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  • From: Vadim Cherny <vadimcherny AT gmail.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] English phonaesthetical cells in Hebrew
  • Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:53:19 +0200

A famous English phonaesthetical cell gl- is widely present in Hebrew as gl[hey] with related meaning "to reveal, open", but more importantly, it is traceable to gl's basic meaning of "to heap up, cover something in a heap, to cover something round about".

English sl- phonaesthetical cell may be related to Hebrew samech-lamed which means "to push down".

Phonaesthesia is built into Hebrew where three-letter roots share their two-letter root cell's meaning. In English, the origin of phonaesthesia are obscure. Might not such roots enter the Romance and Germanic languages from Semitic?

Vadim Cherny




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