Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

1. The two words are of the same root XL, 'pile up'.
2. The Hebrew root refers to a material state. The words derived from  
it acquire by usage and context their specific meaning.
3. I am of the opinion that all Hebrew roots are a fusion of single  
consonant roots. This is how the language developed. The letter  
L ,thus, represents elevation, and its appearance in a root always  
indicates this. For example: EL, 'a lofty being', AL-EH, 'leaf', LUL,  
'ladder', ALILAH, 'tall story, plot, libel', UL, 'grownup', and so on.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jan 29, 2011, at 8:12 PM, fred burlingame wrote:

> Hello Isaac;
>
> Thanks for your helpful comments.
>
> If I understand you correctly, the two words in question, אחל  
> (alef, chet, lamed) and וחלו (waw, chet, lamed, waw), both  
> belong to the same root family.
>
> I am not sure however, how this large root family (that you  
> describe) arises. Are you saying that the single consonant ל  
> (lamed) forms the single root for this family of words/verbs? I see  
> only lamed as the single common thread in these roots.
>
> Are you suggesting that the fundamental root of all hebrew words  
> includes a single letter? And, in this instance, the developers of  
> the language then proceeded to build a family of related two and  
> three letter roots and word meanings around this single letter?
>
> I look forward to hearing your response.
>
> regards,
>
> fred burlingame
> On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 6:22 PM, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:
> The root XL is a member of the root family: GL, XL, KL, QL, GLL,  
> HLL, XLL, KLL, QLL, of the basic sense of 'enclose, contain,  
> include, collect, mount, pile up, put together'. It contains the  
> single-consonant root L for elevation. The other root X is as in  
> XAY, 'alive', or in AX, 'brother'.
> We have from this root the words: XOL, 'sand dune', XALON,  
> 'window', XALIYL, 'flute' (essentially a GALIYL or a M-XIL-AH  
> enclosing an empty XALAL), XALAH, 'a shaped heap of baked dough',  
> XEIL, 'bulwark, embankment', XAYIL, 'strength, substance, potency',  
> MA-XOL, 'dance, moving around, moving collectively', MA-XAL-AH,  
> 'illness, an ill inclusion, bending over'.
> The three-consonant root is not God-given, and it stands to reason  
> that the Hebrew language was not born complete with it.
>
> Isaac Fried, Boston University