Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." <nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>]

uri,

in my reply i added the extra observation that the problem is 
not sumer vs hebrew, as it was stated originally, but sumer vs. 
several semitic dialects. this fact, no less, no more.
haigalli-->e-whatever in sumer, HYKL-->HYKL everywhere else.

is my observation correct, or is it "just the opposite"?

i deliberately did not address in my text, in a single word, the 
question of the origin of the word. so, i'm not "just the 
opposite" on that either!

so, where am i "just the opposite?"

regards
nir cohen

PS...if indeed you ask my humble layman opinion, even this question
is not that clear cut. assume the word haigalli being invented at a particular
plate in sumer for the first time, some 4-5K years ago, and then propagating
to other semitic dialects, through various channels. what is the probability
that all these other dialects (including hebrew, arabic, aramaic) would
introduce the same exact change, g-->k, into the word?


------------------
> since HYKL exists in both aramaic (heikhal) and arabic (haikal), it seems
clear to me that this word has been in continuous use for millenia,
throughout the semitic world, in pretty much its present form in hebrew.
the lack of transformation HYKL-->YKL,)YKL may be
attributed to a non-vowelled script, as this change
would create conflict with other words: in hebrew, "can"
and "consume".
> so, the exception to the rule must be sumer, not hebrew.
> the particular transformation this word suffered in sumer may be
easily explained by non-semitic pressures.
> hebrew could have acquired the word from any of the neighboring dialects,
maybe aramaic, not necessarily from the distant sumer or ugarit.
 > nir cohen

>    Nir,
>    It's just the opposite! As was noted in the exchange
on this before, the origin of this word was the Sumerian
expression ' big house'. Then it underwent internal
devolpment in Sumerian, as presented in the exchange here.
>          You can find it in the archive.
>   Can we then agree with the paraphrase of the famous
verse:
>     Rabbot Mahshavot B'lev Ish Wa'atsat Hammillon
      (the dictionary)  Hi) Taqum?   Prov 19:21
>    Uri  Hurwitz                          Great Neck