There is a compelling “lexical similarity” between Semitic and Indo-European languages. These two families, share many cognate words. Some of these words underwent phonetic changes, and became: “camouflaged cognates”, while others are still “explicit cognates”.
a Cognate is a word which is historically derived from the same source as another word.
For example: The Arabic سلام “salām“, the Hebrew שלום “shalom“, the Syriac “shlama” and the Amharic “selam” ‘peace’ are cognates, derived from the Proto-Semitic *šalām- ‘peace’.
Cognates are distinguished from loanwords, where a word has been borrowed from another language.
a Loanword is a word borrowed from one language into another.
For example, English “beef” is borrowed from Old French “boef” (meaning “ox”). Although they are part of a single etymological stemma, they are not cognates.
Because language change can have radical effects on both the sound and the meaning of a word, cognates may not be obvious, and it often takes rigorous study of historical sources and the application of the comparative method to establish whether words are cognates.
Semitic languages: Akkadian, Amharic, Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew, Ge’ez, Mandaic, Old-South-Arabian, Phoenician, Syriac, Tigre, Tigrinya, Ugaritic, among others.
Indo-European: Greek, Latin, Romance languages, Germanic, Celtic, Balto-Slavic, Indo-Iranian, among others.
Indo-Semitic hypothesis:
The Indo-Semitic hypothesis maintains that a genetic relationship exists between Indo-European and Semitic languages, and that the Indo-European and the Semitic language families both descend from a common root ancestral language.
According to the Hellenist (Renfrew, 1998) “The Greek language is unusual among the languages of Europe in the high proportion of its vocabulary which includes words which are not only not Greek words, but apparently not part of an Indo-European vocabulary either”.
Lexical similarity
Lexical similarity is a measure of the degree to which the ‘word sets’ of two given languages are similar. A lexical similarity of 1 (or 100%) would mean a total overlap between vocabularies, whereas 0 means there are no common words.
There are different ways to define the lexical similarity and the results vary accordingly. (Wikipedia)
One of these “ways” is identifying cognates through the use of Swadesh list.
“Swadesh list” is a compilation of basic vocabulary items used in historical linguistics to compare languages and their relatedness. Swadesh collection of words was also intended to avoid borrowing, based on the idea that ‘cultural’ vocabulary is more prone to borrowing than ‘intimate’ vocabulary. By limiting the list of words to intimate vocabulary, the words should be resistant to borrowing. (Swadesh, 1952)
The task of defining (and counting the number) of cognate words in the list is far from trivial, and often is subject to dispute, because cognates do not necessarily look similar, and recognition of cognates presupposes knowledge of the sound laws of the respective languages. Cognates may undergo phonological/morphological changes or semantic shift and became: “camouflaged cognates”.
Phonetic notes:
1- Semitic vowels:
ă = “u” as in “but”
ā = “a” as in “far”
ŭ = “u” as in “put”
ū = “oo” as in “stool”
ĭ = “i” as in “bit”
ī = “ee” as in “steel”.
2- Glottal/pharyngeal: /ẖ/, /h/, /ḥ/ and /ḣ/
/ẖ/ represents: “glottal stop”. ( ⟨ʔ⟩ in IPA )
Produced by obstructing airflow in the glottis.
for example, between the vowel sounds in: “uh-oh!”
Graphemes: Aramaic/Hebrew “א”, Syriac “ܐ” and Arabic “ء”.
/h/ represents: “voiceless glottal fricative”. ( ⟨h⟩ in IPA )
It is English “h” in: “hear” and “have”.
In Spanish, /h/ is silent: /∅/
Graphemes: Aramaic/Hebrew “ה”, Syriac “ܗ” and Arabic “هـ”.
/ḥ/ represents: “voiceless pharyngeal fricative”. ( ⟨ħ ⟩ in IPA )
Often characterized as a “whispered /h/”, or a “breathy” variant of /h/.
Graphemes: Aramaic/Hebrew “ח”, Syriac “ܚ” and Arabic “حـ”.
/ḣ/ represents: “voiced pharyngeal fricative” (Ayin). ( ⟨ʕ⟩ in IPA )
It is the voiced variant of: /ḥ/.
Sometimes referred to as: “voiced glottal stop”.
Graphemes: Aramaic/Hebrew “ע”, Syriac “ܥ” and Arabic “عـ”.
Etymologically, these phones are considered to be: “epenthetic”.
Epenthesis: is the addition or the insertion of an extra sound into a word, without changing the word’s meaning. Their phonemic value is nil.
/ẖ/ → /∅/
/h/ → /∅/
/ḥ/ → /∅/
/ḣ/ → /∅/
Example:
Arabic: “Lăḣăq /لعق ” = to lick something with the tongue.
The root of Lăḣăq is: [l-ḣ-q]
(“ḣ” deletion, ḣ becomes zero):
/ḣ/→/∅/
[l-ḣ-q] → [l-∅-q] →[l-q]
English: “lick” = to pass the tongue over (something).
The root of Lick is [l-k]
Arabic: “Lăḣăq” & English: “lick” seem to be: “related”.
5- [b], [p], [f], [v] and [w].
Historically, these phones replace each other.
[b]: “voiced bilabial plosive”.
[p]: The voiceless counterpart of: [b].
[f] : “voiceless labiodental fricative”
[v] : The voiced counterpart of: [f].
[w]: “voiced labial-velar approximant”.
As English “w” in: “Weep”.
Proto-Indo-European: *p → Proto-Germanic: *f
Proto-Semitic: *p —→ is Arabic: *f
Example_01:
Arabic: “fălăḥ / فلح” = to plow.
fălăḥ (root) = [f-l-ḥ]
Arabic: *f → Proto-Semitic: *p
[f-l-ḥ] → [p-l-ḥ]
(“ḥ” deletion, ḥ becomes zero): /ḥ/→/∅/
[p-l-ḥ]→ [p-l-∅] →[p-l]
English: “plow”
“plow” (root) = [p-l]
Arabic: “fălăḥ” & English: “plow” seem to be: “related”.
Example_02:
Arabic: “baš / بشش” = face.
Root of baš = [b-š]
Arabic: *f → is Proto-Semitic: *p
[p]: is the voiceless counterpart of: [b].
[b-š] → [p-š]
English: “face”
Root of “face” = [f-s]
Proto-Germanic: *f → is Proto-Indo-European: *p
[f-s] → [p-s]
[p]: is the voiceless counterpart of: [b].
[p-s] → [b-s]
[š]: is the palatalized counterpart of: [s].
Arabic: “baš” & English: “face” seem to be: “related”.
Related words
These words are not recent loanwords, they are found in ancient lexicons. Borrowed vocabulary are not included here.
1- German: (ton = clay).
[Proto-Semitic: *ṭīn=clay]
Syriac: (ṭīnā = mud, clay).
2- Proto-Germanic: “auzon” (= ear).
Akkadian: “uznu” (= ear).
Hebrew: “auzin/אֹזֶן” (= ear).
3- Latin: (picherius = pot, jar).
Latin “ch” pronounced => “kh”.
Latin suffix “-us” is epenthetic.
Akkadian: (Paḫāru = pot, potter)
Akkadian “ḫ” pronounced => “kh”.
pikheri = Pakhāru
4- Greek: (χρυσός/khrysós = gold).
Greek suffix “-ós” is epenthetic.
Akkadian: (ḫurāṣu = gold)
Akkadian “ḫ” pronounced => “kh”.
khrys = khurāṣu
5- Latin: (taurus = bull).
Aramaic:(tawrā = bull).
6- Latin: (sura = calf).
Akkadian: (šūru = bull).
7- English: (tear = to shred).
Arabic: (tăr = to shred).
8- English: (tall = being higher).
Arabic: (tūl = height).
9- English: (cup = vessel).
Quranic Arabic: (kawb = mug).
10- Proto-West Germanic: *dūnā = sand dune.
Arabic: (dăhnă = desert). [infixed glottal-h]
11- Scots: (sairie = sad, sorrowful)
Arabic: (ḥaseer = sad, sorrowful).
12- Proto-West Germanic *sparwō = sparrow
Ugaritic: 𐎕𐎔𐎗 (ṣpr) = sparrow
Aramaic: צִפְּרָא (ṣippərā) = sparrow
Hebrew: צִפּוֹר (ṣipur) = sparrow
13- English: “mean-ing”
Arabic: (maḣna = meaning).
14- Spanish: (dia = day).
Arabic: (ḍiya = light).
15- Latin: (miro = to look at).
“ mirare ‘look at’ ”
Akkadian: (amāru = to look at).
16- English: (crime).
Arabic: (gŭrm = crime).
17- Latin: (irrigo = to irrigate).
Arabic: (araqa = to pour water).
18- Greek: (ωτιον/otiyon = ear).
Arabic: (udun = ear).
19- English: berry ( = Any small fleshy fruit)
(= any of various kernels or seeds).
Proto-Semitic *piry-.
Hebrew פְּרִי (pərī)
Ugaritic 𐎔𐎗 (pr /pirû/).
Ge’ez: ፍሬ • (fəre)
( = fruit, seed, progeny, offspring)
20- Old English: “sēo” = pupil of the eye).
Derived sense: Old English “sēon” (= see, look, behold)
Akin to Old High German “seha” ( = pupil)
Hebrew: “išon/אִישׁוֹן” ( = pupil of the eye, eyeball), (iš+on), “-on/־וֹן” is a diminutive suffix, derived from: “’iš/איש”.
Levantine Arabic: “šaḥ/شح” = “see, look”.
Classical Arabic: “šayaḥ/شَيَّحَ” = “to look at”.
21- English: (kin = one’s relatives, clan).
Akkadian: (qinnu = family, clan).
22- English: “rip” (= to pull apart).
Arabic: “arib/أَرِبَ” = having been cut or sliced off.).
23- Swedish: “ax” (= ear).
Arabic: “aksa” (= with a notched ear).
Hijazi Arabic: “asgah” (= deaf)
24- Swedish: “gehör” (= ear).
Amharic: “joro” (= ear).
25- Swedish: “krus” (= jar).
Arabic: “khurs/خرص” (= jar).
Sumerian: “sa-kur” (= jar) (before metathesis: kur-sa)
26- Swedish: “illa” (= incorrect or wrong).
Arabic: “ḣilla” (= something incorrect or wrong).
27- English: “kill”.
Arabic: “ghal/غالَ” (= kill).
28- English: “guild”. (= association of craftsmen)
Arabic: “jilṯ /جلذ ” (= craftsman).
29- Lombardic: “zan” (=tooth)
German: “zahn” (= tooth).
Arabic: “sin/سن” (= tooth).
Hebrew: “šin/שֵׁן” (= tooth).
Syriac: “šina/ܫܸܢܵܐ” (= tooth).
30- Swedish: “knuffa” (= shoulder).
(pronounced initial k-)
Arabic: “kanaf” (= Upper arm, side, wing).
31- Dutch: “koppel” (= couple, belt, yoke, leash).
Arabic: “qafal/quful” (= to fasten, to lock, , a lock).
Arabic: *F → is Semitic: *P
32- German: “Taube” (= pigeon).
Najdi Arabic: “tabbah/طبة” (= dove).
33-English: “walk” (= to move along or travel on foot.).
Akkadian: “alaku” (=to go, to move along, walk)
Hebrew: “halakh/הלך” (= wayfarer, a person who travels on foot.).
Arabic: “halak/هلك” (= to go away, to disappear, to pass away, to waddle.)
34- Latin: “curto” (= to cut).
Akkadian: “karātu” (= to cut)
Hebrew: “כּרת/karát” (= to cut).
Amharic: “ቁረጥ/kureti” (= to cut).
Arabic: “qarat/قرط”(= to cut)
35- Norwegian: “kutte” (ko͝ottă) (= to cut).
(pronounced final -e)
Arabic: “qăttăḣ/قطع”(= to cut)
36- English: “bug” (= small insect).
Arabic: “băq/بق” (= cimex, mosquitoes).
derived from “băqqă” (to spread suddenly)
37- English: “big” (= of considerable size or extent).
Arabic: “băq/بق” (= to be vast or wide).
38- Spanish: “ayuda” (= assistance, help).
Arabic: “ayyad/أيّد” (= to give support, to give hand). Derived from “yad/يد” (= hand)
39- English: “but”.
Arabic: “baid/بيد” (= nevertheless, outside of).
Derived from “baidun/بيدٌ” (= emptiness, absence, outside).
40- Proto-Celtic *aryeti (= to plough).
Arabic: “ḥarṯu/حرث” (= ploughing).
Hebrew: “haroš/חֲרוֹשׁ” (= to plough).
41- Danish: “kilde“: spring, well, water source.
Arabic “qalte/قلته”: a natural water pool that forms in a rocky cavity.
(borrowed into English as: guelta).
42- English: “ear”
German: “Ähre” (ear)
Arabic: “ḥeera/حيره” (= ear).
Arabic: “ḣurwa/عروة” (= ear, handle).
Arabic: “maḥara/محارة” (= shell).
(ma- is a grammatical element)
43- Welsh: “ardda” (= field, garden).
Arabic: “ardd/أرض” (= land).
Arabic: “rawda/روضه” (= garden).
44- Latin: “pars” (= portion, part).
Hebrew: “pirsha/פרשה” (= portion, section).
Arabic: “fursa/فرصه” (= piece).
Arabic: *F → is Semitic: *P
45- Latin: “sero” (= to join, to bind together).
Arabic: “ṣăr/صر” (= to tie, to squeeze).
Hebrew: “ṣār/צר” (= narrow, tight).
46- Latin: “costa” (= rib, side, wall).
Italian: “costa” (= coastline, shore)
Danish: “kyst” (= coast)
Akkadian: “Kisadu” (= edge, rim, bank, shore).
47- English: “shore” (= seaside).
Arabic: “shăḥr” (= seaside).
48- Proto-Germanic *hnakkô (nape, neck)
Icelandic: “hnakki” ( = neck”),
Arabic: “ḣunuq/عنق” (= neck)
Arabic: “ḥanak/حنك” (= soft palate)
49- Proto-Indo-European *ǵelt (= womb) (etymon of English: child)
Akkadian: “ḫāltu” (= childbirth)
“ḫāltu” pronounced: “khāltu“
50- Norwegian Nynorsk “klubbe”
From Old Norse “klubba“.
= “weaponry club”, “gavel”, “mallet”
Akkadian: “kalappu and kalabbu” (= pick-axe)
51- Old Norse: “iss” (= ice)
Akkadian: “eš” (= cold).
52- Akkadian: halpû (var. halba & halpi) (= frost, ice, cold weather, to be cold).
The English “Alps” (mountains), comes from the Latin “Alpes“. There is no consensus among scholars as to the meaning of “Alpes”:
“high elevation”?, “grazing pastures”? or “whiteness”?
53- Old Icelandic: “hinnig” (= there!).
Arabic: “hinak” (= there!).
54- Old Icelandic: “kalla” (= to call, to say).
Arabic: “qal/قال” (= to say, to utter).
55- English: “hurry”
Arabic: “haraḣ/هرع” (= to move or act quickly.).
56- English: “wail”
Arabic: (ḣawīl = wailing).
57- Latin: “litera” (= letter, handwriting).
Akkadian: “altur” (= to write)
58- Latin: “curro” (= to run).
Akkadian: “gara” or “jara” (= to run)
59- Danish: “ged” (= goat).
Akkadian: “gadû” (= goat)
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