E 0875          STIFF

The word " stiff " is of Germanic origin.

H 1071          ב י צ י ; ב צ י                       

Concept of root :  solid and stable

 Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

; ב צ י

ב י צ י

yatsav, yitsèv;  

yitsiv  

 to stand or place solidly;

 firm, solid, stable

Related English words

 stiff

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ב צ י ;

-

-

ב י צ י

-

yatsav, yitsèv;

-

yitsiv

-

to stand or place solidly;

firm, solid, stable

y . ts . v <

* ts. v

English

stiff

stiff

st . f

Dutch

stevig ;

stijf

stévigh

solid, steady ;

stiff

st . v ;

st . f

 

 

Proto-Semitic *YATSAV < *WATSAV < *TSAV --- *STĪV- Proto-Germanic < *STĪP- Indo-European

 

 

The Hebrew words of this entry have not all been found in Biblical Hebrew, but the intensive verb "yitsèv" is present in Medieval texts and goes back to Biblical "ה ת י צ ב , hityatsèv = to stand up for, station oneself".

 

The interface is narrow but finds full clarity between Hebrew and Dutch. And obviously English "stiff" is a sister word, even if it mostly is seen as having originated from a concept of " to compress , more than " to make stand solid ". "Stiff" has another sister in the also referred Dutch "stijf" and also other tongues have such words.

 

There remains the difference between Hebrew TS and Germanic ST, but that is not necessarily too significant.

 

 

Note:
  • Hebrew has an initial " Y " that is not present in English and Dutch. This may well be a later addition as prefix, as confirmed by the presence of the root and verb " נ צ ב , natsav " which deals with the concept of " to make stand " and " to collocate vertically " . Interesting is that this has led to the figurative meanings of military hierarchy ! A "nitsav" is a person that has been placed in a high ( and solid ?) position, like a general, prefect or superintendent .

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . The Hebrew root " י צ ב , Y TS B " is also present in Aramaic "yatsev = to set, place", "yatsiv = certain, true" and "yatsuvà = citizen, native". The earlier form " ו צ ב, W TS B " is found in Arabic "watsaba = was firm, was constant". This was probably the root used in Proto-Semitic: "* ו צ ב, W TS B", though perhaps also "* י צ ב , Y TS B" had come up already. The " W " was a prefix, frequently used in Semitic, that had a conforming function, carrying the meaning of "to be, to become". Often, and certainly in Hebrew, it changed into a " Y ".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic . One may consider Old English "stif= stiff" , "stivian= be(come) stiff", Old Frisian "stivia = to be(come) stiff". Middle Dutch "stiven" becomes in Dutch "stijven"". We remark that there is no reason to suppose that this root is strictly related to that of Old English "stela = stalk", as "stiff" is not based on the concept of "upright". The final "F-sound" is caused by a sharper pronunciation of what in fact was a final "B" that may be pronounced "V", a final sound Germanic speakers do not like at all. Proto-Germanic presumably had a form "*ST Ī V-.

 

Note:
  • Indo-European . The rather limited information may yet allow a courageous hypothesis that Indo-European was much like Proto-Germanic. In Baltic there is Lithuanian "stipti = to stiffen".

     

    Moreover Latin "stīpĕs = pole, trunk" and more clearly "stīpare = to pack densely (stiffly) together" is considered a cognate. A further relative is Greek "στιφρος, stiphros. Indo-European may have had a form "*ST Ī 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 16.32.41