

Proto-Semitic *SHAW‛À --- *SWĒR- Indo-European

 

 

The guttural R of English corresponds , as third consonant of the roots of this entry , with the guttural Ayin in Hebrew. This is one of the forms of parallel development between Indo European and Semitic languages.

 

There are two more differences . First we see an S in English versus a SH in Hebrew. But if we look at German we see SCH, that sounds SH.

 

Secondly we see one vowel only in English versus two in Hebrew. This is an important difference in many verbal and nominal forms, but it does not touch the common origin. There are also forms in Hebrew that do in fact have only one vowel. We see them both in the Bible and in Modern Hebrew: "shәh‛ò" that becomes "shw‛ò" today in the forms used for the future tense and the infinitive. The habitual presentation of Hebrew roots is the one of the third person male singular in the past tense, and that has two vowels, mostly twice an A.

 

We see no reason to suppose that the verb "shaw‛à" for "to swear" might have been derived from "shev‛à" , via some sort of "swearing seven oaths".

 

Note:
  • Hebrew and Dutch show the nearest kinship regarding both the basic meaning of the root and that of the composite verbs, that each has made in its own way.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This root is recognizable in Aramaic "א ש ת ב ע , ishteba‛ = he swore". Ugaritic also used this root for the same meaning and it may well have been in use in Proto-Semitic: "*ש ב ע , SH B Ayin".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. In order to define the possible Proto-Germanic form we must take into consideration the following information. The verbs for "to swear" in Germanic languages are strong verbs. The infinitive forms have an initial "SV-" in Northern Germanic and "SW-" in Gothic and West Germanic, with two common exceptions: Modern German became "SCHW-, shw" and Dutch "ZW-". The difference in pronunciation between Nordic "SV" and continental "SW" is as good as negligible. Then the closing consonant is always "R".

     

    The in between vowel is nearly always an E-sound, in the North much like also heard in English "to swear", on the continent rather a long "Ē". The E-sound may be spelled as "Æ" or "Ä", but pronounced "'E", just as Swedish "svärja" is pronounced "swèrja". But there are exceptions. Gothic (East Germanic) had "swaran" and in Middle Dutch there were as usual various forms: "sweren, zweren, swaran". Finally, modern German changed into "schwören". This is to be considered a peculiar development, as in many other Germanic languages the vowel "O" and "U" are used to express the past tense and other verbal forms as well as sometimes nouns. Yet the same seems to have happened in Faroese "svørja". See further English "swore, sworn", Old English "swor, sworen", Gothic "swor", Old Norse "sór", Old Swedish "svuren, svoren, suren, soren", Old High German "gisworan", German "schwor, schwur, geschworen", Dutch "zwoer (zwur) , gezworen".

     

    Presumably Proto-Germanic had "*S W Ē R-", while using other vowels, especially "O" and "U" in various verbal and nominal forms.

 

Note:
  • B, W, V. We know, and it is seen in many words in this list of similarities, that B, W and V can substitute each other, according to the position in a word. The most clever solution is the Spanish one. If we read an initial B or V, that does not make any difference, as the pronunciation is the same, properly inbetween the two, or perhaps better combining the two. For a B, the lips touch each other. For a V the upper teeth touch the lower lip. For the Spanish B and V both the upper lip and the upper teeth touch the lower lip and the problem is solved.

     

    The Russians and the modern Greeks have turned most B’s into W’s. The Jews pronounce isolated B’s as W in the middle of a word, and all B’s at the end of a word between W and V. For the clarity we sometimes indicate in the roots the real sound instead of the written character.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European languages, outside Germanic do not seem to offer much information regarding similar words with the meaning of "to swear". It has been tried to link to "to swear" Greek "ερμενευω, hermèneuo= to explain, translate", Slavic "*svariti = to scorn", Tocharian "thsärp = to inform, explain" and Latin "sermo = speech, address", but their messages are too far off to give a solid basis.

     

    The similarity remains with Germanic "*swer-" and Indo-European may have had a predecessor "*S W Ē R-"

 

 

 

 
"...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: Saturday 2 February 2013 at 9.42.16