E 0872          (TO)  STEER

The verb " to steer " is of Germanic origin .

H 0943                 ר ט ש                

Concept of root : governing

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ר ט ש

shathar

to enforce law, govern

Related English words

to steer

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ר ט ש

shathar

to govern, enforce law

sh . th . r

English

to steer

to steer

s t . r

Dutch

sturen, besturen

stüren ;

bestüren

to steer ;

to govern

s t . r

Swedish

styra

stüra

to steer, govern

s t . r

Old Norse

stjōrn;

-

stüra

-

stjōrn;

-

stüra

-

government, household; to govern, possess

s t . r

 

 

Proto-Semitic *SHATHAR --- *STŪR- Proto-Germanic

 

 

We will no more find this root with this meaning used in modern Hebrew . Today a " ש ט ר , shәtar, stands for a "banknote" or a "written act".

 

The Bible in Job 38.33 says "mishethar = authority" and in Deuteronomium 1.15 has "shotherim = officials". In Exodus 5.6 they are " foremen" who guide the workers. In Modern Hebrew again "mishtharà" stands for "police", a use based on Hebrew from the Middle Ages. The differences are the usual ones. The Hebrew verb uses two vowels and the Germanic ones have only one vowel. We know that also Hebrew has and had many verbal forms in which already in Biblical times one of the two vowels was greatly reduced into the sound that is usually indicated with the sign ә , a weak or dumb E. In the modern language that is now spoken in Israel by people of mainly European origin, this weak vowel is no more heard .

 

The second difference is that the S has become SH and that the T is aspired, becoming TH, though this is not heard either any more. Meanwhile the similarity stands out loud and clear in the meanings, especially in the comparison with Swedish.

 

One remark about German, that hardly uses the verb "steuern = to steer " for the action of Government. But we all know that most governments are especially active in the levying of taxes. Therefore the German word for taxes is very illustrating : "Steuer".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . The combination "SH TH R" in Hebrew carries the meanings of "government official", "to police" and "to punish" as well as "scriba". This root is also found in Aramaic and Syriac, be it with meanings more comparable to those that are present in modern Hebrew: "ש ט ר א, shetharà = document, deed, bond ". Akkadian "shathāru" also refers to a written "document". This root was probably used in Proto-Semitic : "*ש ט ר , SH TH R", but with the older meanings that are even related to Germanic.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic . The consonants in all older and newer Germanic languages are "ST" and "R". Between them the commonly found vowel is a long "Ū", sometimes spelled "Y" with only a small difference in pronunciation, as in Swedish "styra". The "I in "IU" of Gothic "stiurjan" is not a consonant but part of the function of vowel. The same goes for the "J" in the Old Norse noun "stjōrn" of our table. Middle Dutch besides "stuur" also used "stier", of which the vowel can be compared with the one in Swedish "styra". In fact the "Y" in that verb is a sound between the Dutch "ÜÜ" and "&298; ". In some cases we find a vowel "O" as in the Old English noun "stēor". But Danish, a language that more easily chooses "O" instead of "Y", than is the case in other Nordic tongues, has "styre, styr". Presumably Proto-Germanic had "*ST Ū R-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European . It has been tried to link the mentioned Germanic words to for example Greek "stauros = pole" because a pole stands firm and solid. And also to Old Indian "sthavira = thick, solid", but the semantic distance is too great. The comparison stays between Semitic and 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: 05/12/2012 at 17.19.17