E 0945          (TO)  TRUSS

The verb " to truss " is, via Old French, of uncertain origin .

H 1020           ר ר צ                      

Concept of root :  tying and binding

 Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

ר ר צ

ר ו צ

tsarar;

tsor

to tie , bind together

Related English words

to truss

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ר ר צ

ר ו צ

tsarar;

tsor

to tie, bind together

ts . r . r <

ts (o) r

Greek

σειρα ;

σειραω

seira ;

seirao

rope;

to tie, bind

s . r

Latin

stringere

stringere

to tie, bind together

s t r . ng

Middle Dutch

tsorren  ;

tros ;

-

torsen

-

-

tsorren ;

tros ;

-

torsen

-

-

to tie, bind;

(heavy) rope;

to tie, pack, charge, carry

ts . r ;

t r . s;

-

t . r s

-

-

English

to truss

to tie, bind, tie up

t r . s

 

 

Proto-Semitic *TSOR --- *TSŎR- Proto-Germanic

 

 

The root of this entry is certainly related with that of number E 0877 (Hebrew 1018). We have kept them separate because the meaning we find here, is no more present in the briefer Hebrew root " TS R", a two-consonant combination that we can see also in entry GD 1091 (Hebrew 1019), with a different message. It remains thus hypothetical.

 

Regarding the differences in sound we refer to entry E 0877 (Hebrew 1018). And we see that the metathesis between Latin and Hebrew ( S T R versus T S R ) is not present between Hebrew and Middle Dutch that both have " T S R "). In Middle Dutch we find another metathesis between the R and the O.

 

In order to tie or bind something , a rope as a Greek "seira" is certainly the most classic and obvious instrument. Therefore it belongs in this entry . Its root comes very near the original Hebrew one, with the difference that Greek has a simple S (the Greek language does not even use TS) and Hebrew TS. We know that in many places the two may interchange.

 

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:
  • Proto-Semitic. Hebrew and Aramaic have both "TS O R" and "TS R R", Arabic has just "TS R R ". This means that Proto-Semitic probably had the older root "* צ ו ר, TS W R", but also "* צ ר , TS R" and already "* צ ר ר , TS R R". This also with the meanings of this entry.

 

Note:
  • English. The concept of "to bind, tie" also " to tie up" has made that the noun "trusse" has also acquired the meaning of "bundle, pack". It is improbable that this English word has come, via French "trosser" from an unattested Late Latin "*torsare" or "*torciare". The hypothesis is perhaps due to the old habit of searching first of all for Latin parents, neglecting that medieval Latin was full of non-Latin words and roots. So, instead , French "trosser" is probably of Germanic origin.

 

Note:
  • Dutch already in Middle Dutch gave to the words "tros" and "trosse" the two meanings of "rope" and "bundle, pack". It became used also much in seafarers language to indicate the mooring cables of ships. As such it found , during the dominant position of the Dutch Republic at sea in the sixteenth and seventeenth century its way into French (drosse, trozza ), Italian (drossa), Spanish (troza) and Portuguese (troça) also because the Dutch became specialized in this nautical system and the manufacturing of the cables.

     

    In modern language the words "tros" and "torsen" have continued to exist as such, but "tsorren " has become "sjorren, shorren".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. As so often in Germanic, around the "R" there is to be found a number of cases of metathesis. The information already mentioned in the notes indicates a possible tris of Proto-Germanic forms. The first one, with the clear meaning of "to bind" and full similarity with the oldest Hebrew form "TSOR" is "*TS Ŏ R-", as still found in Middle Dutch. Then comes "*TR Ŏ S-". The meaning was that of "binding, tying, restricting". In the case of making a pack that resulted in derived meanings of "to charge" and "to carry" those packs. Already in Proto-Germanic this may have led to a diversification through metathesis, creating a form "*T Ŏ RS-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. Greek scholars express their doubts about a proposed original "*twèr-" for the word "seira". It is further not easy to establish a possible common predecessor with Latin "stringere". The best probability would seem to lie in an Indo-European "*S È R-" , but this remains uncertain, also because Germanic is so much nearer to Semitic.

 

 

 

 
"...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 16.44.20