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E 0944 TRUMPET
The word " trumpet " is, via
Old French, of Germanic origin .
H 0976 ע ר ת
Concept of root : sounding instruments
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ע; ר ת
ע ר ת ו
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tar‛à;
tora‛à
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to play
a wind-instrument;
playing
a wind-instrument
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Related English words
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trumpet,
from French
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Comparison between European words and
Hebrew
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Languages
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Words
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Pronunciation
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English meanings
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Similarity in roots
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Hebrew
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ע; ר ת
ע ר ת ו
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-
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tar‛à;
tora‛à
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to sound ; sounding
(a wind-
instrument)
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t . r (‛) .
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Greek
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θροος
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thro’os
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concert, sound, noise
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th r . (‘)
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Old High German
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trumba
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trumba
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trumpet
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t r . mb
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French
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trompe, trompette
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tromp,
trompèt
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trumpet
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t r . mp
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English
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trumpet
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trumpet
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t r . mp
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Proto-Semitic *TAR‛À --- *TRŬB- Proto-Germanic < *TRŌ- Indo-European
The first two consonants are the same between Hebrew on one side and Greek with Old High German on the other. In the first there is a vowel between them , in the second not, according to common developments of the two groups. In Modern Hebrew pronunciation of the infinite and future tenses that vowel has also disappeared.
The most important difference is that Hebrew has the nearly soundless guttural Ayin as third consonant, Greek the soundless interruption that in Hebrew is called an Aleph, while Old High German has a B, that even has been nasalized into MB. This just means that the common origin lies far back . In all probability the Germanic final labial, a B or also P, is a later development.
Note:
- Hebrew. There is a very interesting related word, that uses the same root of this entry : "*ת ר ו ע ה , trū‛à". This memans "shout, alarm", but also the sound or series of sounds of the shofar or a trumpet. Thus it touches both music and other human sounds/noise making.
Note:
- Proto-Semitic. We lack information from other Semitic languages that would support the hypothesis for Proto-Semitic that now remains based on just Hebrew : "*ת ר ע , T R Ayin". There is an identical root with Semitic sisters and cognates, but its meaning "to break (through), split" has no semantic link to the playing of wind instruments.
Note:
- Latin. There is a supposition that at the basis of "trumpet" there would be Latin "tuba" that also says "trumpet". The R and the M would then have been inserted to better imitate the sound of the instrument. The similarity with the Hebrew root makes improbable this idea that in itself seems already far-fetched. The word "tuba" from Latin lives on, also in English, as the name for a different and larger wind-instrument. It is not clear to what extent it is related to Latin "tubus" is "tube". A "tubus" was especially a tube used for conducting water.
Note:
- Greek and Hebrew. Greek " thro’os" has a wider back-ground of sound than that of playing an instrument and having a concert. But also the Hebrew root is used in words for sounds as that of an applause or acclamation or a voiced protest, as well as an alarm. The distance is indeed small.
Note:
- English and French. French, like Italian and others, has loaned the root from an older Germanic tongue, and has put it in use both as "tromp" and as "trompette". Both are found in English with a vowel U, but Middle English had an O. We see that Middle Dutch used all four versions, standard and diminutive each with either O or U, so that the word may have traveled not only via French. Yet anyhow the diminutive "trumpet" comes from French, that practices this kind of suffix "-ette ", just as Italian uses " -etta ".
Note:
- Proto-Germanic. In older Germanic languages one sees Old High German "trumpa" and an uncertain Old Franconian "*trumpa = tube". Further there is Old Norse "trumba". Proto-Germanic may have had a form "*TR Ŭ MB-" or "*TR Ŭ B-".
Note:
- Indo-European. The indication from Greek is "TH R (O)". If the supposition that Germanic added to the original form a "B/P" that was later nasalized with an " M ", is right, Indo-European may have been like Greek : "*T RŌ-" .
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 03/01/2013 at 17.08.05 |
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