E 0850         SOMNI -

The wordpart " somni- " is of Latin origin .

H 1069            ן ש י                    

Concept of root :  sleeping

 Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

 ן ש י

yashèn ;

yishan

to sleep, fall asleep;

 to make sleep

Related English words

 somni-

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ן ש י

yashèn ;

-

yishan

-

 to sleep, fall asleep ;

to make sleep

y . sh . n

Russian

сон

son

sleep

s . n

Polish

sen

sèn

sleep

s . n

English

somni-

somni-

s . mn

 

 

Proto-Semitic *YASHAN < *WASHAN < *SHAN, *SHON --- *SŎN- Indo-European

 

 

This entry is narrowly linked to entry E 0849 (Hebrew 0921) . We refer to the relative notes and further similarities .

 

 

Note:
  • Hebrew has prefix " Y " in front of the original root " SH . N" that is seen in entry E 0849 (Hebrew 0921) for the word sleep , that is "shenà", This prefix Y is used to confirm a kind of being or becoming , in this case that of "to be asleep" and "to fall asleep":

     

    In Semitic the message of a root very often comprises this way in one concept two different sub-concepts: "SH . N ." for "sleep", in a verb expresses both the "being" and the "becoming". In translation this means that "SH . N ." in the verb says " to be asleep " and " to fall asleep ( in fact to become asleep)".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic is considered to have had a root of three consonants " * ו ש ן , W SH N". This is mainly based on the Arabic root " W S N " in"wasina = he slept", but also on the Hebrew root "Y SH N", that certainly has been derived from an earlier root "* W SH N" , seen as identical with Proto-Semitic.

     

    Particularly interesting though is the fact that many Semitic languages do not have this initial consonant, be it W or Y, and have just a two consonant root " SH . N". As the noun for "sleep" is considered feminine, we see a "T" +appearing after the root. A special case is Ugaritic that has the root "Y SH N " for the verb " to sleep" and " SH N (T)" for "sleep". Aramaic shows " ש י נ ת א, shintà = sleep" and Syriac " ש נ ת א, shentà = sleep". Akkadian has "shittu = sleep" and then shunati, shuittu" = sleep".

     

    All this is important because also the Indo European words of this entry do not have an initial W or Y. This confirms the similarity between both language groups in this case. And Proto-Semitic must have had the root "* ש ן , SH N" and, as Eblaitic uses "S" besides" "SH", perhaps even still "S . N" just as in Indo European, though this is a far shot. The probable origin of the Hebrew and Arabic initial consonants ( W and Y ) is that of a prefix with the message of " to be, to become ". This is seen in quite a few verbs. For the comparison we use two alternative vowels that both may have been used in Proto-Semitic.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European Around the concepts of sleeping and dreaming several roots run around in a not always disciplinary way. Well, discipline should not be part of language, that is, not beyond the necessity of communicating properly. English makes a clear distinction between "to sleep" and "to dream". It uses the three-consonant groups "S L P" and "D R M". And so does for example Italian with "dormire = to sleep" and "sognare = to dream". There already we see that "D R M" in Italian, and that is also Latin that had "dormire", is used for "to sleep", while in Germanic languages it says "to dream".

     

    Then a very important opening in words for "sleep" and "dream" is "S O". Here the vowel " O " behaves like does the Hebrew "WaW". It can become a consonant "V" if a language wants to use another vowel as in Old Indian "svápna" and Old Norse "svefn".

     

    A further important player is the consonant " P ", that we have seen in "sleep", but also already in Old Indian "svápna" and Old Norse "svefn" where it has become "PH = F". We may have a look at Latin: "Somnus = sleep", "somnium = dream" and "somniare = to dream", "sopire = to put to sleep", with "sopitus = asleep", "sopor = deep, solid sleep". There clearly are two combinations : "S Ŏ MN" and "S Ŏ P". To this must again be added "dormire = to sleep".

     

    It is unclear if and how Proto-Germanic "*SL ā P-" ( "sleep" in English) should be related to "*SV È FN" as seen in old Norse.

     

    Follow a number of examples:

     

     

    Old Indian, in "svápna = sleep, dream" shows us the consonant " V " when elsewhere a vowel " O "can be found.

     

    Avestan with xvapfna has "sharpened" the " S " into " X ".

     

    Germanic in some languages has cognates of the words of this entry, as in Old Norse "svefn and Old English "swefn", both meaning "sleep, dream".

     

    Celtic shows Old Irish "sū,an", but in Cymric the " S " has become a " H " as in Greek : "hūn".

     

    Greek *hüpnos <"*süpnos" is clearly related.

     

    Baltic with Lithuanian "sãpnas = dream" has no vowel "U" or consonant "W", but remains a cognate.

     

    Slavic has Old Church Slavonic "sůnů"and Russian "son".

     

    Latin "somnus" stand a bit alone with its "MN", that is to compare with "PN" or simply "N" in oher languages. Very interesting is then that in the verb "sopire" the causative verb "to make sleep" is expressed. And then the noun "sŐpor" stands for "deep sleep,

     

     

    Indo-European. An existing hypothesis is "*suepnos/*suopnos". The basic sounds seem to be "*S Ŏ P N-". But probably more forms existed at the same time, certainly "*S Ŏ N-" and probably "*S Ŏ P-". There is a strong indication for this in the Neo-Latin languages, when we see in Provencal "sompnis" a " P " that was not in used this way in Classic Latin. And in Old Norse a consonant " F (PH !) " where others had that " P ".

 

 

 

 
"...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: 18/12/2012 at 15.37.37