Author Topic: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]  (Read 7931 times)

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Offline muman613

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Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« on: July 10, 2009, 12:03:50 PM »
I was just thinking about these Hebrew words and their potential connections in the Holy tongue [Lashon HaKodesh]


Teva                 Nature
Tievah               Ark
Tiva                  Desire
Gaavah             Arrogance


These words seem very similar to me and often when I hear them I sometimes have to think about the word in context in order to understand what is being said.

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline galileerat

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2009, 09:13:37 PM »
Rav Glazerson, Isaac Mozeson and others have shown how all languages ultimately derive from the First Language, Hebrew.

Including English e.g.

hollow/challal, kid/gdi, money/ moneh, refuse/refesh, over/over, superior/shapir, sycamore/shikma, acaccia/ketziya, deteriorate/hitdarderut, cuts/kitzutz, luna/levanah, regular/rageel, shriek/shrikah, source/shoresh, tactic/dakdek, yell/yelal, abbot/avot, agony/yagon, albino/halbonah, amity/amit, ashame/asham, aura/or, berry/pri, call/kol, corn/goren, couple/koffel, dagger/dakar, elite/elit, evil/eveel, gall/ga'al, jackal/shachal, kill/kilkel, ghost/gossess, love/lev, cable/kevel, chaste/chassid, direct/derech, finicity/fanak, idea/de'ah, mystery/mestar, python/peten, rush/ra'ash, reek/rey'ach, psoriasis/tzora'as, riches/rechoosh, scale/shkal, secure/sagoor, cosmos/gashmius, sorrow/tzoroh, elect/likut, ravenous/ra'av,sparrow/tzipporah, suffice/sufik, therapy/terufah, wine/yayin etc.etc

Offline Kahane-Was-Right BT

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2009, 09:29:44 PM »
Rav Glazerson, Isaac Mozeson and others have shown how all languages ultimately derive from the First Language, Hebrew.

Including English e.g.


Link?

Offline muman613

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2009, 10:52:27 PM »
Rav Glazerson, Isaac Mozeson and others have shown how all languages ultimately derive from the First Language, Hebrew.

Including English e.g.


Link?

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2000/5/The Mother of Languages - Influence of Hebrew on O

Quote
"Generation after generation of Englishmen heard the Bible read in church and studied it at home. In many cases, it was the only book; in all, the principal book. At last its cadences, its music, its phraseology, sank into his mind and became part of his being... Hence by slow degrees his daily speech was not merely enriched, but to some extent moulded by its influence."

Without a knowledge of Hebrew and its majestic cadence and imagery, we are apt to assume that certain modes of expression simply derived from old Anglo-Saxon speech, but the translation of the Bible into English directly from Hebrew exercised a major influence over the English language. When we use expressions such as a "heavy heart" or idioms like "the skin of his teeth," "a drop in the bucket," or employ certain superlatives; "Holy of Holies" (Kodesh hakedushim), King of Kings (Meleh hamelahim), Song of Songs (Shir hashirim), we are simply repeating a word-for-word translation of the Hebrew Bible.

Hebrew words from the Bible could not always be translated but were simply "adopted" with only a minor alteration in pronunciation - alphabet, sabbath, amen, abbot, messiah, hallelujah, hosanna, manna, cherubim, seraphim, satan, shibboleth, leviathan, mammon, horn, camel, jubilee (from the 50th year Yovel celebration when all slaves were to be set free), scallions (after Ashkelon), gauze (after Gaza), and sodomy (after Sdom), Armageddon (from Megiddo), behemoth (the term for wild animals which was probably the source of the name Bahama islands) and most surprising of all - probably Europe itself - after the Hebrew erev - setting sun, or evening. Europe was the land of the setting sun for the ancient Hebrews and Phoenicians.

Many Hebrew words were later absorbed by Yiddish and became part of the linguistic baggage of Jewish immigrants that became widely known by gentile neighbours and eventually adopted into English and other languages, such as maven (expert), ganef (thief), hutzpah (cheek), mishpocha (family), kosher and many others.

Many of the most common personal (Christian) names used throughout the world are directly derived from Hebrew, such as Jonathan (Yonatan), Joseph (Yosef), David, Isaac (Yitzhak), Jacob or Jack (Yaakov), Sarah, Esther, Eve, Rachel, Deborah, Rebecca (Rivka) and Leah. The last reigning Emperor of Ethiopia inherited the title of "Lion of Judah" (claiming descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba) and chose the name Haile Selassi (Hayl hashlosha - in Hebrew, "The Power of the Trinity"). The Puritans held the Hebrew language in such high regard that their military banners were inscribed with the emblem of the Lion of Judah and their battle hymns were taken directly from the Psalms.

Some Hebrew words of biblical origin were so distinctive that no attempt was made to find equivalents for them in English or in the other languages which likewise adopted them. One of them, shibboleth, described a biblical story which had very modern applications, directly repeating the biblical event.

Shibboleth (the Hebrew word for an "ear of corn") was pronounced with the "sh" sound by the Gideonites, whereas the hostile tribe of Ephraimites could not say the "sh" and pronounced it sibboleth. The self-same strategy of detection was used in a peasants revolt in Flanders in the town of Brugge (Bruges) in the 13th century. The Flemish-speaking peasants distinguished their comrades from French-speaking nobility who were clad in peasant garb by asking them to repeat the Flemish slogan "Friend and Shield." The French speakers could not pronounce the "sch" in the Flemish word for shield. A similar shibboleth technique was used in World War II by the Dutch resistance and British intelligence to uncover German SS officers pretending to be Dutch civilians, who were unable to pronounce the name of the town of Scheveningen.

The influence of the Hebrew language, however, extends far beyond the field of linguistics and religion. Its contribution is much more profound than the borrowing of individual words and concepts. Hebrew mental patterns have been so long encased in English words and phrases that we scarcely give a thought to their origins. Classics of English literature - both prose and poetry, political oratory, the popular stage, song and screen, and inscriptions on historical monuments, are strewn with titles lifted directly from the pages of The Tanach where they appeared for the first time in Hebrew. Their ability to serve as allegories, proverbs and parables for modern situations and events that recall the Bible has been a hallmark of great literature, debate and oratory. Just a few examples will suffice: the writing on the wall (Daniel, 5:25), the mark of Cain (Genesis, 4:15), scapegoat (Leviticus, 16:26), the meek shall inherit the earth (Psalms 37:11), the grapes of wrath (Deuteronomy, 32:32), out of the mouths of babes and sucklings (Psalms 8:3), the good earth (Deuteronomy, 6:18), the way of all flesh (Genesis, 6:12), dust to dust (Genesis, 3:19), feet of clay (Daniel, 2:34), East of Eden (Genesis, 4:16), how are the mighty fallen (2 Samuel 1:19), man shall not live by bread alone (Deuteronomy, 8:3). These expressions and hundreds more have become so ingrained in the English language and so frequently used that we scarcely give a thought to their Hebrew origin. To imagine the English language without them is as unthinkable as to imagine English without the influence of Shakespeare.
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline galileerat

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Offline t_h_j

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2009, 12:34:44 AM »
Rav Glazerson, Isaac Mozeson and others have shown how all languages ultimately derive from the First Language, Hebrew.

Including English e.g.

hollow/challal, kid/gdi, money/ moneh, refuse/refesh, over/over, superior/shapir, sycamore/shikma, acaccia/ketziya, deteriorate/hitdarderut, cuts/kitzutz, luna/levanah, regular/rageel, shriek/shrikah, source/shoresh, tactic/dakdek, yell/yelal, abbot/avot, agony/yagon, albino/halbonah, amity/amit, ashame/asham, aura/or, berry/pri, call/kol, corn/goren, couple/koffel, dagger/dakar, elite/elit, evil/eveel, gall/ga'al, jackal/shachal, kill/kilkel, ghost/gossess, love/lev, cable/kevel, chaste/chassid, direct/derech, finicity/fanak, idea/de'ah, mystery/mestar, python/peten, rush/ra'ash, reek/rey'ach, psoriasis/tzora'as, riches/rechoosh, scale/shkal, secure/sagoor, cosmos/gashmius, sorrow/tzoroh, elect/likut, ravenous/ra'av,sparrow/tzipporah, suffice/sufik, therapy/terufah, wine/yayin etc.etc

how is Hebrew the first language?

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2009, 10:35:27 AM »
how is Hebrew the first language?

Hebrew is the first written language with an alphabet.

Offline Hyades

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #7 on: July 16, 2009, 10:49:18 AM »
how is Hebrew the first language?

Hebrew is the first written language with an alphabet.

I think you are wrong. If you consider hieroglyphs (which stood for sounds), then old Egyptian was one of the first along with Phoenician and proto-Canaanite. Hebrew alphabet emerged from the Phoenician one - the names of the letters are older than the Hebrew letters themselves.

Offline Kahane-Was-Right BT

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #8 on: July 16, 2009, 12:24:00 PM »
how is Hebrew the first language?

Hebrew is the first written language with an alphabet.

I think you are wrong. If you consider hieroglyphs (which stood for sounds), then old Egyptian was one of the first along with Phoenician and proto-Canaanite. Hebrew alphabet emerged from the Phoenician one - the names of the letters are older than the Hebrew letters themselves.

This is indeed an interesting question.

proto-canaanite?  That is the term invented by modern day scientists, but who says Hebrew (ivrit) didn't evolve and that was its original form?   Either way, the "semi language" of "proto cananite" obviously did not survive as a functioning language, hence the term "proto" being incorporated into its name by scientists.  That reflects its inoperative, incomplete nature. 

Hebrew may not be the first written language, or modern day hebrew may not be the original form it was written in, but it is the first spoken language.   At the same time, I am not fully aware of the methods they use to determine that one language or alphabet is more ancient than another.   So perhaps I'm wrong entirely.

Offline Hyades

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #9 on: July 16, 2009, 12:28:40 PM »
how is Hebrew the first language?

Hebrew is the first written language with an alphabet.

I think you are wrong. If you consider hieroglyphs (which stood for sounds), then old Egyptian was one of the first along with Phoenician and proto-Canaanite. Hebrew alphabet emerged from the Phoenician one - the names of the letters are older than the Hebrew letters themselves.

This is indeed an interesting question.

proto-canaanite?  That is the term invented by modern day scientists, but who says Hebrew (ivrit) didn't evolve and that was its original form?   Either way, the "semi language" of "proto cananite" obviously did not survive as a functioning language, hence the term "proto" being incorporated into its name by scientists.  That reflects its inoperative, incomplete nature. 

Hebrew may not be the first written language, or modern day hebrew may not be the original form it was written in, but it is the first spoken language.   At the same time, I am not fully aware of the methods they use to determine that one language or alphabet is more ancient than another.   So perhaps I'm wrong entirely.

And let's not forget it is the only language that has scriptures with original texts still being understood today!

Offline t_h_j

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #10 on: July 16, 2009, 01:48:31 PM »
how is Hebrew the first language?

Hebrew is the first written language with an alphabet.

I think you are wrong. If you consider hieroglyphs (which stood for sounds), then old Egyptian was one of the first along with Phoenician and proto-Canaanite. Hebrew alphabet emerged from the Phoenician one - the names of the letters are older than the Hebrew letters themselves.

This is indeed an interesting question.

proto-canaanite?  That is the term invented by modern day scientists, but who says Hebrew (ivrit) didn't evolve and that was its original form?   Either way, the "semi language" of "proto cananite" obviously did not survive as a functioning language, hence the term "proto" being incorporated into its name by scientists.  That reflects its inoperative, incomplete nature. 

Hebrew may not be the first written language, or modern day hebrew may not be the original form it was written in, but it is the first spoken language.   At the same time, I am not fully aware of the methods they use to determine that one language or alphabet is more ancient than another.   So perhaps I'm wrong entirely.

if that's the case, then who spoke it first? 

Offline Kahane-Was-Right BT

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #11 on: July 16, 2009, 02:39:42 PM »

if that's the case, then who spoke it first? 

The first person/people who spoke a real language.

Offline t_h_j

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #12 on: July 16, 2009, 11:18:40 PM »

if that's the case, then who spoke it first? 

The first person/people who spoke a real language.

so it was spoken originally, then its usage stopped until the Jews came into existence much later?

Offline Kahane-Was-Right BT

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #13 on: July 17, 2009, 11:50:32 AM »

if that's the case, then who spoke it first? 

The first person/people who spoke a real language.

so it was spoken originally, then its usage stopped until the Jews came into existence much later?

No, why would that be?   Jews didn't "invent" a language.

Offline t_h_j

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #14 on: July 17, 2009, 05:02:35 PM »

if that's the case, then who spoke it first? 

The first person/people who spoke a real language.

so it was spoken originally, then its usage stopped until the Jews came into existence much later?

No, why would that be?   Jews didn't "invent" a language.

then who spoke hebrew before the jews? 

Offline Kahane-Was-Right BT

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #15 on: July 17, 2009, 05:20:55 PM »

then who spoke hebrew before the jews? 

People who the Jews (and others) descend from?

I have never seen an example of a people who invented a language.  I'm not sure why you would think Avraham the first Jew (or Shem and Ever?) just invented Hebrew wholecloth and then Jews spoke it.

Offline t_h_j

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #16 on: July 17, 2009, 06:06:25 PM »

then who spoke hebrew before the jews? 

People who the Jews (and others) descend from?

I have never seen an example of a people who invented a language.  I'm not sure why you would think Avraham the first Jew (or Shem and Ever?) just invented Hebrew wholecloth and then Jews spoke it.

they didn't invent it, it just evolved from other languages.  Abraham must have spoken and written Sumerian, since he came out of Ur.

Offline Kahane-Was-Right BT

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #17 on: July 18, 2009, 10:14:03 PM »

then who spoke hebrew before the jews? 

People who the Jews (and others) descend from?

I have never seen an example of a people who invented a language.  I'm not sure why you would think Avraham the first Jew (or Shem and Ever?) just invented Hebrew wholecloth and then Jews spoke it.

they didn't invent it, it just evolved from other languages.  Abraham must have spoken and written Sumerian, since he came out of Ur.

How does one speak Sumerian?

Offline t_h_j

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #18 on: July 18, 2009, 11:56:07 PM »

then who spoke hebrew before the jews? 

People who the Jews (and others) descend from?

I have never seen an example of a people who invented a language.  I'm not sure why you would think Avraham the first Jew (or Shem and Ever?) just invented Hebrew wholecloth and then Jews spoke it.

they didn't invent it, it just evolved from other languages.  Abraham must have spoken and written Sumerian, since he came out of Ur.

How does one speak Sumerian?

I don't understand your question.

Offline Ulli

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #19 on: July 19, 2009, 05:33:23 AM »
Rav Glazerson, Isaac Mozeson and others have shown how all languages ultimately derive from the First Language, Hebrew.

Including English e.g.

hollow/challal, kid/gdi, money/ moneh, refuse/refesh, over/over, superior/shapir, sycamore/shikma, acaccia/ketziya, deteriorate/hitdarderut, cuts/kitzutz, luna/levanah, regular/rageel, shriek/shrikah, source/shoresh, tactic/dakdek, yell/yelal, abbot/avot, agony/yagon, albino/halbonah, amity/amit, ashame/asham, aura/or, berry/pri, call/kol, corn/goren, couple/koffel, dagger/dakar, elite/elit, evil/eveel, gall/ga'al, jackal/shachal, kill/kilkel, ghost/gossess, love/lev, cable/kevel, chaste/chassid, direct/derech, finicity/fanak, idea/de'ah, mystery/mestar, python/peten, rush/ra'ash, reek/rey'ach, psoriasis/tzora'as, riches/rechoosh, scale/shkal, secure/sagoor, cosmos/gashmius, sorrow/tzoroh, elect/likut, ravenous/ra'av,sparrow/tzipporah, suffice/sufik, therapy/terufah, wine/yayin etc.etc

Thanks for this list. If Chaim speaks Hebrew, it sounds so familiar, like if I hear Dutch. I can not explain this feeling.
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Offline Zelhar

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Re: Secrets of the Hebrew Language [Lashon HaKodesh]
« Reply #20 on: July 19, 2009, 02:57:16 PM »
I was just thinking about these Hebrew words and their potential connections in the Holy tongue [Lashon HaKodesh]


טבע Teva                                     Nature
תיבה Tevah                                   Ark
תאבה Tiva Ta'ava                  Desire
גאווה Gaavah                                 Arrogance


These words seem very similar to me and often when I hear them I sometimes have to think about the word in context in order to understand what is being said.
The word "Teva" doesn't sound that similar if you pronounce the "ע" (which in modern hebrew most people neglect to do). The last word, most likely was pronounced "Ga'awa" in the ancient dialect. But there are certainly other examples.