Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ishinan" <ishinan AT comcast.net>]

[VADIM CHERNY]-  Thank you. It seems to me that whatever few phonaesthetical 
clusters exist in English are imported from Hebrew (or W. Semitic, at any 
rate) which is almost entirely phonaesthetical language: almost all Hebrew 
three-letter roots share the meaning based on their two-letter root base.
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[ISHINAN]- A clarification: what seems to be a two-letter root base in 
Semitic languages, technically is still considered a three-letter root base; 
on account of the last letter's germination.

For example, applied to Hebrew, consider the following phonaesthetical [bt] 
and [gz] clusters examples:

A- Strong's :1327 btt-h to break in pieces
B- Strong's : 1333 btq  to cut in pieces.
C- Strong's : 1334 btr to chop up:--divide.

a- Strong's: 1494 gzz to cut off; to shear a flock or shave the hair; cut 
off, shave,
b- Strong's: 1497 gzl  to pluck off; specifically to flay, strip tear.
c- Strong's: 1501 gzm to devour.
d- Strong's: 1503 gz'  to cut down (trees).
e- Strong's: 1504 gzr to cut down or off.

Note in above examples (A) and (a) btt  and gzz respectively; both have 
their last letter /t/ and /z/ geminated.

The same is noticed in the Classical Arabic cluster of "qT"  yielding: qTT , 
qT`, qTm, qTl and qTf .

Note here in the case of the Arabic  qTT,  instead of writing the emphatic 
letter T twice, as in English, Arabic places a w-shaped sign called saddah, 
above it; an equivalent in Hebrew would be dages hazaq.

I hope this helps.

Yours truly

Ishinan Ishibashi