Completely OT: Where can I find Hebrew etymology?

[Nadav Har'El]

Hi, I've also been looking for years for a good Hebrew etymology book, but
have yet to find one. There are plenty of books with stories about the origin
of a few dozen words, but this is not the same as a book with the origin of
every word in the language. I've looked at many dictionaries, and found none
of them to have satisfactory etymology... I'd be glad if someone in the list
can find one.

Case in point - I've been curious for years about the word "Chatul". Is it
a coincidence that this word in Hebrew is so similar to the name of this
animal in other languages - e.g., French "chat", English "Cat", Spanish
"Gato"? Did Hebrew get this word from some foreign language (which? when?),
or did some foreign language get it from Hebrew (how?) or perhaps all languages
get it from a common language?
I haven't found anything conclusive about this question, but as far as I
understand all these European languages get their word for cat from the Latin
"cattus", a synonym from the more usual word for cat "feles", and Latin
supposedly got this word from a similar Egyptian word, and supposedly the
Egyptians, who domesticated this word are the origin of this word.
So, when did Hebrew get this word, and from which Language? Did Hebrew also
get it from the Egyptians? Or from the Romans? Or even later?

On Sat, Feb 26, 2011, Dotan Cohen wrote about "Re: Completely OT: Where can I find Hebrew etymology?":
> There are some Hebrew words that I'd like to know where they come
> from. Such as Petria - is this related to the Petri dish and the
> biologist for whom it was named? Is this just a coincidence that the
> words sound so similar? There are tens of other examples of curious
> words.

I don't know anything specific about the word pitria, but I found it
implausable that it was named after a German biologist that lived in the
20th century... 

If I had to guess (and this is just a guess!) pitria is after the Hebrew word
"peter", a biblical word meaning first-born, and mushrooms are the first to
sprout after a rain? Again, just a guess :-)

> I should in fact probably head into the university. Thanks.

Let us know what you find!


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Nadav Har'El                        |    Saturday, Feb 26 2011, 23 Adar I 5771
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