Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

Every Hebrew word is derived from a meaningful root. Words derived  
from the same root need not be "horizontally" related. Think about  
the minimal pairs KPOR, 'frost, crust", and KPIR, 'lion'; or "KESEP",  
'silver'', and KISUPIM, 'yearning'.
The basic meaning of $Q is 'elevated, elongated, large, piled up'.  
$UK is an elevated (paved?) path, $OK is the long and fleshy [SAGI)]  
leg part. The modern Hebrew $QIQAH, 'eagerness, desire', from the  
biblical root $QQ, is an emotional build-up.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jul 31, 2009, at 3:04 PM, Vadim Cherny wrote:

> The thing is, Hebrew lacks homonyms. What you see as homonyms are
> actually related meanings. As Karl saw for himself, finding the common
> meaning requires some study but it is always there. This is a function
> of root cells. I take Steinberg's dictionary for a fine example of  
> such
> search.
>
> Vadim Cherny
>
> > Ishinan:  My suggestion is to apply the comparative method among  
> > other daughter Semitic languages (such as Akkadian, Ugaritic,  
> > Arabic,  Ge?ez, etc.) to your examples.  Consult the respective  
> > Proto-Semitic etymologies.  You'll actually discover that the   
> > examples you gave above are homonyms.
> >
> > I have found that sometimes the entries in Strong's Exhaustive  
> > Concordance of the Bible can be misleading.
> >
> > For example:
> >
> > 7783 shuwq  overflow, water.
> > 7784 shuwq shook street.
> > 7785 showq shoke the (lower) leg/shin.
> >
> > These are not related. Hope this helps.
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Ishinan B. Ishibashi
>
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