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E 0878 (TO) STREAM
The verb " to stream " is of
Germanic origin .
H 1082 ם ר
ז
Concept of root : to stream
Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ם ר ז
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zaram
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to stream, flow
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Related English words
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stream
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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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ם ר ז
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zaram
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to flow, stream
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z . r . m
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Greek
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ρεω <
*σρεFω
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rheo <
sréwo
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to stream
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r . <
s r . w .
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English
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to stream
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to stream
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st r . m
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Old Slavic
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*ostro-
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ostro-
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stream-
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. st r (o)
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Old Indian
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srava
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srava
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to stream
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s r . v
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Old Irish
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srava-
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srava-
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stream-
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s r . v
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Lituanian
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srava; srove
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srava ;
srové
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streaming ; stream
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s r . v
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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-".
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Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 20/12/2012 at 12.36.13 |
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