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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2
face=Arial>From: Eli Turkel via Avodah
<avodah@lists.aishdas.org><BR><BR>The word kesher in Hebrew has several
meetings. Is there any deeper<BR>connection between them besides the more
obvious which is a little<BR>farfetched<BR><BR>1) knot<BR>2) connection<BR>3)
conspiracy<BR><BR>-- <BR>Eli Turkel</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>>>>></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The deeper connection is -- connection! All the words formed from
this shoresh are words that have "connecting" as their basic meaning.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In Edward Horowitz's fascinating and entertaining book, "How the Hebrew
Language Grew," he has a chapter on how sounds made in the same part of the
mouth sometimes interchange to form words with similar or closely related
meanings. One example he gives is the word kesher, and the related word
gesher -- a bridge, which connects two places, two sides of a river, two sides
of a road and so on.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Keshes, a rainbow, is something like a bridge connecting two parts of the
sky.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Another example of these interconnected words (this one I've also seen
in the Hirsch commentary on Chumash) is the word "tsachak" to laugh, to which a
number of other words are related in a phonetic way:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Change the ches to an ayin and you get "tsa'ak." Both tsachak and
tsa'ak involve emitting loud sounds -- sounds of mirth or of alarm or
distress. (Ches and ayin are both formed in the back of the throat.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Change the tsadi to a sin and instead of "tsachak" to laugh you get
"sachak" to be happy, to rejoice. (Tsadi and sin are both
sibilants.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Going back to the word tsa'ak, if you now change the tsadi to a zayin you
again get a closely related word, "za'ak."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And if you take the word "tsa'ir" (young) and change the tsadi to a zayin
you get "za'ir" small.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Change the sin of saraf to a tsadi and instead of burning (saraf) you
get refining (tsaraf) gold or silver -- which is done through heat.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Change the zayin of "zahav" to a tsadi and instead of gold you get
"tzahov," the color yellow.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Horowitz points out that these kinds of phonetic relationships can
also be found in English, Latin and other languages, but nevertheless I find it
especially fascinating to trace these connections in Lashon Hakodesh.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><B><BR>--Toby Katz<BR>t613k@aol.com</FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#ffffff
size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR>..</FONT><FONT lang=0
color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR>=============</B><BR><BR><BR>-------------------------------------------------------------------</FONT></DIV>
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