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E 0324 (TO) FASTEN
The verb " to fasten " is of
Germanic origin .
H 1056 ד ס י
Concept of root : to
establish
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ד ס י
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yasad
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to
found, establish
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Related English words
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fasten
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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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ד ס י
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yasad
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to found, establish
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y . s . d <
*w .
s . d
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Old Saxon
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festian
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festian
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to establish
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f . s t
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Old English
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fastnian
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to establish;
to fasten
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f . s t
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English
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to fasten
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to fasten
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f . s t
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Swedish
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fästa ;
fasta
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fèsta;
fasta
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to found, establish ;
to fasten
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f . s t
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Middle Dutch
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vesten,
vestigen;
bevesten
bevestigen
-
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vèsten
,
vèstighen
;
bevèsten
bevèsti-ghen
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to found, establish;
to
fasten ;
to fasten, strengthen
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v . s t
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Dutch
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vestigen
bevestigen
-
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vèstighen;
bevèsti-ghen
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to found, establish;
to
fasten
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v . s t
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Old High German
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festen
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fèsten
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to fasten
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German
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festigen ;
-
befestigen
-
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fèstigen
;
-
befèstigen
-
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to strengthen;
to fasten, strengthen
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f . s t
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Norwegian
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feste
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feste
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to establish, fasten
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f . s t
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Proto-Semitic *YASAD < *WASAD --- *WĂST- Indo-European
Note:
- Hebrew has a number of roots that might be considered related to "Y S D", beginning with the two consonants "Y + S " , "Y + SH " or "Y + TS " and having messages like "to erect, to settle, to establish ", but none of them with that of " to fasten ".
Note:
- Proto-Semitic . This Hebrew root "Y S D " is also seen in Aramaic " י ס ד , yesad = he founded, established". Ugaritic used the same root for the same meaning. There is a cognate in Arabic "ishdu = foundation", and interestingly, the older version "W S D" is also found in Arabic "wisād = support(?)". It is hard to define the timing of the change, but certainly Proto-Semitic had the older version with initial W "* ו ס ד , W S D", and perhaps also already the newer one with initial Y "* י ס ד , Y S D".
Note:
- Hebrew and Dutch. The comparison shows that Hebrew has the voiced dental D, while Old Saxon and Dutch have the voiceless dental T . The difference between the two sounds is real, but also frequently occurring in one and the same root. For example English "door" has as its German cousin "Tür" and Spanish "padre" comes from Latin "pater". Apparently a comparable development has taken place between the far relatives that are Hebrew and Germanic, in this case Saxon and Dutch.
Note:
- Old English had one verb for two concepts, one that of " to found, establish" and the other that of "to fasten". Only this second one has continued into modern English. The situation is complicated. It seems useful to first look at Middle Dutch for the completeness of its picture and finally at Swedish for the simpleness of its solution.
Note:
- Middle Dutch. It should be said that the above mentioned Middle Dutch verb "vesten" has a
rather wide range of meanings, but that these are all related to actions of establishing, building,
making solid, fixing, securing etcetera, as well as a series of metaphorical and figurative
messages.
The second extended verb, "vestigen" refers to the same actions but with a more intensive
sense , often referring to doing things more strongly or solidly. But it is quite possible that
originally there were two roots and verbs, one for the concept of "to found, establish" and the
other one for that of " to fasten ".
Note:
- English "fast" in the sense of "fixed, resistant " has its sisters in German (fest), Swedish (fast) and Dutch (vast ) etcetera. It is related to the verb "fasten" . But, if we look into the situation in Swedish, we remain uncertain if "fast" and "fasten" are also related to the words for "to establish".
Note:
- Swedish uses two non-identical verbs . One is the above mentioned "fästa" that stands for "to found, establish" and belongs in this entry. The other one is "fasta" that says "fasten" and may not really belong here.
Consequently it is uncertain if there were in Old English and Middle Dutch two independent and originally different roots that had acquired the same sound / spelling. Anyhow there was a double meaning that could create confusion, and English decided to abolish one of them. That was usually easy to do, as English received a great contribution in Latin roots via Norman French. Dutch had to solve the problems with composed verbs as "vestigen" and "bevestigen". German abolished the simpler forms and expresses " to found, establish" with fully different roots. Norwegian maintained both meanings, but uses as well other roots.
Note:
- Proto-Germanic . With the Dutch initial "V-" in "vast, vestigen" as an exception, we find "F-" as in English in about all Germanic languages. Proto-Germanic "*F (Ă) ST" may be hypothesized.
Note:
- Indo-European. It is possible that some words outside Germanic that indicate the result of founding or establishing are related to the words of this entry.
Old Indian "vāstu = (site of) building, dwelling place", but this word is also used for many other meanings, mostly related to "reality" and "substance", perhaps a bit comparable to the English use of "real estate" and "realty". And then there is "vastya = house, dwelling".
Tocharian "wast = house".
Greek "αστυ, astü = town". The Athenians in classic times used this word to indicate Athens. Odysseus is told to have seen the "αστεα, astea = towns" of many people, and to have "known their mind". Greek scholars tell us that "astü" came from an older "*wastü"
Indo-European probably had a form "*W
Ă S T-" for the concept of founding and establishing .
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 16/12/2012 at 17.03.44 |
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