E 0767          SCEIDAN

The Old English verb “ sceidan “ is of Germanic origin .

H 0937             ע ס ש                                 

Concept of root : splitting

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ע ס ש

shas‛à

shis‛è ;

shes‛à

to be split ;

to split ;

split

Related English words

Old English  : sceidan

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ע ס ש

shas‛à ;

shis‛è ;

-

shes‛à

to be split ;

to split, lacerate ;

split

sh . s (‛) .

Greek

σχιζω

skhizo

to split, lacerate

skh . z

Latin

scindere ;

-

 scissus

-

skindere ;

-

 skissus

-

to split, lacerate ;

split, lacerated

sc . nd  ;

-

sc . s <

sc . c

Old English

sceidan

to separate, divide, split

sc . d

German

scheiden

sh(ei)den

to separate, divide, split

sh . d

Middle Dutch

scheen, scheien, scheden scheiden

sghén , sgh(ei)en ;

sghéden ;

sgh(ei)den

to separate, divide, split

sch . (‘). ;

sch . d

 

 

Proto-Semitic *SHAS‛À --- *SKEI- Indo-European

 

 

A broad interface , with Greek, Latin and Germanic present in sharing the same root as Hebrew. The development shows yet some complications, as seen in the following notes.

 

 

Note:
  • Greek. We see no reason to suppose that Greek “skhizo” comes from a root “skeid-“ , being thus related to the verb “σκεδαννυμι , skedannümi“ that means “ to disperse, dissipate”, although this verb has been used by Aiskhylos for “ to break into pieces”. This is still quite different from the concept of “ to split “. The similarity with Hebrew helps us to come to the conclusion that this dental D has been added later. In Latin there is a similar case.

 

Note:
  • Latin. More than in Greek, a D appears here in the verb “scindere”, but is not present in the participle “scissus”. Our hypothesis is that the infinitive of a root “sc . s “ was not a likable form to pronounce, so that a D, or rather a nasalized D , ND, was introduced and absorbed the S. This is also demonstrated by the fact that the perfect tense “scidi” first was “scicidi”.

 

Note:
  • Middle Dutch has more versions to offer us. It uses the root with or without the dental D. The tendency of scholars is to say that the D has been eliminated . This is thought because in modern language the version with D is the only official one, but in popular language people will still say “scheien”. We daresay that the D has come later and that the forms without D were older.

     

    An indication for this is found in the meanings of the word, that comprehend not only the “to separate, divide” of German “scheiden”, but also “to split”. Thus the picture seems clear. The root without dental meant “ to split”, as in Greek and Hebrew. Then dentals were introduced for two reasons, like better pronunciation in Latin and diversifying in Germanic.

     

    Only Dutch maintained the version without dental and with the old meaning of “ to split”. The other Germanic tongues abandoned this and used a different root, “S P L . T” for “to split”.

     

    A broad interface , with Greek, Latin and Germanic present in sharing the same root as Hebrew. The development shows some complication, as seen in the following notes.

     

    But also Middle Dutch used this extended root "S PL.T " In the verbs " spliten" and " splitten" , both saying " to split ".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . This root is also present in Aramaic, be it with a somewhat different message, in "ש ס ע, shas‛à,= he tore apart". This gives a, be it narrow basis for a hypothesis that it was used in Proto-Semitic "*ש ס ע , SH S Ayin" .

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. There is agreement that in the verb “scheiden” the D has been added later. As hypothetical original root for Indo European we see “ * skei “ with the meaning of “ *to cut, divide “. We can only agree and this confirms our hypothesis regarding Greek and Latin. For Proto-Germanic this means a form "*SK Ē -" and "*SK Ī-", in different verbal forms and nouns. But it is possible that a final " D " had begun to be added : "*SK Ē D-".

     

    The message of “scheiden” is weaker that that of “to split”, that instead has a sister in German “spalten”. We must look into Middle Dutch to clear the picture better.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European There are a few more informations that reinforce the existing hypothesis "*S K/KH EI-".

     

    Old Indian has "skhadate = to split". Another word, "chinátti = to split, cut off, chop, pierce" sometimes is seen as related, but it has a too different root to justify this.

     

    Greek. A verb that is often mentioned in relation to "to split", is "σκεδαννυμι , skedannümi, but it says "to disperse, drive away, expel" and , rarily, "to shatter" which is also quite different from "to split". Thus "skhizo" remains the word of reference.

     

    Slavic. We see a Russian "расщеплать, rasshtsheplyatj = to split", in which the last part seems to carry already the basic meaning of "to split", but does not look as much like the words of this entry as like English "split".

     

    Baltic has a hypothesis of "*shtshed-" according to the centum-satem idea. But Lithuanian "skiesti = "to divide, split" does contradict this.

 

 

 

 
"...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: 04/12/2012 at 17.34.02