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I still think that he who talks about Hebrew etymology should explain what he means by this "etymology". Etymology, I think, is not meaning but rather interconnectivity. As an example consider the ויהי בבקר ותפעם רוחו of Gen. 41:8, "And it came to pass in the morning that his (Pharaoh's) spirit was troubled." There is no doubt as to what happened in the morning, except that we are left curious about the nature of the physical evocation of the intangible emotional state WA-TI-PAEM, above and beyond the facile "troubled". In particular, how, we want to know, is this related to the זאת הפעם ZOT HA-PAAM, "this is now", of Gen. 2:23. Also פעמות PAM-OT, "corners", of Ex. 25:12. Also פעמון PAAM-ON, "bell", of Ex. 28:34. I think that פעם is a variant of the Mishnaic פטם PTM, (from which we have פטמה PITMAH, 'nipple, teat'), 'inflated, swelled, fat, plump, obese', (related to the פצם PCM of Ps. 60:4(2)), so that פעמון PAAMON is but a chubby מפוטם thin walled metal ball (bell = bellowing ball?) with bits of metal put inside it to make a rattling noise. Isaac Fried, Boston University On Dec 28, 2012, at 1:37 PM, Nir cohen - Prof. Mat. wrote: On Thu, 27 Dec 2012 21:06:32 -0500, Isaac Fried wrote |
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