tipul and tafel

In the post about pashtida, we mentioned how in the Talmud, the verb טפל meant "to paste, to plaster" (dough in the example we brought). But today that root is found in what appears to be unrelated words - for example tipul טיפול - "care, treatment" and tafel טפל - "of secondary importance" (as found, for example, in this halachic concept). How did the root end up with so many meanings?

While it doesn't appear often, the root טפל does appear in Biblical Hebrew: Tehilim 119:69, Iyov 13:4 and 14:17. The Even-Shoshan concordance says they all mean "to attach", but only in the metaphorical sense. Iyov 14:17 has וַתִּטְפֹּל, עַל-עֲו‍ֹנִי - "you would coat over my iniquity" (JPS), which seems to carry the meaning of "paste". Iyov 13:4 has טֹפְלֵי-שָׁקֶר, which the JPS translates as "invent lies", and other translations try to express the sense of "attach" or "paste" by writing "smear with lies" or "forgers of lies". However, the Daat Mikra writes that the pasting itself is not metaphorical, but the phrase is an allegory to builders who use fake plaster when building walls or paste plaster to cover defective walls or to doctors who spread phony medicines on their patients. In Tehilim the phrase טָפְלוּ עָלַי שֶׁקֶר זֵדִים is used metaphorically, and means "the arrogant have smeared me with lies".  This combination - טפל שקר - is found in the vidui (confession) prayer as tafalnu sheker טפלנו שקר. Most translations ignore the sense of attach or paste. Koren Sacks has "we have framed lies", and Artscroll uses "we have accused falsely." However, in their "Expanded Viduy Service" in the Yom Kippur Machzor, they point out that "literally the phrase means 'we have attached falsehood'."

But even with all that, we're still not closer to seeing the modern uses of the root. Klein writes that the original (Biblical) meaning was "to smear, paste plaster" and the Post-Biblical meaning was "to add, join, attach." From here he writes that tafel means "additional, subsidiary, of secondary importance." He also writes that the pi'el form of the verb progressed from "he plastered" to "he cared for, attended to" (maybe in the medical sense that we mentioned above.) From here we get tipul, metapel מטפל and metapelet מטפלת - "caregiver", particularly for children.

One confusing factor here is that in Aramaic, taflaya טפליא means "children", with tefel טפל meaning "child". However, Klein (and others) say that these words don't derive from our root טפל, but rather are related to the Hebrew taf טף, meaning "children". This leads to the strange scenario where metupal מטופל means both "having many children" (based on tefel) and the child being taken care of (related to tipul). According to Avineri (Yad Halashon p. 330) the former was the more popular understanding of the word, based its usage in that sense in Yiddish. He wrote that piece in 1960, but something likely changed, for I've never heard metupal with that meaning in conversational Hebrew.

Another related word is tapil טפיל - "parasite." Ben Yehudah writes that it was coined by the physician and linguist Aharon Meir Mazia on the basis of the Arabic tufayli - "unwanted guest". Even Shoshan and Klein connect the Arabic word back to the root טפל, but don't explain why (the parasite is attached to the host? the parasite is of secondary importance to the host?). But Arabic dictionaries such as this one connect it to the Arabic cognate of tefel (child), and this book, discussing pre-Islamic Arab culture writes that children were viewed as "nonproductive" and that:

the etymological connection in Arabic between tifl, child, and tufayli, parasite, party crasher, "sponge", is illuminating in this regard

And if all that wasn't confusing enough, there's another homophone out there. Klein writes that טפל is related to the root תפל also meaning "to smear, paste, plaster". However, there's an unrelated root, also spelled תפל, meaning "to be tasteless, be unseasoned" (this is the source of hatpala התפלה - "desalination"). Klein connects this second root with the Aramaic תפל ( = he talked silly things) and the Arabic tafala ( = he spat). A related Hebrew word is tifla תפלה - "folly" (this is entirely unrelated to tefila תפילה - "prayer".)

As you can perhaps imagine, תפלה as "folly" and טפלה as "of secondary importance" could be mixed up on their own, without even adding the fact that sometimes the tet and tav were switched in either direction. (For an example of the word switching meaning and spelling, see the play on words in Targum Yonatan, Sifrei and Rashi on Devarim 1:1). This page is meant to help Hebrew speakers tell the two roots apart, which isn't easy, particularly in the term emunot tefelot אמונות תפלות - "superstitions" (apparently coined by Krochmal).

Avineri wrote in Yad Halashon (page 216) that he suggested tefela טפלה as the Hebrew word for "by-product", but it was never adopted, probably due to the negative connotation of טפל (the word used today is totzar livay תוצר לואי). This probably also answers my question (in the pashtida post) as to why tefela was never adopted as the Hebrew term for pastry...

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cherem and harem

The Hebrew word cherem חרם is familiar to most of us as a ban, an excommunication. This type of censure developed in Talmudic and Medieval times. However, the Biblical word also means "to ban". Klein says that in Biblical Hebrew it meant to ban, devote, confiscate. (There is a discussion here as to whether the meaning "to destroy, exterminate" has the same origin, for in Arabic the two meanings are spelled differently.)  In Talmudic Hebrew it also began to refer to a type of vow (as we find in the Kol Nidrei prayer.)

Even-Shoshan, in his Concordance, notes that of the 51 occurrences of the Biblical verb, all but three of them have a sense of "to destroy". One (Yishayahu 11:15) means "to dry up" and two (Micha 4:13 and Vayikra 27:28) refer to dedication to God. This meaning is reflected in the Arabic cognate harim - "sacred, forbidden". This root appears in a number of Arabic phrases, such as Al-Haram ash-Sharif - the Arabic name for the holy Temple Mount.

The English word harem also derives from this root:

1634, from Turk. harem, from Arabic haram "wives and concubines," originally "women's quarters," lit. "something forbidden or kept safe," from root of harama "he guarded, forbade."

Another related word is Marrano - the Jews of Spain and Portugal who were forced to convert to Christianity, but secretly observed Judaism. It has a fairly distasteful etymology:

1583, from Sp., lit. "pig, swine," an expression of contempt, from Arabic muharram "forbidden thing" (eating of pork is forbidden by Muslim and Jewish religious law), from haruma "was forbidden".

Because of this origin, the term is not commonly used today. Hebrew uses Anusim אנוסים - those forced to convert. In English, Crypto-Jews has become an acceptable alternative.

Three place names are related to this root as well. Mount Hermon - הר חרמון, Israel's tallest mountain and the only snow-capped one, is generally assumed to derive its name from חרם. Some say that this is due to it being inaccessible, unapproachable, "off limits". Others say that it served as a holy site to the Canaanites who lived in the area (see Shoftim 3:3, where it is called Har Baal Chermon הַר בַּעַל חֶרְמוֹן, indicating worship there). The Ramban, in his commentary to Devarim 3:9 reflects both of these theories. (A third theory is mentioned in the apocryphal book Chanoch (Enoch) I, chapter 6 and quoted in Hebrew here, where it is written that the mountain is called Hermon because the angels took a vow there).

Another location that derives its name from this root is Wadi Haramia ואדי חרמיה, north of Jerusalem (near the towns of Eli and Maaleh Levona.) As described here, it

literately means the valley of the bandits. This narrow passage through two very high mountains leaves no room for detours. As mentioned earlier, this road is historically the highway of the bible. Throughout the ages pilgrims and travelers would pass though this valley on their way to Jerusalem. Local bandits would take advantage of the topography and take their toll from the travelers.

These bandits would "confiscate" the property of their victims. The valley was also the site of an important battle in the time of the Maccabees.

A different type of place name related phrase is the Hebrew  ad chorma עַד-חָרְמָה - meaning "until complete destruction." This phrase is found in Bamidbar 14:45 and Devarim 1:44. However, this actually refers to a Canaanite city called Hormah - about 25 kilometers to the east of Beer Sheva.

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kategor

As we mentioned earlier, kategor קטגור is a Talmudic term for "accuser, prosecutor". It appears as the opposite of praklit in Avot 4:13, and as the opposite of sanegor in Rosh HaShana 26a. Its verbal form - "to accuse, denounce" is קטרג, and developed through metathesis. In modern Hebrew neither is widely used, and instead we find the term (both verb and noun) tovea תובע for "prosecute, prosecutor".

Klein's etymology is:

From Greek kategoros (= accuser; literally: "one who speaks against somebody before an assembly", from kata (= against), and the stem of agoreyein ( = to harangue, assert; literally: 'to speak in the assembly'), from agora (= assembly)

We saw other words related to agora in the post about sanegor; kata, meaning "down, against", appears in such English words as catapult, catastrophe and catalog.

If the word kategor seems to you like the English word "category" (and the modern Hebrew word קטגוריה kategoria) - it's no coincidence. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary's entry for "category":

Original sense of "accuse" weakened to "assert, name" by the time Aristotle applied kategoria to his 10 classes of things that can be named.

This site gives another possible path of development:

In ancient Greek "kategorein" is a concept of legal terminology and means the reading of a list of accusations performed in the process of charging someone.

Horowitz (pg 268) has a note about the word kategor:

This word is clipped or rather shortened in the common idiom (kara tagar) -קרא תגר which means "call the prosecutor".

I at first found this rather far-fetched. A slightly different form of tagar - tigra תגרה appears in Tehilim 39:11, and a related verb appears in Devarim 2:24, and these sources certainly wouldn't be influenced by the Greek kategor.

However, my sources tell me that there might be a connection between kategor and the development of the phrase kara tagar (if not the individual words.) If anyone knows about this - please post in the comments. Otherwise I'll update the post if I find anything.

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anak

In this week's parasha (Devarim), Moshe quotes the spies as saying (1:28), "We saw the Bnei Anakim" - וְגַם-בְּנֵי עֲנָקִים, רָאִינוּ שָׁם

Who or what are the Anakim mentioned here? Is it simply "giants" as the term means in Modern Hebrew?

Tigay, in the JPS Deuteronomy, writes:

The exact meaning of "Anakites" is uncertain. Some take it as an epithet meaning "long-necked ones," based on Hebrew 'anak, "necklace," and its Arabic cognate meaning "neck". Others relate it to names of people or places in Canaan or across the Mediterranean containing the element 'anak or to Greek anax, "nobleman".

Lets look at each of these two theories. Klein says that anak ענק originally meant either a necklace for women, or a necklace for camels (Steinberg connects ענק with חנק - "to strangle, choke"). From this word we get the verb להעניק, which first meant "put something on one's neck" and later became "he loaded with gifts, presented." This verb only appears in Devarim 15:14, and indeed, Rashi and Ibn Ezra connect it there with the meaning of necklace. In modern Hebrew, a ma'anak מענק is a grant.

As far as the Greek anax (or wanax), we find that Homer frequently used the term in the Iliad, for example in the name Astyanax - meaning "prince of the city".

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af

In this weeks parasha (Devarim) we find that Moshe claims that God was angry at him:

גַּם-בִּי הִתְאַנַּף

What is the meaning of the root אנף? Here is another example of a "dropped nun" (more here, here and here). We are more familiar with the dropped form - af אף, meaning "nose" and "anger", I suppose due to heavy breathing during anger. (By the way, it is important to distinguish between אף - "nose" and עף - "fly". For years I thought that kadur-af -- volleyball -- was spelled כדור-אף, and couldn't understand why Israelis played it with their nose.)

Arabic has anf for nose, and in Aramaic, anaf אנף also means "face". Kutscher writes that in Lashon Chazal there are very few examples of af meaning "nose", and instead chotem חוטם was more popular. His explanation for the switch is a phenomenon where one word in Biblical Hebrew has two meanings (here both anger and nose), in Lashon Chazal, one of the meanings sticks (in this case "anger") and the other is replaced. (Another example of this is עץ and אילן - but I'll save that for a later post).

A derivative of אנף meaning "anger" is the bird anafa אנפה - "heron", which according to Klein originally meant "the quarrelsome bird".

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tor

In this weeks parsha (Shlach) we see that God gives the command:

שְׁלַח-לְךָ אֲנָשִׁים, וְיָתֻרוּ אֶת-אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן

What is the meaning of the verb תור? Milgrom translates it as "to scout":

Hebrew root t-w-r, "scout, seek out" (10:33, 15:39, Ezek 20:6); compare Akkadian taru, "turn around", that is, gather information but not necessarily of a military nature ... This verb contrasts with r-g-l, "spy out" (cf. Num 21:32; Josh 7:2, Judg 18:2). The Deuteronomic account (Deut 1:24) uses the verb "spy out" (cf. Josh 14:7)

As Milgrom points out, this non-military meaning also connects it to one of the last verses in the parsha:

וְלֹא-תָתוּרוּ אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם, וְאַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם, אֲשֶׁר-אַתֶּם זֹנִים, אַחֲרֵיהֶם

meaning "You should not seek out, follow, after your heart and your eyes".

As an aside, I had always thought that there was a connection between תור - "to scout" and tor תור - dove. The role of the dove in the story of Noach was essentially to scout out, and to return. But Klein writes that the origin of tor (dove) is:

Of imitative origin. cp. L. turtur (=turtledove), which is also imitative. Eng. turte (in the sense of 'turtledove') derives from the Old Eng. turtle, which is formed from the L. turtur with dissimilation of the second r into l.)

I still think there may be an associative connection, if not an etymological one.

The related, earlier meaning of תור as "turn about" (and there doesn't seem to be a connection between "turn" and tor) gives rise to more modern senses of tor as appointment and queue. (See here for the difference between תור and טור in this regard). It is also the root of the difficult to translate, but very familiar toranut תורנות - meaning duty by rotation.

The Hebrew word for tourist, תייר tayar, also derives from תור. However, this meaning is much more modern, and influenced by the English word "tourist". Kutscher writes that in Lashon Chachamim (Mishnaic Hebrew) tayar meant guide, as in Bava Kama 116b:
ואם שכרו (אנשי השיירה) תייר ההולך לפניהם
"If the caravan hired a guide to go before it"

Kutscher brings a story of a student who was unfamiliar with the original meaning of tayar, and was therefore very confused to hear Rashi called התייר הגדול hatayar hagadol...

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asphalt

As we've discussed in the past, there are a number of Hebrew words that have made their way into Indo-European languages such as English. Since the passage of words from one language to another often happened thousands of years ago, it is difficult to authenticate any particular claim. Today I'll bring up one that I find interesting - and I'd like to hear from the readers whether they agree, and particularly if there are any sources that back them up.

The English word asphalt comes from the Greek asphaltos. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary:

c.1325, "resinous mineral pitch found in Biblical lands," from L.L. asphaltum, from Gk. asphaltos, probably from a non-Gk. source, possibly Semitic.

Horowitz (p. 285) has an interesting theory. He claims that "an ancient name for the Dead Sea was 'Yam Shafelet' from the Hebrew word שפל shafel meaning 'low'."

He then continues: "Along the shores of the 'Yam Shafelet' was a tough, sticky, substance useful in road building. The Greek who dug it out called it 'asphaltos'. The Greek language has no 'sh' sound. This becomes the English word 'asphalt'."

There is no question that the Dead Sea is associated with asphalt. The Jewish Encylopedia gives the sea the following names:

The Dead Sea, known at present as "Bahr Lut" (Lot's Sea), is called in the Old Testament "Sea of Arabah" (R. V. Deut. iii. 17; Josh. xii. 8), "East" or "Eastern Sea" (Ezek. xlvii. 18; Joel ii. 20; Zech. xiv. 8). and "Salt Sea" (Gen. xiv. 3). The Talmud refers to it as "Salt Sea," or the "Sea of Sodom"; and Josephus and Pliny call it "Lake Asphaltites." The name "Dead Sea" is used by Pausanias, Justin, and the Church Fathers.

So we see that even in ancient times it was known as "Lake Asphaltites". And it's true that shafel means low and that Greeks replaced "sh" with "s". But I can't find any source that called the Dead Sea "Yam Shafelet". So where does this leave Horowitz's theory?

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