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E 0906 THEATRE
The word " theatre " is of
Greek origin .
H 1016 ה פ צ
Concept of root : viewing
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ה פ צ
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tsaphà ;
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tsippà
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to
look out, observe, keep watch;
to expect, hope
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Related English words
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theatre
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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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ה פ צ
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tsaphà
;
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-
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tsippà
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to look out, observe, keep watch ;
to expect, hope
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ts . ph .
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Greek
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θεα <
*θαFα
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thea<
* thava
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view, sight
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th (e)- <
* th . v
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Latin
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specio, specere;
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specto, spectare;
exspecto, exspectare
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specio, specere;
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specto, spectare;
exspecto, exspectare;
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to see, look;
to behold, consider; look out after;
to expect, hope for
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s p e-(c)
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English
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theatre
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theatre
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th . ( t r )
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Proto-Semitic *TSAPÀ --- *SPĒCERE Latin < Indo-European SPĒK- ".
The Greek noun is what the Hebrew verb deals with. Important is that we see the labial "Waw" in older Greek, that might correspond with the PH in Hebrew. But the similarity in sound and form is not by far as unequivocal as one would prefer. It is difficult to discern or define a convincing common origin.
The English word " theatre ", based on Greek " theatron " , is at best a very far relative of the other words of this entry, as " theatron " has developed on the basis of the Greek verb "thea" .
Note:
- Latin and Hebrew . We compare here Hebrew "TS . P" with Latin "S P ". A message of "to see, view, look", is seen in the very well known noun "species", that has as its first and basic meaning that of "the seeing, the look". And also in our verb "specio" that means "to see, look". Then, on this basis we see a development of "look, see" into "expect, hope" both in Latin and in Hebrew. In this language this is realized by the diversification of meaning between the standard form "tsaphà" and the intensified form "tsippà".
In Latin we see in the mentioned verb "specio, spexi, spectum, specere" = to see, to look" and in the noun "species = look, appearance, image, species" a longer root "S P (E) C-", related via metathesis with Greek "skeptomai = to see, look". This makes a development in time from "seeing" to "expecting" less obvious, but leaves the semantic link possible.
Latin "specio" has an intensive version "specto, spectare" = "to consider, look at, comtemplate" plus further figurative meanings. This is also at the basis of English "expectation" and of course "spectator".
Note:
- Greek and Hebrew . In Greek "thea" we do not find clearly the common development of messages as seen between Hebrew and Latin. The similarity in sound or form is indeed also more vague, between " TS . P" and "TH . V".
Note:
- Proto-Semitic This root is present in Aramaic " צ פ י , tsephé = he looked out". In Akkadian we see "tsubbu = to look at" with the B that is nearer to Greek . Ethiopian "tasafawa = he hoped" seems to be related. The Hebrew root was probably already used in Proto-Semitic: "* צ פ ה , TS P Hé (accentuated vowel)".
The pronunciation of the second consonant should have been the original " P ", though we have no specific information in this sense.
Note:
- Indo-European. The existing hypothesis is "*SP Ē K-".
Old Indian presents "spáśti = he sees, looks". The "Ś" corresponds with th Latin K-sound.
Avestan "spasyeiti = to look intensily". Also here the " S " corresponds with the Latin K-sound.
Proto-Germanic. German has the verb "spähen, shpēhen = to look sharply at ...". A Dutch verb "spieden" is seen as related, with just the infix " D ", but it is a step further away. Its predecessor in older language was "spien". This verb had indeed the same basic meaning as Latin "specere" and German "spähen". Old High German had "spehon". The probable form in Proto-Germanic was "*SP Ē H-".
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 07/02/2013 at 16.10.23 |
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