Israel is the male body part (on an anthropomorphic map of West Asia) that gives delight to God when it is yod-shin-resh = straight, upright. Usually it is bent, curved, as in Ya'akov. Rabbis would say this means morally straight / upright, but the Phoenicians would give a more physical explanation.
TA'ANUG: Erotic Delights from Kabbalah to Hasidism by Prof. Moshe Idel contains this text about "Israel":
>>... in the case of the rabbinic view, Israel, or the righteous, provide sustenance mefarnesim to God,34 but in Hasidism this becomes “Israel provides delight to God.”35
34 See e.g., Midrash Zutta on Shir ha-Shirim, ch. I.
35 See the collection of traditions from the Great Maggid’s circle, entitled 'Or ha-'Emmet, fol. 53c. Compare also to his 'Or Torah, fol. 27b. <<
I reached the same "delight to God" conclusion independently via etymology. Yod-shin-resh = gives delight. Delight = aleph-shin-resh. The aleph moved from the end of the noun to the beginning, probably under the influence of Aramaic which uses aleph as a suffix for the definite article.
Giving shin its ancient dental D/T-sound, letting the resh rotate to L (which looks like a resh rotated 180 degrees), and giving the aleph its ancient CHS/GHT-sound, shin-resh-aleph is cognate with DeLiGHT.
Anthropomorphic maps were generated by configuring the gigantic, virtual body of a god or goddess over the area to be mapped. The name of each body part became the name of the area under that part. This produced a mental image whose toponyms indicated the approximate location and size of each area.
Attributes:
The navel is the center of the map and the connection (axis mundi) between the earthly body and its heavenly mother
Place names may be reversed, metathesized, euphemized or code-switched because:
The same part exists on a nearby map of a different body
The left part is altered in names for left-right pairs
The name represents a taboo body part or excretion
Names may be loan-translated due to conquest or language change
Rivers and seas may be named after bodily excretions
Internal body parts are subdivisions of external parts
Islands near a body's hands may be named for hand-held weapons or objects
The deity was often a “trickster” (Hermes, Loki, Napi) who could change shape or configuration, a very useful attribute when territory was gained or lost.
The Phoenicians created a map of Hermes (whose navel was at Lebanon, a reversal of Sanskrit nabhila) in West Asia and a map of Astarte / Aphrodite (whose navel was at Nubia) in North Africa. Based on the derivation of Lebanon, I suspect the Phoenicians learned this map-making technique when they reached Central Asia via the Silk Road.
Philistia, Roman Palestina and Palestine are cognate with Greek phallos. Israel is a euphemism for the part that “gives delight (@oSheR) to God (@eL)” when it is “straight / upright (YaShaR).” So there is a psycholinguistic aspect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The (threatened) loss of this part causes castration (anxiety).
The maps of Hermes and Aphrodite are risqué. They are literally connected at Sinai (her “snatch”) which contains the Desert of Zin (his Zaiyin = weapon, a euphemism for the male member). By contrast, on similar American Indian maps, the male and female bodies are always a discrete / discreet distance apart.
Because this name was not uttered for so many centuries, its precise ancient pronunciation is no longer known. However, based on the inferred ancient sounds of its 4 letters, its semantics can be determined.
Giving the yod its ancient G/K-sound, the heh its ancient DH/TH-sound, and the consonantal vav its ancient F/PH-sound, the result produces GoTH/CaTH + FaTH, "father-god" in standard Semitic noun + adjective word order.
The Roman equivalent was Juth+PiTeR with loss of the th that is difficult to pronounce before a P.
Regarding the sound changes mentioned above:
The Yod is often parallel to G via Germanic, K via Greek, and a hard C or CR via Latin or Greek.
The letter heh originally had a DH or TH sound. The thumb (BoHeN בֹּהֶן ) on the anthropomorphic map of Hermes was BiTHyNia. This explains why the definite article “the” in English is the prefix heh in Hebrew. It also makes the word ToRaH תוֹרָה cognate with TRuTH “truth”.
The Hebrew consonantal vav had an F/PH-sound. You can hear the switch to V in the word וֶסֶת (menstruation) now pronounced VeSeT which was borrowed from Greek φάσις phasis PHaSiS (phase of the moon).
The hamentasch is a triangular pastry typically eaten at the time of the Jewish festival of Purim. Plural: hamentaschen.
From a culinary viewpoint, this Yiddish word is very sensible. This pastry has a filling, usually poppy seed (Mohn in Yiddish), and the dough is folded over the filling to form a pocket (Tasche in Yiddish) that contains it.
So why are these Purim pastries known as ha-mehn-tashen (the poppyseed pockets) in Yiddish called @oZNay-HaMaN (ears of Haman, using @ for the letter aleph) in Hebrew?
Tashen is not a sensible word in Hebrew. Giving the Yiddish sh a zh-sound (as in English measure, pleasure, treasure) and mis-dividing the Yiddish phrase as Hamant-ozhen would cause a Hebrew speaker to hear Hamant-@oZeN (literally, Haman's-ear) which was grammatically corrected to @oZNay-Haman (ears of Haman).
Haman is the villain of the Purim story in the biblical book of Esther.
The "music" in "face the music" may be a phono-semantic match (PSM) of Yiddish maskone = inference, consequence from Hebrew MaSKaNaH = conclusion, inference, deduction. However, it could be a reversal of the sounds in eXaM(ination). The most likely consequence of one's actions is an examination of those actions.
This is currently the only English idiom I know that could have (and may have) been formed in both of these ways. Its pattern of usage on Ngram Viewer shows a sharp rise in the late 1840s which coincides with a significant influx of Jewish immigrants from Germany to the United States. But the first attested usage is in New Hampshire in 1934 and that usage may have been the result of a reversal of the KSM sounds in "exam".
This idiom was formed by phono-semantic matching. The probably source is Aramaic.
QiSHoT BaGaD = truth + betray, or betray by revealing the truth. When the letter shin had a dental D/T-sound, this phrase sounded like KiToT BaGad => (let the) CaT ouT (of the) BaG
For the spelling and pronunciation of "truth" in Aramaic, see this URL:
A “hatchet to grind” and an “axe to chop with” do not have a similar meaning because neither sounds like the source. In addition, the parts of speech in the idiom and its source may not match. “Axe” is usually a noun and “grind” is usually a verb. But in the American idiom “axe” is a verb and “grind” is a noun. The g at the end of acht(ung) merges with the G in Grund to become the g in grind. So even the word divisions in the source and the idiom may not match.
“Ax to grind” is a homonym with different semantics in England and the United States. In both cases it is an idiom formed by phono-semantic matching.
The American meaning is “an ulterior motive”. It was derived from German acht(ung) = be aware, beware, pay attention + Grund = basis, reason, grounds … probably via Pennsylvania Dutch. Compare German Beweggrund = motive. This idiom was used by Benjamin Franklin who was (among his many other accomplishments) the editor of a German language newspaper.
The British spelling is usually “axe” and its meaning is “a strong opinion” possibly derived from Hebrew opinion = עַשׁתוּת aSHToot + (figuratively) strength, might, power = קֶרֶן KeReN => KaShTot + GeReN => aX To GRiNd.
A conniption fit is a panic attack. I suggest that CoNNiP is a reversal of PaNiC and fit is a reversal of tiff which is a reversal of FighT.
Reversals are rare in English, but there are others. NuTS with the meaning "crazy" is a reversal of SaTaN. This occurred at a time when crazy people were thought to be "possessed" by the devil.
PoSH is probably a reversal of Hebrew shin-peh-aiyin SHeFa3 = luxury, abundance, opulence. P and F are the same letter in Hebrew, usually pronounced as P at the beginning of a word and as F elsewhere.
The expression "to moon" = to expose one's buttocks as a prank or gesture of disrespect.
This expression seems to be a euphemism based on the fact the Hebrew words for "moon" and "buttocks" are near homonyms. Using KH for the letter khaf and X for the letter khet:
For a little while I forsook you but with vast love I will bring you back. In slight anger (SHeTZeF QeTZeF), for a moment, I hid My face from you but with everlasting kindness I will bring you back in love, said the Lord your Redeemer. (Isaiah 54:7-8)
SHeTZeF QeTZeF is the origin of the idioms "nose is out of joint", "chip on ... shoulder" and "gets up my nose". Substituting a tof for the tzadi produces the pun SHuToF + KaTeF = joint + shoulder. Even the sound of "iS ouT oF" is a loose transliteration of and pun on SHuToF (joint). "Gets up" is a pun on QeTZeF and @aF is a homonym that means both "nose" and "anger". See "dust up" as a noun meaning "a quarrel".
Another example of the aleph losing its sound and moving to the beginning of the Hebrew word produced the homonym @aVaQ aleph-vet-kuf which now means both "dust" and "quarrel, argument, controversy". The original sound for the quarrel-word was ViQoo'aKHt, now spelled vav-kaf-oo-het. Compare the English idiom "dust-up", where the "up" may be a transliteration of @aF = anger; nose.
"Does that ring a bell?" means "cause you to remember something" and is probably the translation of German Glock ringen, a transliteration pun on Latin recollectare = to remember.
"Count sheep !" to go to sleep is probably the translation of a Hebrew pun S'PoR KeVeS on the Latin phrase *sopor* (sleep, as in soporific) *quies* (quietly, as in quiesent). This idiom now occurs in Israeli Hebrew as LiSPoR K'VaSim = to count sheep (plural).
When I was a young kid, all of my friends and I knew the meaning of "escape by the skin of my teeth" and not a single one of us knew it was the translation of B'3or SHinai, a Hebrew pun on the word B'QoSHi (which means "barely, hardly, with difficulty") in the biblical book of Job 19:20. The 3 above represents the Hebrew letter aiyin with an ancient G/K-sound, as in 3aZa = Gaza.
The meaning is: a torrent of rain is descending. This expression was first attested as "polecat and dog" where "polecat an_" is cognate with Hebrew maBooL GeSHeM (a torrent of rain) with an ancient T-sound for the shin. Dog, OE docga, is the verb ... cognate with shin-kuf-aiyin (to descend), with a D/T-sound for the shin and an ancient G-sound, as in 3aZa = Gaza, for the aiyin.
Latin musculus is a homonym meaning both muscle and a small mouse. The same semantics are found in Greek pontiki. But the Greek mouse was derived from "mus Ponticus", mouse from the Pontus region, where Pontus was the biceps on a male anthropomorphic map. The etymology of muscle is unrelated to mouse. It is related to concepts such as weight, mass, and massage. It is probably related to Semitic mem-sin-aleph, lifting up, burden, load at a time when the aleph still had a chs-sound, and to mem-shin-kuf-lamed MiSHKaL weight. If you lift weights, you will develop your muscles. If you have a lot of muscle, you can lift / carry / pull a lot of weight.
The standard etymology for cabal is from Hebrew kuf-bet-lamed-heh Kabbala, mystic lore, literally received (tradition). This is not correct. It is actually related to Hebrew het-bet-lamed kHaBaL, to plot, scheme.
Comments by cohenizzy
cohenizzy commented on the word Israel
Israel is the male body part (on an anthropomorphic map of West Asia) that gives delight to God when it is yod-shin-resh = straight, upright. Usually it is bent, curved, as in Ya'akov. Rabbis would say this means morally straight / upright, but the Phoenicians would give a more physical explanation.
TA'ANUG: Erotic Delights from Kabbalah to Hasidism by Prof. Moshe Idel contains this text about "Israel":
>>... in the case of the rabbinic view, Israel, or the righteous, provide sustenance mefarnesim to God,34 but in Hasidism this becomes “Israel provides delight to God.”35
34 See e.g., Midrash Zutta on Shir ha-Shirim, ch. I.
35 See the collection of traditions from the Great Maggid’s circle, entitled 'Or ha-'Emmet, fol. 53c. Compare also to his 'Or Torah, fol. 27b. <<
I reached the same "delight to God" conclusion independently via etymology. Yod-shin-resh = gives delight. Delight = aleph-shin-resh. The aleph moved from the end of the noun to the beginning, probably under the influence of Aramaic which uses aleph as a suffix for the definite article.
Giving shin its ancient dental D/T-sound, letting the resh rotate to L (which looks like a resh rotated 180 degrees), and giving the aleph its ancient CHS/GHT-sound, shin-resh-aleph is cognate with DeLiGHT.
January 1, 2021
cohenizzy commented on the word anthropomorphic map
Anthropomorphic maps were generated by configuring the gigantic, virtual body of a god or goddess over the area to be mapped. The name of each body part became the name of the area under that part. This produced a mental image whose toponyms indicated the approximate location and size of each area.
Attributes:
The navel is the center of the map and the connection (axis mundi) between the earthly body and its heavenly mother
Place names may be reversed, metathesized, euphemized or code-switched because:
The same part exists on a nearby map of a different body
The left part is altered in names for left-right pairs
The name represents a taboo body part or excretion
Names may be loan-translated due to conquest or language change
Rivers and seas may be named after bodily excretions
Internal body parts are subdivisions of external parts
Islands near a body's hands may be named for hand-held weapons or objects
The deity was often a “trickster” (Hermes, Loki, Napi) who could change shape or configuration, a very useful attribute when territory was gained or lost.
The Phoenicians created a map of Hermes (whose navel was at Lebanon, a reversal of Sanskrit nabhila) in West Asia and a map of Astarte / Aphrodite (whose navel was at Nubia) in North Africa. Based on the derivation of Lebanon, I suspect the Phoenicians learned this map-making technique when they reached Central Asia via the Silk Road.
Philistia, Roman Palestina and Palestine are cognate with Greek phallos. Israel is a euphemism for the part that “gives delight (@oSheR) to God (@eL)” when it is “straight / upright (YaShaR).” So there is a psycholinguistic aspect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The (threatened) loss of this part causes castration (anxiety).
The maps of Hermes and Aphrodite are risqué. They are literally connected at Sinai (her “snatch”) which contains the Desert of Zin (his Zaiyin = weapon, a euphemism for the male member). By contrast, on similar American Indian maps, the male and female bodies are always a discrete / discreet distance apart.
January 1, 2021
cohenizzy commented on the word YHVH
Because this name was not uttered for so many centuries, its precise ancient pronunciation is no longer known. However, based on the inferred ancient sounds of its 4 letters, its semantics can be determined.
Giving the yod its ancient G/K-sound, the heh its ancient DH/TH-sound, and the consonantal vav its ancient F/PH-sound, the result produces GoTH/CaTH + FaTH, "father-god" in standard Semitic noun + adjective word order.
The Roman equivalent was Juth+PiTeR with loss of the th that is difficult to pronounce before a P.
Regarding the sound changes mentioned above:
The Yod is often parallel to G via Germanic, K via Greek, and a hard C or CR via Latin or Greek.
The letter heh originally had a DH or TH sound. The thumb (BoHeN בֹּהֶן ) on the anthropomorphic map of Hermes was BiTHyNia. This explains why the definite article “the” in English is the prefix heh in Hebrew. It also makes the word ToRaH תוֹרָה cognate with TRuTH “truth”.
The Hebrew consonantal vav had an F/PH-sound. You can hear the switch to V in the word וֶסֶת (menstruation) now pronounced VeSeT which was borrowed from Greek φάσις phasis PHaSiS (phase of the moon).
January 1, 2021
cohenizzy commented on the word hamentsch
The hamentasch is a triangular pastry typically eaten at the time of the Jewish festival of Purim. Plural: hamentaschen.
From a culinary viewpoint, this Yiddish word is very sensible. This pastry has a filling, usually poppy seed (Mohn in Yiddish), and the dough is folded over the filling to form a pocket (Tasche in Yiddish) that contains it.
So why are these Purim pastries known as ha-mehn-tashen (the poppyseed pockets) in Yiddish called @oZNay-HaMaN (ears of Haman, using @ for the letter aleph) in Hebrew?
Tashen is not a sensible word in Hebrew. Giving the Yiddish sh a zh-sound (as in English measure, pleasure, treasure) and mis-dividing the Yiddish phrase as Hamant-ozhen would cause a Hebrew speaker to hear Hamant-@oZeN (literally, Haman's-ear) which was grammatically corrected to @oZNay-Haman (ears of Haman).
Haman is the villain of the Purim story in the biblical book of Esther.
December 28, 2020
cohenizzy commented on the word face the music
The "music" in "face the music" may be a phono-semantic match (PSM) of Yiddish maskone = inference, consequence from Hebrew MaSKaNaH = conclusion, inference, deduction. However, it could be a reversal of the sounds in eXaM(ination). The most likely consequence of one's actions is an examination of those actions.
This is currently the only English idiom I know that could have (and may have) been formed in both of these ways. Its pattern of usage on Ngram Viewer shows a sharp rise in the late 1840s which coincides with a significant influx of Jewish immigrants from Germany to the United States. But the first attested usage is in New Hampshire in 1934 and that usage may have been the result of a reversal of the KSM sounds in "exam".
December 26, 2020
cohenizzy commented on the word cat out of the bag
This idiom was formed by phono-semantic matching. The probably source is Aramaic.
QiSHoT BaGaD = truth + betray, or betray by revealing the truth. When the letter shin had a dental D/T-sound, this phrase sounded like KiToT BaGad => (let the) CaT ouT (of the) BaG
For the spelling and pronunciation of "truth" in Aramaic, see this URL:
https://www.atour.com/cgi-bin/dictionary.cgi?string=truth&Search_Field=Meaning
December 25, 2020
cohenizzy commented on the word ax to grind
A “hatchet to grind” and an “axe to chop with” do not have a similar meaning because neither sounds like the source. In addition, the parts of speech in the idiom and its source may not match. “Axe” is usually a noun and “grind” is usually a verb. But in the American idiom “axe” is a verb and “grind” is a noun. The g at the end of acht(ung) merges with the G in Grund to become the g in grind. So even the word divisions in the source and the idiom may not match.
December 25, 2020
cohenizzy commented on the word ax to grind
“Ax to grind” is a homonym with different semantics in England and the United States. In both cases it is an idiom formed by phono-semantic matching.
The American meaning is “an ulterior motive”. It was derived from German acht(ung) = be aware, beware, pay attention + Grund = basis, reason, grounds … probably via Pennsylvania Dutch. Compare German Beweggrund = motive. This idiom was used by Benjamin Franklin who was (among his many other accomplishments) the editor of a German language newspaper.
The British spelling is usually “axe” and its meaning is “a strong opinion” possibly derived from Hebrew opinion = עַשׁתוּת aSHToot + (figuratively) strength, might, power = קֶרֶן KeReN => KaShTot + GeReN => aX To GRiNd.
December 25, 2020
cohenizzy commented on the word conniption
A conniption fit is a panic attack. I suggest that CoNNiP is a reversal of PaNiC and fit is a reversal of tiff which is a reversal of FighT.
Reversals are rare in English, but there are others. NuTS with the meaning "crazy" is a reversal of SaTaN. This occurred at a time when crazy people were thought to be "possessed" by the devil.
PoSH is probably a reversal of Hebrew shin-peh-aiyin SHeFa3 = luxury, abundance, opulence. P and F are the same letter in Hebrew, usually pronounced as P at the beginning of a word and as F elsewhere.
Izzy
December 25, 2020
cohenizzy commented on the word hair of the dog that bit you
Latin: Saccharomyces cervisae = Brewer's yeast (an ancient hangover remedy)
Hebrew pun: Sa3aR MiNSHaKH KeLeV = hair bite dog (compare Gk Cerberus, the 3-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades)
English: Take "hair of the dog that bit you" (as a hangover remedy)
June 18, 2009
cohenizzy commented on the word moon
The expression "to moon" = to expose one's buttocks as a prank or gesture of disrespect.
This expression seems to be a euphemism based on the fact the Hebrew words for "moon" and "buttocks" are near homonyms. Using KH for the letter khaf and X for the letter khet:
YeReKH yod-resh-khaf = buttock, haunch, thigh
YaRa:aX yod-resh-het = moon
June 18, 2009
cohenizzy commented on the word brass monkey
This seems to be the translation of a Hebrew pun on a Hebrew phrase.
Hebrew text: PeLeTZ + K'Foo = shiver (compare English palsy) + frozen
Hebrew pun: P'LiZ + KoF = brass monkey
Treating P as B in Arabic, P'LiZ KoF => balls (k)off ..., hence
"cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey."
June 18, 2009
cohenizzy commented on the word chip
For a little while I forsook you but with vast love I will bring you back. In slight anger (SHeTZeF QeTZeF), for a moment, I hid My face from you but with everlasting kindness I will bring you back in love, said the Lord your Redeemer. (Isaiah 54:7-8)
SHeTZeF QeTZeF is the origin of the idioms "nose is out of joint", "chip on ... shoulder" and "gets up my nose". Substituting a tof for the tzadi produces the pun SHuToF + KaTeF = joint + shoulder. Even the sound of "iS ouT oF" is a loose transliteration of and pun on SHuToF (joint). "Gets up" is a pun on QeTZeF and @aF is a homonym that means both "nose" and "anger". See "dust up" as a noun meaning "a quarrel".
June 17, 2009
cohenizzy commented on the word dust
Another example of the aleph losing its sound and moving to the beginning of the Hebrew word produced the homonym @aVaQ aleph-vet-kuf which now means both "dust" and "quarrel, argument, controversy". The original sound for the quarrel-word was ViQoo'aKHt, now spelled vav-kaf-oo-het. Compare the English idiom "dust-up", where the "up" may be a transliteration of @aF = anger; nose.
June 17, 2009
cohenizzy commented on the word bell
"Does that ring a bell?" means "cause you to remember something" and is probably the translation of German Glock ringen, a transliteration pun on Latin recollectare = to remember.
June 16, 2009
cohenizzy commented on the word gossamer
Gossamer is probably a meld of Latin Gossypium = the genus of cotton + mare = the sea, that is, sea-foam.
June 16, 2009
cohenizzy commented on the word sheep
"Count sheep !" to go to sleep is probably the translation of a Hebrew pun S'PoR KeVeS on the Latin phrase *sopor* (sleep, as in soporific) *quies* (quietly, as in quiesent). This idiom now occurs in Israeli Hebrew as LiSPoR K'VaSim = to count sheep (plural).
June 16, 2009
cohenizzy commented on the word skin
When I was a young kid, all of my friends and I knew the meaning of "escape by the skin of my teeth" and not a single one of us knew it was the translation of B'3or SHinai, a Hebrew pun on the word B'QoSHi (which means "barely, hardly, with difficulty") in the biblical book of Job 19:20. The 3 above represents the Hebrew letter aiyin with an ancient G/K-sound, as in 3aZa = Gaza.
June 16, 2009
cohenizzy commented on the word raining cats and dogs
The meaning is: a torrent of rain is descending. This expression was first attested as "polecat and dog" where "polecat an_" is cognate with Hebrew maBooL GeSHeM (a torrent of rain) with an ancient T-sound for the shin. Dog, OE docga, is the verb ... cognate with shin-kuf-aiyin (to descend), with a D/T-sound for the shin and an ancient G-sound, as in 3aZa = Gaza, for the aiyin.
Israel "izzy" Cohen
June 14, 2009
cohenizzy commented on the word muscle
Latin musculus is a homonym meaning both muscle and a small mouse. The same semantics are found in Greek pontiki. But the Greek mouse was derived from "mus Ponticus", mouse from the Pontus region, where Pontus was the biceps on a male anthropomorphic map. The etymology of muscle is unrelated to mouse. It is related to concepts such as weight, mass, and massage. It is probably related to Semitic mem-sin-aleph, lifting up, burden, load at a time when the aleph still had a chs-sound, and to mem-shin-kuf-lamed MiSHKaL weight. If you lift weights, you will develop your muscles. If you have a lot of muscle, you can lift / carry / pull a lot of weight.
Israel "izzy" Cohen
June 10, 2009
cohenizzy commented on the word cabal
The standard etymology for cabal is from Hebrew kuf-bet-lamed-heh Kabbala, mystic lore, literally received (tradition). This is not correct. It is actually related to Hebrew het-bet-lamed kHaBaL, to plot, scheme.
Israel "izzy" Cohen
June 10, 2009