0973_taphas page

E 0910 THIEF

The word " thief " is of Germanic origin .

H 0973 ש פ ת , ס פ ת

Concept of root : unallowed grabbing

Hebrew word		pronunciation				English meanings
ש; פ ת , ס פ ת ח פ ט ל פ ט		taphas; thaphagh thaphal				to grab; palm of the hand to spread, smear(by hand)

Related English words				thief

Comparison between European words and Hebrew
Languages	Words		Pronunciation		English meanings		Similarity in roots
Hebrew	ס פ ת, פ ש; ת ח פ ט - ל פ ט -		taphas ; - théphagh - théphal -		to grab ; - palm of the hand to spread, smear ( by hand )		t . ph . s < t . ph t .* ph . gh < th . ph t .* ph . l < *th . ph
English	thief				thief		th . f
German	Dieb		dìb		thief		d . b
Dutch	dief		dìf		thief		d . f
Middle Dutch	tafel		tafel		palm of the hand		t . f . (l)
Norwegian	tyv		tìv		thief		d . v
Swedish	tjuv		yüv		thief		tj . v

Proto-Semitic TAPAS --- TŎB-, *DŎB- Indo-European

Proto-Semitic THAPAL --- TAFEL Middle Dutch

When the grabbing is done by a man : he grabs a girl and "lies down" with her, if he is discovered he shall marry her and can never divorce her, says the Bible. This is certainly unallowed grabbing, like a thief does in stealing. Yet the interface is narrow, with the same root used for who is "sustaining" a battle or "holding " a musical instrument. This is one of those roots that have a number of uses.

There is no explanation for the origin of the English word "thief" or its sisterwords. But somewhere it has originated. Some suppose it has to do with a hypothetical Indo European root "*teup" that means "to cower, hide". Only in Baltic some word is found that might have this origin. Not in Germanic though. The essential of the action is not that he hides, but that he takes away something illegally. And this basically with his hands.

Note:

Hebrew and Dutch . Let us now look at Hebrew to see if there is some further indication for the set of the first two consonants, "T + P" . There exists a root "TH P" indicating the human hand. We know that T and TH may be related. The words are "ט פ ח , TH P GH, théphagh" for "handpalm" and "ט פ ל , TH P L, thaphal" for "to smear by hand". The concept of the human hand can well be related to the activity of "grabbing" or what a thief does.

The supposition in this entry is that using the hand to grab , even against the rules, is a message that stood at the origin of the two-consonant combination "T . P", with a variation "TH . P", that we find here.

The Middle Dutch word " tafel " means " table " in a lot of senses. But there is the identical word " tafel " of this entry with the meaning of "palm of the hand" that is directly related to the Hebrew words we just mentioned . In modern Dutch remained the Middle Dutch verb "taffelen" = to beat, strike", obviously done with the hand, while this same meaning is served in Hebrew by "ט פ ח , TH P GH, thaphagh". This is all related to this old root with which the hand or the palm of the hand is indicated. There are in Hebrew more words for "hand" and "palm of the hand".

Note:

Hebrew . In modern language the usage of this root has shifted . It still says "to grasp", but also "to take, include, understand".

Note:

Proto-Semitic. The root "T P S" is present in Aramaic "ת פ ס , tephas = he seized, took hold of". It may have been so in Proto-Semitic:"*ת פ ס , T P S".

Also the root "*ט פ ל , TH P L" certainly was in use in the old language. The pronunciation of the middle consonant was the original one: " P ". This is seen in Akkadian "tapālu = to besmear", also used figuratively.

Hebrew developed a second version, with initial " T " instead of " TH ", as it seems not present in other Semitic languages.

Note:

Proto-Germanic. As very often in Germanic languages we see also here an initial dental that varies from "D" to "T" and to "TH" that in itself can sound as in "the" or as in "thief". In this case the "T" is Danish, with Norwegian having loaned this word besides using its own "tjuv", that is also seen in Swedish. This "TJ" is rather composed as "T" + "JU", a development out of "U". The initial dental is or was pronounced near to the "TH" in "there" in Old Norse "ðjofr", Old Swedish "ðiūver", Icelandic "ðjofur", Old English "ðēof" and also in East Germanic (Gothic) *ðiufs". This indicates an original "D", though also that may have been pronounced constantly or rather at times, as "Ð".

On the continent one finds "D" in German "Dieb" and Dutch "dief" with their predecessors. An initial "D" seems probable for Proto-Germanic. The closing consonant of the root varies as well. When it is "F" this may indicate an original "P" or "B", but as in other cases we see either "V" that indicates "B" or directly "B", the probable origin lies in a "B". This "B" is also present in Gothic "ðiubs, pl. ðiubos".

The vowel often is of double sound, as "JO"; "IU/IY" ; IO; EO,JU and this may indicate a development out of earlier "U" or "O". The long " Ī "-sound in newer languages is a natural development . German "Dieb" comes from Old High German "diob", "thief" from "ðēof". The basic road is from "O" via "IO" to "I". Presumably Proto-Germanic had "*D Ŏ B-", but the development into "*D IŎ B- may already have taken place.

Note:

Indo-European. Outside Germanic we see no clearly recognizable cognates. Russian тать , tatj = thief, robber" is not easy to link to English "thief".

Interesting is Celtic in relation to the second couple of words of this entry, with Dutch "tafel" = "palm of the hand". The fact is that words indicating the (palm of ) the hand can lead to words meaning "to grab, to steal". Celtic has the tendency to abolish the consonant " P " and indeed we see the existence of Old Irish "téol = thievery" and "tlenaid = he steals" , Celtic "*tetlu-" and Pre-Celtic "*tewpl-" have been supposed, but this remains too far from Germanic to justify a different guess for Indo-European that perhaps may just have had "*D Ŏ B-" or "*T Ŏ B-.

Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 07/02/2013 at 14.32.43