E 0647         OUT

The word " out " is of Germanic origin .

H 1070         א צ י                        

Concept of root :  movement out or in

 Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

א צ י

yats’à

 to go out, come out

Related English words

 out

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

א צ י

yats’à

to go out, come out ; to displace

oneself

 y . ts (‘) .  < w . ts (‘) .

Latin

ostium

ostium

entry, exit, door, river-mouth

(o) s t

Russian

устa ;

устье ;

от, ото

ustà ;

ustye;

ot, oto

mouth ;

estuary ;

from, out of, for, against

(y) s t

Lithuanian

uz;

-

uostas

uzj

uostas

out of, towards ;

rivermouth, lagoon

(u) zj ;

(uo) st .

English

out

out

(ou) t

Old High German

uz

uts

out

(u) ts

 Middle Dutch

wt, uut, ute

wt, üt, üte

out, away, from, because, outside, forward, completely, very

w t ;

(ü) t (.)

 

 

Proto-Semitic *YATSÀ < *WATSÀ --- *ŌST- ; *ŪT- Indo-European

 

 

These not unsimilar roots that in Latin, Slavic and Hebrew have at their centre TS or ST may move around a principle of moving in/moving out, in which the root itself does not specify the direction. So each culture, each language, may place a stronger accent on movements in or on movements out . To this one can add a message of " totally, finished ". Under Middle Dutch in the table a more complete range of literal , metaphorical and figurative meanings have been specified .

 

It is uncertain if the words for "out", that had Indo-European "*UD- or "*UT", can be related to those for "to go out, exit, entry, estuary" . There is a strong similarity between Latin "ostium" and its Indo-European sisters, with a probable Indo-European "*ōst-"

 

 

Note:
  • Hebrew more frequently uses the root "Y TS (‘)" for movements from inside towards outside . Also for example in that of " מ צ א , motsé = spring" the accent lies on the water that gets out of the earth. But yet this root is also used in the more neutral sense of "displacement, travel".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . The Hebrew root "Y . TS . " is also present in Aramaic " י צ א , yetsà = to come forth, go out" . Ugaritic uses the same root and meaning. Akkadian in "watsu" has the older form " W . TS . ", that had been or later developed into "atsu" with " Aleph . TS ." Ethiopian in "wadza'a = went out" has " W . DZ " and this same root is used in Arabic "wadzu'à"" with a different message : " to be(come) beautiful, neat, clean". Probably Proto-Semitic had "* ו ץ א , W . TS . Aleph" with the meaning of "to go out".

 

Note:
  • Latin "ostium " is considered as derived from the word "os, gen. oris " that means "mouth". In this idea the door is the mouth of the house. Consequently, in the choice between the two functions of a door , "Entrance" and Exit", the scholars who see the word "ostium" as a kind or extension of "os", give as its meaning "Entrance". It is not quite clear where the role of the R in the various cases of the noun "os", like in the genitive "oris" begins or ends. Usually composed words in Latin tend to have not the nominative but other cases as basis. But "ostium" does not have an R at all.

     

    There may be a certain error in the reflections on the basis of "os". True, the human mouth is more of an entrance than of a exit, without doubt. But a house has the basic concept of something which one stays inside of. The reasons are manifold. Thus the door is what the English word says : the opening one passes through either to get in or to get out. But if a choice has to be made, in the house one stays, and the door opening is the Exit. Basically both ways of thinking touch a part of the truth.

     

    This finds confirmation in the meaning of "river-mouth", though in English the concept of "mouth" is used here, the one we wanted to consider as basically more entrance then exit.

     

    The same word, in plural, "Ostia" , was the name of the sea-port of Rome, in fact the place where one goes out into the sea, though of course in principle one also comes back through there.

     

    "Ostium Oceani " was a Roman name for the Street of Gibraltar , and one may again doubt if this meant the entrance into the Ocean or the exit towards the Ocean.

 

Note:
  • Russian , like English, indicates an estuary of a river with the root of the word for "mouth". In the preposition "ot" or "oto" Russian does conserve also non-outward movements.

 

Note:
  • Germanic and Baltic. Germanic, like Hebrew, has the accent of this root on the concept "out", with or without movement. Baltic instead , in Lithuanian "uz, uzj " respects both senses in the meanings "out of " and "towards".

 

Note:
  • Old High German and Middle Dutch each conserve a reminiscence of the ancient common origin with Hebrew. Old High German has the TS – sound in " üts " and Middle Dutch in its oldest form even the initial W .in " wt ". It is clear that the Ü-sounds in German and Dutch are a development of an older W. In fact also in English " out " one sees the result of a development from "W" via "U" into "OU". The sound of the vowel in English "out" is not far from modern German "aus", result of adding a vowel A in front of an ancient W. Besides this, German made a final S out of the original T or TS.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic . Nearly all older and newer Germanic languages have a vowel "U" and a dental "T". An exception is German with an added "A" and a change into "S" via Old High German "ūz" with a "Z". This is a specific later High German development. There is also Danish "ud" with a characteristic Danish voicing. Dutch as very often changed into "uit". Presumably Proto-Germanic had already "*U T-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European .

     

    Old Indian has ud = out, up(wards)

     

    Avestan shows us-, uz- = out, up(wards)

     

    Celtic contributes with Old Irish ud-, od-

     

    Indo-European presumably had "*ŪD-" or "*ŪT-" for the concept of "out" and "*Ō S T -" for that of "exit, entry, estuary".

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 18/12/2012 at 15.50.38