Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

1. Correct. The letters ו ב פ are "interchangeable". Consider the triplet

שבע שוע שפע

2. The act עוה AWAH 'distort, deviate', is a variant of עבה ABAH , 'thick, big'. 

The letter I is thin, but the devious letters O and U are thick. The acts כפף 'bend'

and גבב GBB (in the HB only GAB), 'pileup', are one and the same. 

3. The description of feelings or states of consciousness is difficult, but I don't 

think that תועבה "comes from" a show of twisted face. The word כיסופים KIYSUPIYM, 

'longings' as in Ge. 31:30 has nothing to do with כסף 'money'. 

4. The root B of תועבה TOEBAH means 'be, come', referring to a sensation. I mentioned 

this before. The act בא BA is commonly used in spoken Hebrew to denote desire: BA LIY 

LIROT SERET בא לי לראות סרט 'I would rather see a movie'. 

5. The words אב 'father', and עב 'cloud', come both from the root B, 'big, large'. 

Isaac Fried, Boston University  

On Mar 25, 2013, at 3:38 PM, Nir cohen - Prof. Mat. wrote:

as to a possible root, i suggest (WH, (WYT (twisted his face, show disgust) 

and (WWN (sin, stray) though the passage from W to B may be a bit forced. 

but consider for example NWL, NW)L and NBL, $WL(YM) and $WBL, 

$W+ and $B+, GW and GB, GW$ and GB$/GWY$, maybe $RWWL-SRBL,

where this transition took place.

but also see the word (B (cloud), H(YB (obscured).