I started compiling a list about a year ago of all of the times I noticed that an English word was very linguistically similar to a Hebrew word phonetically and semantically (i.e. in meaning). Many have seen or heard the Rashi on Genesis 11:1 :"The whole earth had one language" - The Holy Tongue. That is, all languages descend from Hebrew. I find it interesting to see how that plays out, aside from it often being very useful in understanding the connotations of a word. We see very often that Rishonim and the Gemara do this (e.g. comparing Hebrew words to words of their language) in order to understand both the connotations and denotations of a word. I'd like to make this a Community Wiki where people can contribute the words they observed or realized were very similar to a Hebrew word both phonetically and semantically(I can't find the button though). Here is my list so far:
- פרת-EuPHRaTeS
- לינה-Lay/leaning/sleep
- (חרק(ים- crack(s)
- קרן זוית-corner
- מלשינים-MaLiCE? (A bit tenuous)
- איוב-jovial (What an irony! Am I wrong though? Oxford Dictionary: “Jovial Cheerful and friendly.”)
- השכל-scholarship
- רגיל-regular
- כף-cup (to cup your hands)
- שיר-cheer
- פיוס-appeasement/peace
- הֲשקף – Focus (Hebrew letters backwards/same sounds in both)
- נגד - NeGaTive (see Rashi Leviticus 19:16 that D and T can switch while retaining the original meaning)
- חס ושלום - Hush or חשאי-Hush(lit. secret or hidden) - Oxford Dictionary: "hush-hush (especially of an official plan or project) highly secret or confidential."
- פיוט-Poet
- קולפי
{1}-clap/Yiddish - "קלאפ" - נחל-CaNaL
- תיר-Tourist
- לב - Love
- מרת - Mrs.
{1}: .ערכין כב:Rashi-“הכאות”
