testing Isaac Fried's Etymological theories

A place for members to share information and news about books, software, and websites of interest.
Forum rules
Members will observe the rules for respectful discourse at all times!
Please sign all posts with your first and last (family) name.
Post Reply
Mark Lightman
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2014 12:33 pm

testing Isaac Fried's Etymological theories

Post by Mark Lightman »

Isaac Fried, the Analytic and Synthetic Etymology of the Hebrew Language, p. 3: "The fundamental concept ער -רע of aggregation and separation, plurality and variability, is represented by the Hebrew letter ר, corresponding to the English letter r. Whenever this consonant is written or sounded in the lingual root, it signifies that the root contains this concept as one of its primary components."

Mk 10:9 (Lindsey:) את אשׁר זוג האלהים לא יפריד אדם

We note that in this, the fundamental text on separation, פרד does indeed have an "r," as do its Greek (χωριζέτω) and English ("separate"," rend asunder," tear apart," "divorce") counterparts.
Mark Lightman
kwrandolph
Posts: 1529
Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 12:51 am

Re: testing Isaac Fried's Etymological theories

Post by kwrandolph »

Mark Lightman wrote:
Isaac Fried, the Analytic and Synthetic Etymology of the Hebrew Language, p. 3: "The fundamental concept ער -רע of aggregation and separation, plurality and variability, is represented by the Hebrew letter ר, corresponding to the English letter r. Whenever this consonant is written or sounded in the lingual root, it signifies that the root contains this concept as one of its primary components."


It doesn’t work in English. Doesn’t work in Hebrew either.

Just open up a thesaurus, and it disproves this theory. Take for example, “separate”, the thesaurus …

“R” is one of the more used letters in the English language, yet notice the number of synonyms that don’t have an “r”.

Open a dictionary, how many words have an “r” that have nothing to do with separation?

Now to the thesaurus:

separate
adjective
1 his personal life was separate from his job: unconnected, unrelated, different, distinct, discrete; detached, divorced, disconnected, independent, autonomous. ANTONYMS linked, interdependent.
2 the infirmary was separate from the school: set apart, detached, fenced off, cut off, segregated, isolated; free-standing, self-contained. ANTONYMS attached.
verb
1 they separated two rioting mobs: split (up), break up, part, pull apart, divide; literary sunder. ANTONYMS unite, bring together.
2 the connectors can be separated: disconnect, detach, disengage, uncouple, unyoke, disunite, disjoin; split, divide, sever; disentangle. ANTONYMS join, connect, combine.
3 the wall that separates the two properties: partition, divide, come between, keep apart; bisect, intersect. ANTONYMS link, bridge.
4 the south aisle was separated off : isolate, partition off, section off; close off, shut off, cordon off, fence off, screen off.
5 they separated at the airport: part (company), go their separate ways, split up; say goodbye; disperse, disband, scatter. ANTONYMS meet.
6 the road separated: fork, divide, branch, bifurcate, diverge. ANTONYMS merge, converge.
7 her parents separated: split up, break up, part, be estranged, divorce. ANTONYMS get together, marry.
8 separate fact from fiction: isolate, set apart, segregate; distinguish, differentiate, dissociate; sort out, sift out, filter out, remove, weed out.
9 those who separate themselves from society: break away from, break with, secede from, withdraw from, leave, quit, dissociate oneself from, resign from, drop out of, repudiate, reject. ANTONYMS join.

Karl W. Randolph.
Isaac Fried
Posts: 1783
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

Re: testing Isaac Fried's Etymological theories

Post by Isaac Fried »

I would love to see a Hebrew (Hebrew!) counter example.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
Isaac Fried
Posts: 1783
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

Re: testing Isaac Fried's Etymological theories

Post by Isaac Fried »

Two fascinating examples to the revealing effect of the uniliteral root R in the Hebrew root are:

ראה RAH, 'see, discern, perceive, recognize', namely, differentiate and detail the various distinguishing features within the field of view. The variant רעה, 'herd', refers to cattle or sheep moving freely to graze in a pasture. רֵעַ REA is 'friend', namely, an independent person, and so is רעיה

ברא BRA, 'create'. The close variants פרא PRA, 'wild, uncontrolled, unrestrained', and פרע, 'spread, disperse, scatter', suggest that ברא BRA refers to a sputtering that scattered chunks of mass over space; what science calls today with little finesse "Big Bang".

The piel form בֵּרָא BERA is 'clear, deforest'.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
Isaac Fried
Posts: 1783
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

Re: testing Isaac Fried's Etymological theories

Post by Isaac Fried »

Related is the root ברר BRR, 'select, distinguish, clarify', as in Isaiah 49:2
וַיָּשֶׂם פִּי כְּחֶרֶב חַדָּה בְּצֵל יָדוֹ הֶחְבִּיאָנִי וַיְשִׂימֵנִי לְחֵץ בָּרוּר בְּאַשְׁפָּתוֹ הִסְתִּירָנִי
in which בְּאַשְׁפָּתוֹ is בְּאַסְפָּתוֹ, 'a quiver to collect in it arrows',
and in Zephaniah 3:9
כִּי אָז אֶהְפֹּךְ אֶל עַמִּים שָׂפָה בְרוּרָה לִקְרֹא כֻלָּם בְּשֵׁם יהוה לְעָבְדוֹ שְׁכֶם אֶחָד

Further related is the root פרר PRR, 'crumble, fragment' (of which the post-biblical פֵּרוּר PERUR, 'crumb'), as in Isaiah 24:19
רֹעָה הִתְרֹעֲעָה הָאָרֶץ פּוֹר הִתְפּוֹרְרָה אֶרֶץ מוֹט הִתְמוֹטְטָה אָרֶץ
KJV: "The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly."

Isaac Fried, Boston University
Post Reply