E 0878          (TO)  STREAM

The verb " to stream " is of Germanic origin .

H 1082        ם ר ז                         

Concept of root :  to stream

 Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

 ם ר ז

 zaram

 to stream, flow

Related English words

stream

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ם ר ז

zaram

to flow, stream

 z . r . m

Greek

ρεω <

*σρεFω

rheo <

sréwo

to stream

r . <

s r . w .

English

to stream

to stream

st r . m

Old Slavic

*ostro-

ostro-

stream-

. st r (o)

Old Indian

srava

srava

to stream

s r . v

Old Irish

srava-

srava-

stream-

s r . v

 Lituanian

srava; srove

srava ;

srové

streaming ; stream

s r . v

 

 

Proto-Semitic *ZARAM, *ZEREM --- *SRŌM- Indo-European

 

 

Like in more roots , in English and its sisters SR has become STR. This is the general opinion about the development of this English root. Without final M but with a third consonant V this form with STR is also present in Slavic. In the Indo European languages Old Indian, Old Irish and Baltic SR had remained, Old Indian and Lithuanian without final M and with final V or U, Latvian with final " M " and also Old Irish with both versions. Thus the picture becomes as follows :

 

Hebrew    Z R     M
Germanic    STR     M
Slavic    STR     V
Baltic    SR     V / M
Old Irish    SR     V / M
Old Indian    SR     V
Greek * SR     W

 

This comparison gives an interesting image of how languages develop and diversify sounds without changing a meaning, in this case that of " to stream ". The odd thing is that the group as such puts a question mark with the usual thesis that Semitic and Indo European languages split at a given time and then developed independently from each other.

 

A case like this would show that Hebrew and Germanic stuck together from SR towards SR+M. Later Germanic developed from SR + M into STR + M. Meanwhile the others developed from SR towards SR + W (or V). Later in the Balto-Slavic group only Slavic went from SR+V to STR + V. Greek on its own "dissolved" the initial S into an H, that was incorporated into the pronunciation of the R that thus became RH.

 

Note:
  • Greek has the verb "ρεω , rheo ", but this should have been developed via " * rewo" from " * srewo". The "modern" verb, of Classic Greek is well known from the famous thesis by the great philosopher Heraclitus of the sixth century a.e.v. : he taught that everything flows, is fluid, moves , or "παντα ρει , panta rhei ".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . The root "Z R M " is also found in Aramaic " ז ר מ י ת א, zeramità = flood, stream". There are cognates in Arabic "zariba" ( root Z R B ) and Ethiopian ( root Z R B ). Probably Proto-Semitic had "* ז ר ם , Z R M ".

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic . In our table we mentioned just English "to stream", but the vowel in this verb, already present as such in Old English "strēam", is a development out of "strōm" with a long "Ō". This important vowel in the history of languages interchanges frequently with "Ū" , Nordic Ö" and "Ø", and "Ü" as well as the "Ü"-like "Y". And it may even change into " Ī ". For "stream we find a good palette of these variations: Old Norse "straumr" and Icelandi "straumur" with a vowel "A" added to the "U"; Old Danish and Danish "strøm" with Swedish "ström"; Old and Middle High German "stroum", the long "Ō" in Old Saxon and Middle Low German "strōm" , German "Strom" and Dutch "stroom", also seen in Middle Dutch but with a second version "struum, strüm" still present in the dialect from Limburg. Presumably the original Proto-Germanic form was "*ST R Ō M-"

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. From the small list of versions above one concludes that the basic Indo-European form had the two consonant combination "S + R". The odd thing remains that we have in Germanic the same third consonant " M " seen in Semitic. And this is one of many cases in which Germanic is nearer to Semitic then most other branches of Indo-European. Some useful information is available.

     

    Old Irish also has the final M in srúaim". In Baltic we see Lithuanian srovè = stream", but then with final " M " Latvian "straume = stream". Old Indian sravati = streams" and Old Church Slavonic "ostrovŭ = island (with streams around it)". Then Greek has "reuma = stream", with the verb "reo = to stream".

     

    There is sufficient evidence to presume that Indo-European had two forms, one without and one with final " M ", probably using a vowel " O " or " U " : "*S R Ō M-".

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 20/12/2012 at 12.36.13