E 0238          DAY, DAWN

The words " day " and " dawn " are of Germanic origin .

H 1010            ח ח צ                     

Concept of root :  clear, daylight

 Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ח ח צ

tsaghagh

to be clear, splendid

Related English words

day, dawn

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ח ח צ

tsaghagh

to be clear, splendid

ts . gh . gh < ts . gh

Old English

dæg

day

d . g

English

day

day

d . y <

* d . g

German

Tag

tāg

day

t . g

Dutch

dag

dag

day

d . gh

 

 

Proto-Semitic *TSAGH --- *DĂGH Indo-European

 

 

This entry is related to E 0239 (Hebrew 1011),

 

The English word " day " comes from Old English "dæg " with the same meaning. It is one of the characteristics of English that a final G often has become Y. Also many initial G’s have had the same fate, as in "you".

 

There is a rather general opinion that the word "day" has been chosen for the characteristics of the phenomenon itself. Thus it referred to the period between dawn and dusk and the root should originally have meant something like "to shine, be brillant, having light". The word has in all probability been coined in climatic zones with more sun and generally more brillant days than seen in England today. The thesis is in harmony with the Hebrew root of this entry. The difference remains that Hebrew has a TS instead of a T or D.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. The root of this entry, "TS GH GH ", is an extended form of the original "TS GH". This last root is still present in the adjective " צ ח , tsagh" that stands for "clear, shining, brillant", exactly the concept that covers the complex of characteristics of a Middle East day.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew, besides extending, as noted, the root "TS GH" into "TS GH GH", also extended it into " צ ח ר , tsaghar", with the meaning of "to shine, whiten".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . As seen, our Hebrew root " צ ח ח , TS GH GH" has developed out of an earlier " צ ח, TS GH", that is present in the noun "tsagh = bright, clear, glowing, dazzling". In fact such a root is considered present in Proto-Semitic as "* צ ח , TS GH ".

     

    Both versions are found also in other Semitic languages. Examples are Aramaic " צ ח ח , tseghagh = was bright, shining" and " צ ח י ח , tseghiagh = shining, bright" as well as Syriac " צ ח , tsagh = it glowed" and " צ ח י ח א, tsaghigh'à = shining, bright".

 

 

Note:
  • English "day", like its sisterwords, only later has come to mean as well a 24-hours period. The words "to dawn" and "dawn" in Old English were the verb " dagian " and the noun "dagung". Here we have the clear meaning of the verb : "to become day, to become clear with light". Modern " to dawn " of course also has it figurative messages.

     

    The Old English verb "dagian" can be recognized in the actual Dutch sisterverb " dagen ".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic . English "day" comes from Old English "dæg". As often a final "G" in modern English has become an "Y". The other Germanic languages have or had "G", with the exception of Middle Dutch and Middle Low German that spelled the same sound as "CH" in "dach", Old Swedish that wrote "dōgher" and Middle High German that has "tac". The initial consonant usually is "D", with German using "T" in Tag", already seen in Old High German. The vowel is nearly always "A", besides Old Swedish as seen, Old Danish "dōger" and Old Frisian "dei, di", already pronounced like English "day" or alternatively as Milanese "di"!

     

    Proto-Germanic probably had "*D Ă G".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European . We gladly accept the existing hypothesis of a Indo-European "D/DH Ă GH" for"day", though there is not too much evidence. Old Indian is very far off with "áhar = day" and cannot be a basis for a generalized Indo-European " Ă GH " . The same goes for local Old Indian "áhan(i) = day". There is a supposition that Old Indian , and also Avestan azan- have lost the initial "D(H)". If this is right the Indo-European root is confirmed, but there is not a very strong reasoning behind this.

     

    Old Indian also has a verbal form ""dahati = he burns", that has a root "D A H" not far from " D A G" with a meaning that might be considered as related through the brightness of fire to the brightness of the day. Interesting words can be found though in Baltic, where the combination "D A G" indicates "summer, summer warmth". Old Prussian "dagus" is interesting, if we recall that the basic meaning of other words for "day" lies in the brightness of the light after the night.

     

    Latin "dies= day", Greek "ενδιος, endios = midday", from the same root, Old Indian "dína- = day" and Russian "день, djènj = day", are related among each other and are based on a different root of uncertain definition, beginning with a " D ", and using a vowel " Ī ", possible diphthonging and an extension by " N ". This is also seen as related to the words for God that are Latin "deus" and Greek "Zeus". The reason is that the Brightness of Divinity is or is like the Brightness of the Day.

 

 

 

 
"...the town, to which was given the name Babel, because it was there that the Lord confused the language of all the world on the face of which He dispersed them. GENESIS 11,9"
 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 14/12/2012 at 11.59.18