E 0941          TROPHO-

The first wordpart " tropho-" is of Greek origin .

H 0999             ף ר ט                    

Concept of root : procuring food

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ף ר ט

tharaph ;

thereph ;

to rip, tear off, to eat;

food

Related English words

none

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ף ר ט

tharaph ;

-

thereph

to rip, tear off , to eat ;

food

th . r . ph

Greek

τρεφω ,

τροφη,

θρεψις

trepho ;

trophè ,

thrèpsis

to feed ;

food

-

t r . ph;

th r . ph

th r . p s

Russian

травить ;

-

-

отрывать ,

-

оторвать;

отрувать

-

trawitj ;

-

-

otrŭwatj;

-

otorwatj ;

otruwatj

-

to hunt; to forage in the fields;

to rip, tear off;

to pluck;

to chop off, cut off

t r . w <

*t r . b

-

. t r . w <

*. t r . b ,

. t . r  w <

*. t . r b

-

 

 

Proto-Semitic *THAREP --- *TRĒP- Indo-European

 

 

The original meaning of this important Hebrew root is that of procuring oneself food from nature. In the old pre-Biblical times of hunting and gathering the root in fact must have served both systems. We see the word " thereph " for "just gathered (food) " as well as for "prey". And in the Bible it stands for "food" in general, just as the Greek word "trophè".

 

If we look into the way of getting meat to eat, we know that the prey must be ripped and the flesh torn off. The verb "tharaph" says precisely this .

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. Interesting is that according to the , more recent, Jewish rules regarding which food can be eaten and which not, many "preys" also become excluded. Perhaps also for this reason, besides the fact that animals that already have been killed by predators anyhow may not be eaten, the word "tharaph" is also used to indicate forbidden food in general.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic. This root is seen in Aramaic , as in " ט ר י פ א, theriphà = torn animal, torn flesh". Arabic in "tharafa" uses also this root, but with a bit further off related meanings, like the "grazing of a camel" and "fresh plucking", also found in Hebrew. The root may well have been used in Proto-Semitic: "* ט ר פ , TH R P".

     

    Though there are no indications from other languages regarding a pronunciation of the third consonant " P ", it remains probable that this original version was present in Proto-Semitic. In the comparison we use two vowels " A " and " E ", which might be the right version.

 

Note:
  • Greek. The roots "T R PH " and "TH R PS" stand for "food". There is no indication of earlier different or preparatory meanings as seen in Hebrew. A verb with a somewhat different root indicates the obtaining of pleasure, confort or satisfaction, that indeed can be obtained also by food and drink : "τερπω, terpo", but is of fully different origin. It has cognates in Old Indian with a root "tarp-, trp-" for the concept of "satisfaction".

 

Note:
  • Russian, different from Greek, has maintained those other meanings, that were so essential in the hunt and gather days : those of hunting and of foraging in the fields, of ripping and tearing off as well as of plucking and snatching. Then a version with the more open vowel U became reserved for a more intense action of chopping.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. A combination "*T E R P-" is supposed for the concepts of satisfaction and prosperity, though we would rather limite ourselves to the first one. Regarding the, basically succesful, collection of food there may have existed a "*T R Ē P-".

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 07/02/2013 at 14.58.06