CHAPTER 43

Two Hebrew roots served as the base for a large array of words which arose in the European languages. The two roots are closely related to one another. They are or (oor)²¹⁵, and ar (aur)⁵⁷⁸². The first means "to become light," "to shine." In the Pi'el form this root is ier "to air." The second (⁵⁷⁸²) means "to awake." The two roots gave us such words as air, ear, hour, early, ore, arise, rear, and year.
 

These roots and their derivatives came into English by both the Mediterranean Romance languages and the northern European Teutonic languages. Or (oor) has many different applied meanings expressing luminosity, illumination, brightness, glory, revelation, clarity, happiness, and prosperity, as well as lightning, the sun, the morning, and the break of day.
 

The following tabulations and lists show the details of the root words, the sense and meanings found in the Bible, their inflections, and etymologies for the European and English words.
 

Several factors become evident in examination of the tables and lists.  

Other cognates:
 

English year is found in Old Saxon and Old High German as yar, Gothic yer, but the more direct Hebrew form is found in Old Norse as ar, with Swedish and Danish ar, and aar. Other forms are in Zend yare and Greek oros.
 

English era has a curious history. OED says that "The chronological use of the word appears to have originated in Spain, where (as also in southern Gaul and North Africa) it is found in inscriptions prefixed to the number of years elapsed since 38 BC, the selection of which as an initial year has not been satisfactorily explained. Isadore of Seville in the 6th century said that this was the year in which Augustus first ordered the taxation of Spain." Thus we have historic evidence for use of the Hebrew (perhaps Puni) word at that early date.
 

Another curious form is found in Latin aurum = gold, that which shines? The Danish denomination for money is ora. English parallel in ore creates a question of the actual (or confused) origin. Western European parallels are in OHG er, ON eir, OS er, and Old English ora. The eastern European forms once again display the "s" sibilant: Latin aes = brass, Gothic aiz = brass, and as far away as Sanskrit ayas = metal, suggesting a more ancient influence on the "s" forms.
 

Ore is also an old Teutonic word for a fine kind of wool. It is parallel with Greek orion = wool, and may be the original meaning of the Orion stellar constellation. Old English ore also meant "beginning," "origin," and "front," equivalent to the "break of day."
 

Latin ora meant "shore," "coast," perhaps from the sense of the "beginning of land."
 

Other Latin forms are found in ornah and ornare, directly from the Hebrew inflection, which became English ornament. English adorn is from Latin ad + ornare, and aurora from Latin aurora, the rising light of morning.

The sister verb, ar, with the initial ayin, follows the same pattern of inflections as or, but does not contain the Pu'al form. The Kal imperatives in the ayin are pronounced the same as in the aleph, except for the switch in gutturals. The Pi'el in the ar also has a doubled "r."
 

Many of the or forms take on meanings which are close to the ar forms. For example, or boker in I Sam 14:36 is translated as "the morning light," but II Sam 2:32 has ye'or = "break of day." Thus the or verb has wide application, but the ar verb is limited more to personal reaction to the "break of day."
 

The European linguistic evidence shows both the or and ar forms. If the two Hebrew roots were the source for European words we are not now able to readily distinguish their respective influence. The tabulations show this difficulty.
 

Some of the biblical words deriving from ar are:
 
 

In the first waking of the morning one is oor: "bare, naked." In Hebrew a derived meaning is found in words for "skin," "hide," "leather."
 

Aureate: golden, gold colored, brilliant, splendid.
Aurelai: shine like gold, yellow, golden.
Aureola: golden, celestial (shining) crown.
Auric: pertaining to gold, that which glows or gleams.
Aerate: to blend with air.
Aerial: airy, thin or attenuated air, etherial.
Auricle: Latin "external ear."
Oracle: a divine speech or pronouncement.
Orient: from Latin oriens = "rising sun, east."
Orifice: from Latin or + facere = "to make a mouth."
Origin: from Latin oriri = the act or fact of springing from some thing.
 

Plus many, many more.

When Europe was converted to Christianity it began using mostly Bible names for given names. Few Keltic or Teutonic names still exist. One of those is Thurston, from Thor's Stone.
 

The surnames of Europe would be an intriguing area of investigation, since many may have retained their original meanings, but beyond the scope of this book. However, one exactly familiar is my personal surname.
 

The gerunds of the Hebrew verbs, those words taken in systematic manner from verbs but functioning as nouns, have four forms. From or these are:
 

b'or = "in becoming light,"
k'or = "on becoming light,"
l'or = "to become light," and
m'or = "from becoming light."
 

In the Pi'el these are:
 

b'aer = "in becoming aired,"
k'aer = "on becoming aired,"
l'aer = "to become aired," and
m'aer = "from becoming aired."
 

From ar these are:
 

b'ur = "in awakening,"
k'ur = "on awakening,"
l'ur = "to become awake," and
m'ur = "from becoming awake."
 

If we attempt to spell these words in English, and with accent on the last syllable, we might have meyor, meyer, and meyur for the "m" = "from" forms. These are very well known surnames in Europe and carried by descendants who now live widely dispersed in other parts of the world.
 

Golda Maier was a former Prime Minister of the modern state of Israel. She was born in eastern Germany and adopted this name when she moved to Israel. She had good cause; she knew the literal significance. Golda Maier chose this name because of its literal significance. Whether we see or, aer, or ar, the literal significance in Hebrew is "from becoming light," "from becoming aired," or "from becoming awake." A person who carries that name serves others in providing light, fresh air, or awakening.
 

Two supposed ancestors of mine were Hans and Christian Meyer, two brothers living in Pennsylvania Dutch country in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Many students believe the Moyer name is a corruption of Meyer, and indeed, some Meyer family lines did assume the Moyer form. In his last Will and Testament, dated January 18, 1748, Christian Meyer spelled his name Moyer within the text of the Will, but signed it in German as Meyer. In my investigation of lists of passengers coming to this country from Europe, I discovered an Alan Moyer on a German ship in 1684. I also discovered other passenger lists of people coming into this country originally as Moyer and not as Meyer. I also learned that Moyers emigrated from Germany directly into Virginia in the 17^th century. Maier, Meier, Meyer, Myer, Mayer, and Moyer are all different spellings and pronunciations of the same name. In the 1860 US Census for Polk Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, the Census Taker spelled all my Moyer ancestors as Meyer, even though ten years earlier and ten years later other Census Takers knew them as Moyer. That man must have been strongly German. So we can see the confusion on the name.