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  • From: "Arnaud Fournet" <fournet.arnaud AT wanadoo.fr>
  • To: "Isaac Fried" <if AT math.bu.edu>
  • Cc: Hebrew List <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] TMR
  • Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2010 19:22:46 +0100


----- Original Message ----- From: "Isaac Fried" <if AT math.bu.edu>
To: "Hebrew List" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Cc: "Hebrew List" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, October 15, 2010 1:50 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] TMR


Ah, and how could I forget ZMR (of which we have ZMORAH זמורה 'twig').

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Oct 14, 2010, at 6:49 PM, Isaac Fried wrote:


Indeed, if the initial T in TMR is radical, then it appears to me to be of the family of roots CMR (of which we have CAMERET צמרת 'tree top'), SMR (of which we have MA-SMER 'nail'), SHMR (of which we have SHAMIR שמיר).
Otherwise, the initial T-, or TA-, is possibly the attached personal pronoun ATAH (אתה) which is used to turn the root MR into the name TA-MAR ('you are MAR'). I don't think that this MAR is here in the sense of 'bitter', but is rather here merely a short form of AMIR (אמיר 'upper branches').
Notice that several tree names in the TANAK have this dual form:
TAMAR - MOR
TIRZAH (TIRCAH?) -EREZ
TOREN - OREN
TA'ASHUR - ASHERAH
We also find the tree names:
T'ENAH
TAPUAK
TIDHAR

Isaac Fried, Boston University
***

This tree T-prefix is more widespread than just Hebrew.

For example, we also have in Indo-European:
Greek ptelea 'elm' ~ Latin populus 'poplar' ~ Russian topolj 'poplar'

There's also the case of:
Berber Kabyle amar "tamarisk" ~ Latin t-amar-iscus
Possibly a Berber loanword.

I've not tried to see what exists in Arabic.

It's unclear what all these data mean.

Arnaud Fournet
***











  • Re: [b-hebrew] TMR, Arnaud Fournet, 11/03/2010

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