E 0818          SIDE

The word " side " is of Germanic origin .

H 1009            - ד צ , ד צ                     

Concept of root : side

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

- ד צ , ד צ

tsad , tsid-

side

Related English words

side

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

-ד צ , ד צ

tsad, tsid-

side

ts . d

English

side

s(eiy)d

side

s . d

Old High German

sida

sėda

side

s . d

German

Seite

z(eiy)te

side

s . t

Swedish

sida

sėda

side

s . d

Middle Dutch

side

sėde

side

s . d

Dutch

zijde

z(ei)de

side

z . d

 

 

Proto-Semitic *TSAD, *TSID- --- *SĪD- Proto-Germanic

 

 

English is a language that as a habit changes many pronunciations without adapting the spelling of the influenced words. One of the most general changes is that of the vowel " I " in very many words. In the past this vowel was pronounced like it was in Latin, but also still is in perhaps all continental languages. Also sister- languages of English have changed the sound of many I’s into "EI" that in phonetic English a bit misleadingly is written "Ī". But German and Dutch , quoted above, consequently adapted also the spelling of the concerned words. Swedish maintained the classic pronunciation of the I .

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. We read above "tsad" and "tsid-". The point is that Hebrew nouns in declinations and when they have suffixes added, often change the used vowel. Such a second vowel may in practice be more frequently used than the basic one. In the case of "side" a "tsad" is just that, but the plural is "tsidim", and "my side" is "tsidė " ( the final " I " stands for English " I "!!).

     

    We have specified this because the vowel in the plural and in composed words is the same that is used in the Germanic tongues. This reinforces the thesis of common origin.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . This root is seen in Aramaic " צ ד ד א, tsidedā = side" and " צ י ד, tsed = beside, by" and in Syriac " צ א ד , tse'd = by, beside". It has a cognate in Arabic "tsadad = nearness, vicinity". This root may well have been in use in Proto-Semitic : "* צ ד , TS D". In our comparison the vowels are the Hebrew ones, that may have been in use in Proto-Semitic.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. Some German scholars think that the root of "side" meant "pending slack". This idea has been inspired by Old English "sid "that had a range of meanings, such as "long, wide, roomy, hanging down". We fail to see any semantic link with the human flanks. A girl may have wide hips and pending flesh. Or a man may have long flanks, but these concepts are not basic characteristics of "side" at all. Besides, Old English itself already had the word "side" simply for "side".

     

    In Dutch we still find the same word as Old English "sid" for "wide, roomy", from Middle Dutch "sijt" to modern "zijd". And in Old Norse we find "sidr" to share that other Old English meaning of "pending slack or low" . In Middle Low German , Old Frisian and Eastern Middle Dutch "side" with perhaps this same root also meant "low, deep".

     

    Another identical word "side" in Middle Dutch said "late", and this meaning is still very much actual in the Nordic tongues.

     

    Consequently we find three, perhaps four different meanings/roots for "side". But for the meaning that is related to Hebrew, to the word "tsad, tsid-", we find in older languages many words with a clear common origin. Old Norse "siða, Old Saxon "sīda", Old English, Old Frisian, Middle Low German, and Middle Dutch "sīde" and Old High German, introducing a "T" instead of the original "D", "sīta". Proto-Germanic probably had "*S Ī D-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. Indications for cognates in other groups of Indo-European seem not to be available. The comparison remains between Semitic and Germanic.

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 14/12/2012 at 11.47.39