E 0877          STRAIT

The word " strait " is, via Old French, of Latin origin

H 1018               ר ר צ , ר צ                 

Concept of root : narrowness

 Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ר צ

-

ר ר צ

-

tsar;

-

tsarar

-

strait, narrow ; anguish, distress;

to be in straits, narrow ;

in anguish, distress

Related English words

strait

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

;ר צ

-

-

-

ר ר צ ,

-

-

-

tsar;

-

-

-

tsarar

-

-

-

narrow, strait ; anguish, distress;

to be strait, narrow;

in anguish, distress

t s . r

-

-

-

t s . r . r

< t s . r

-

-

Latin

stringere ;

-

strictus ; strictim ;

strictoria

stringere;

-

strictus ;

strictim;

strictoria

to restrain, limit ;

narrow ;

narrowly ;

narrowness

s t r . ng ;

-

s t r . c (t)

-

-

English

strait

strait, narrow

s t r . (t)

Middle Dutch

stric

stric

narrowing

s t r . c

 

 

Proto-Semitic *TSAR --- *STRĬK- Indo-European

 

 

The two consonants together that we see in this entry, TS and R, are present as well in the entries E 0792 (Hebrew 1021), E 0945 (Hebrew 1020) and GD 1091 (Hebrew 1019), regarding different meanings as well as different Indo European partners. In older, but alive roots one sees a central "Waw", pronounced also as a vowel " O " : צ ו ר , TS W R", besides " צ ר , TS R" and " צ ר ר , TS R R".

 

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. With the combination of the two consonants "TS . R" a number of concepts is expressed :

     

      TSAR ,   TSARAR :    narrowness Hebrew 1018 E 0877
      TSAR ,   TSARAR :    anguish, worry Hebrew 1018 E 0877
      TSAR ,   :    necessity no specific I-E kin.
      TSAR ,   TSARAR :    oppression, enemy Hebrew 1020 E 0945
    TSOR, *TSAR ,   TSARAR :    tying and binding Hebrew 1019 GD 1091
    TSOR, *TSAR ,   TSARAR :    to shut in, close Hebrew 1021 E 0792

     

    We see these concepts mentioned in the entries Hebrew H 1018 to H 1021, as indicated above. They need different entries, because they also have various different Indo-European cognates. The various branches of Indo-European have grown apart considerably, resulting in a disappearing of old roots in part of the groups. The specific development around the old combination "TS R", with or without central consonant-vowel "W/O" , is very interesting. It is possible to distinguish developments of the various related meanings one out of the other. The basic concept may have been that of "impediments of free movement".

 

Note:
  • Hebrew.

     

    In the case of this entry, "anguish" is a consequence of "narrowness" of being in a narrow position of some kind, literally or figuratively. Necessity can be born out of anguish or directly from figurative straits, like the famous "dire straits". The range of meanings of Hebrew "tsarar" is clear.

     

    A difference remains that Hebrew has doubled the second consonant R of the older shorter root, as is a common course of things in that language, while Latin has added a third consonant C to it .

     

    For the similarity with English straits we assume a metathesis between "T S R " and "S T R", and that is with the same meaning not a courageous supposition. The final T in theory could be a Germanic suffix that does not change the meaning, or, as is presumed, a remainder of the Latin participle "strictus" loaned via French from Latin.

 

Note:
  • Middle Dutch "stric" gives us a wide range of meanings, among which the specific one of this entry. Therefore it is mentioned in our table.

 

Note:
  • Latin. The same meaning of "strait" is found in French " étroit" and in Italian "stretto" . These words are defined descendants from that Latin past participle "strictus" from the verb "stringere". The problem then lies in the fact that Latin "stringere" does not so clearly say "to make narrow". Really there seem to be more verbs "stringere". Each has its own kinship in Germanic. One says " to touch lightly, skim, graze", and this has no semantic link to narrowness or anguish. This is a verb related to German "streichen" and Dutch "strijken".

     

    The second Latin verb "stringere" stands for "to tie, lace up, tight, tend ", but also , in older language, "to limit, restrain". This verb "stringere" is related to German "stricken" and Dutch "strikken" with roughly the same range of meanings. Only its last meaning has a more real affinity with the messages of the abovementioned modern European words as well as Hebrew. And some other words, mentioned in our table, in fact indicate "narrowness" :strictim = "narrowly" , besides meanings linked to "touching lightly", and "strictoria" stands for "narrowness". So the circle of similarity between Latin and Hebrew closes.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic This root is found in Aramaic and Syriac.It may well have been present in Proto-Semitic with the specific messages of narrowness and anguish that are the subject of this entry: "* צ ר , TS R".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European . The Latin nasalized word "stringere" together with the particular Middle Dutch word "stric" indicate a hypothesis of "*ST R Ĭ K-".

 

 

 

 
"...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: 04/01/2013 at 16.39.54