Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

The Hebrew roots GDL, GZL

גדל, גזל

have anything to do do with cutting?

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Mar 21, 2010, at 1:39 AM, Ishinan wrote:

> [ISAAC FRIED] - The assertion that the two-consonant Hebrew root gz  
> meant 'cut' is an obvious fallacy. The Hebrew word GEZA( גזע
> 'tree trunk', has clearly nothing to do with cutting or truncating.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
>
> [ISHINAN] - Not so my friend, as both Semitic roots gzz & gz`  
> primarily mean cut and/or cut off,  so are the B Hebrew and  
> Classical Arabic  gzz and gz` examples.
>
> While the noun gdh in Arabic, the cognate of the Hebrew noun gz`   
> for 'tree trunk', actually describes a trunk of a palm tree ONLY  
> when it has been cut. So why and how did the mix up develop?
>
> EXPLANATION: The Arabic cognate gdh`,  mentioned above, has a  
> medial letter *dh. *Ḏhāl (ﺫ) is one of the six letters the  
> Arabic alphabet. It represents the voiced dental fricative (IPA:  
> [ð] voiced dental fricative). Unfortunately the letter Ḏhāl  
> (ﺫ) is lacking in Hebrew which uses instead the Hebrew letter  ז  
> zayn;  the seventh letter of many Semitic abdjads. Zayn represents  
> a voiced alveolar fricative, IPA /z/.  Hence, the obvious confusion  
> for many students who are unaware of the difference between the  
> voiced dental fricative  dhāl (ﺫ).  As well as the voiced  
> alveolar fricative zayn ז and their merge in Hebrew under zayn.
>
> To bring this into perspective, the following are Arabic cognates  
> to the Hebrew examples;
>
> Arabic examples of cluster  [gz] words using the letter [zāyy] ﺯ   
> or [zayn].
>
> gzz : cut , shave,
> gz' : cut in parts, dividing in parts
> gzr : cut, cut off, butcher
> gz` : to cut, cut off, while the noun refers to a piece of wood  
> (trellis) for the purpose of raising branches from the ground.
> gzl: cut in two with a sword
> gzm: cut off.
>
> One can appreciate the complexity of this problem when the  
> comparison is extended to the following Classical  Arabic examples  
> of cluster [gdh] words using the letter dhāl (ﺫ) which became  
> indistinguishable with ז zayn in Hebrew.
>
> gdhdh: cut off utterly
> gdhr: cut, cut off, severed.
> gdhf: cut, cut off.
> gdhm: cut, cut off, amputate.
>
> The merge between dhāl (ﺫ) and [zayn] ﺯ , a trend which took  
> place in B Hebrew thousand of years ago,  is occurring today with  
> Modern Arabic speakers who corruptly utter words such as tlmyz  
> (student) instead of tlmydh and 'Ustaz (professor) for 'Ustadh.
>
> Ishinan Ishibashi