E 0882          STURDY

The word " sturdy " is of Germanic origin .

H 0957                ר א ת                 

Concept of root : impressive aspect

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ר א ת

to’ar

of good, impressive aspect

Related English words

sturdy

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ר א ת

to’ar

of good, impressive  aspect

t . (‘) . r

Old High German

stūri

stūri

of good, impressive aspect, powerful, good looking

s t (u) r

English

sturdy

sturdy

s t (u) r

Dutch

stoer

stur

stalwart, stout (also to see )

s t (u) r

Swedish

stor ; storartad

stur ;

sturartat

big ; great, impressive

s t (o) r

Norwegian

stor ;

storartet

stur ; sturartet

big ; great, splendid

s t (o) r

 

 

Hebrew TO'AR --- *STŪR- Indo-European

 

 

Old High German and its cousins have added a prefix S to the original root, which is a very usual thing to do for them. We see the meaning in old times identical to Hebrew, but later on there are some shifts. Dutch mostly adds the reality to the aspect , that is the person is effectively as strong or valid as he seems. Swedish has given the basic word "stor" the actual meaning of " big ", but has a second constructed word to conserve the original one: " -artad" stands for " -natured " . "Storartad" would then mean "strongnatured" but is used to indicate the aspect.

 

Modern German "stur" instead says " unmoving, tough", but also " obtuse " and has shifted off considerably.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew "to’ar" in modern language has become more neutral, and the kind of aspect the person has is to be specified. But in Genesis 39: 6 Joseph is praised : "and Joseph was yephé to'ar weyephé mare'é", meaning " beautiful of build and beautiful to see". A common translation says : "well built and handsome".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. We lack sufficient information to make a hypothesis for Proto-Semitic.

 

Note:
  • English has gone fully into the reality of the person that also has its real aspect. The last part, "-dy" is a suffix.

     

    Somehow somebody has invented that a sturdy person is "stunned like a thrush drunk with grapes". And "thrush" in Latin is "turdus". Well, anybody who has seen such a thrush, that certainly forgets to sing (different from drunken men), will be impressed by the result, but there is no connection at all to the aspect and behaviour of a sturdy man.

 

Note:
  • Dutch. Contrary to what many think, this word "stoer" has nothing to do with another adjective "stuurs = surly, sullen" that has its own relatives in Norwegian "sturen" and Swedish "stursk".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. The consonants are the same in older and newer Germanic languages . The vowel is mostly "O", also in older tongues as Old Saxon "stōri", Old Norse "stōrr ( also meaning "big") . Though one finds in Old High German a vowel "U", related anyhow to "O", the latter remains the probable vowel in Proto-Germanic : "*ST Ō R-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European.

     

    Old Indian shows a cognate in "sthūra = big, heavy", with a sisterword "sthūla" that has an "L " instead of an " R ", an interchange which occurs frequently.

     

    Avestan has " "stūra = big, strong".

     

    Indo-European probably had the three consonant combination "S T R" and may have used a vowel "Ū" : "*S T Ū R-" for a concept indicating the combining of large size and strength.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 07/12/2012 at 15.51.49