# language crossovers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2002, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186 "2002-08-29T22:54:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![murphydog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@murphydog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/murphydog)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186/1 "2002-08-29T22:54:40Z")
I want to know how many different languages the word ‘soul’ can translate into and what are some of the translations. The french is ‘ame’, so we’ll start with that. any takers . . . ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186/2 "2002-08-30T00:47:27Z")
âme, to be accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186/3 "2002-08-30T01:48:33Z")
The Arabic word for ‘spirit’ is _rûh_, coming from a root with several interconnected meanings: ‘to relax’, ‘to breathe’, and ‘to set out moving’. The full range of these meanings, taken together, summarizes all the functions of the breath in Yoga. The Sanskrit word corresponding to _rûh_ is _âtman_, which also comes from an Indo-European root meaning ‘breath’ (compare the High German word _Atem_, ‘breath’). The Hebrew cognate is _ruah_. Arabic for ‘soul’ and ‘self’ is _nafs_, which is obviously closely related to the word for ‘breathing’, _nafas_. The Hebrew cognate is _nephesh_. Where did this originate? Bomhard and Kerns, _The Nostratic Family of Languages_ (1993), p. 679-681, identified a Nostratic root \*_nap[sup][h][/sup]-_ or \*\*nep[sup][h][/sup]\*, meaning ‘to breathe, to blow’. It gave rise to words in two language families, Indo-European and Afro-Asiatic: Proto-Indo-European \*_np[sup][h][/sup]-_ \> (with metathesis) \*\*p[sup][h][/sup]n-ew-\*, ‘to breathe, to blow’ \> Greek [symbol]pnew[/symbol] ‘to breathe’, [symbol]pneuma[/symbol]. (Note that _pneuma_ in the Greek New Testament is used to mean ‘soul’.) Old English _fneosan_ ‘to sneeze, to snort’, _fnæs_ ‘breath’. Julius Pokorny’s _Indogermanisches Wörterbuch_ gave this root as \*pneu-. Proto-Afroasiatic \*_naf-_ or \*_nef-_ ‘to breathe, to blow’. Proto-Semitic \*_nap[sup][h][/sup]-aš-_ ‘to breathe, to blow’ \> Hebrew _ne[symbol]j[/symbol]eš_ ‘soul, living being, life, self, person’; Geez/Ethiopic _nafsa_ ‘to blow (wind, spirit)’, _nafs_ ‘soul, spirit, breath, a person, life, self’, _nafâs_ ‘wind, air, spirit’; Tigre _näfsa_ ‘to blow (wind)’, _näfs_ ‘soul’. Proto-Semitic \*_nap[sup][h][/sup]-ax-_ ‘to breathe, to blow’ \> Hebrew _na[symbol]j[/symbol]ah_ ‘to breathe, to blow’; Arabic _nafaha_ ‘to blow, to puff, to breathe, to blow up, to inflate’; Amharic _näffa_ ‘to blow, to play the flute, to inflate’ Proto-Semitic \*_nap[sup][h][/sup]-at’-_ ‘to blow one’s nose, to sneeze’ \> Arabic _nafata_ ‘to sneeze’; Geez/Ethiopic _nafata_ ‘to blow one’s nose’; Tigrinya _näffätä_ ‘to blow the nose’. Proto-Semitic \*_’anp[sup][h][/sup]-_ ‘nose, nostril’ \> Hebrew \*’a[symbol]j[/symbol] ‘nose, nostril, face’; Akkadian _appu_ ‘nose’; Arabic _’anf_ ‘nose’; Geez/Ethiopic _’anf_ ‘nose, nostril’; Egyptian _nf_ ‘air, wind, breath’; _nfy_ ‘to breathe, to blow at’; _nfwt, nfwyt_ ‘breezes’, _fnd/u]_ (\<\*\*nfd) ‘nose’. Berber: Tamazight _ss-unfes_ ‘to breathe’, Kabyle _enfes_ ‘to breathe’. Proto-East Cushitic \*_nass-_ or \*_ness-_ (\<\*\*nafs/_nefs_) ‘to breathe, to rest’ \> Somali _nas-ad-_ ‘to breathe, to rest’; Konso _ness-a_ ‘soul, breath, noise’; Dullay _nass-ad-_ ‘to breathe’, _nass-o_ ‘soul, life, spirit, breath’. In many language families around the world, the words for ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’ are directly related to the word for ‘breath’. To take a few examples: Finnish _henki_ ‘breath, life force’. Hawaiian _hanu_ ‘to breathe’, _uhane_ ‘spirit’. Hungarian _szél_ ‘air’, szellem _spirit_ (originally a loanword from archaic Turkic. In Turkish, _yel_ means ‘wind’ but also means ‘evil spirit’ :eek: ). Latin _spiritus_ ‘breath’. Mongolian _ami_ ‘breath, life, spirit, soul’. Russian _dykhanie_ ‘breath’, _vozdukh_ ‘air’, _dukh_ ‘spirit’. (From Proto-Indo-European \*dhuks- ‘breath’.) Swahili _upepo_ ‘air’, _pepo_ ‘spirit’. Warlpiri (an Australian Aboriginal language) _wangu_ ‘wind, spirit’. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186/4 "2002-08-30T02:14:33Z")
Arabic _nasamah_ / Hebrew _neshamah_ means the vital principle in the breath that animates an organism. English _soul_ comes from Old English _sawol_. It’s related to the words for soul in other Germanic languages: Old Frisian _sêle_, Old Saxon _seola_, Middle Low German _sêle_, Old Low Franconian _sêla_, Middle Dutch _siele_ (modern Dutch _ziel_), Old High German _sêula_ (Modern German _Seele_), and Gothic _saiwala_. All these derive from the reconstructed Common Germanic word \*_ **saiwalo.** _ The _Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology_ points out that Gothic _saiws_ means ‘lake, sea’, so he interprets Proto-Germanic \*_saiwalo_ to mean “'coming from the sea, belonging to the sea, because that was supposed to be a stopping place of the soul before birth and after death, according to F. Kluge’s _Etymologisches Wörterbuch des deutschen Sprache_. No cognates are found outside Germanic. The meaning of a disembodied spirit of a (deceased) person is first recorded in Old English in 971, and that of a person, individual (as in _every living soul aboard ship_), about 1000.” But John Ayto, author of the _Dictionary of Word Origins_, connects the Proto-Germanic \*saiwalo with the Greek word _aiólos_ ‘quick moving’. “Behind the word _soul_ lies the ancient notion of the soul as something mercurial or fleeting.” Do you think he’s right? _Life is real, life is earnest And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest Was not spoken of the soul._ —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “A Psalm of Life” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186/5 "2002-08-30T02:38:42Z")
The French word _âme_ that you started out with comes from Latin _anima_ ‘life, breath, spirit, mind, courage’. From Proto-Indo-European _ane- ‘to breathe’. Also gave rise to Greek ánemos ‘wind’, Sanskrit ániti ‘to breathe’, Old English othian ‘to breathe’, Swedish anda 'breath, spirit_’, and Gothic _usanan_ ‘to breathe out’. Also, a girl’s name: Proto-Celtic \*_anatyo-_ \> Middle Welsh _eneit_, ‘soul’ \> Enid. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186/6 "2002-08-30T11:34:58Z")
The Dutch word for soul is “ziel”. ---
**Author:** ![Janx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Janx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Janx)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186/7 "2002-08-30T14:19:52Z")
Alma is how you say it in Portuguese. ---
**Author:** ![mok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mok)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186/8 "2002-08-30T15:17:37Z")
Polish: duh (pronounced dooKH with a guttural fricative KH like in Scottish loch) ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186/9 "2002-08-30T15:23:29Z")
In Hebrew, there are several words you can use. One word commonly used is _neshumuh_. This word is commonly translated as soul. Another word is _nefesh_. This word, however, can also be translated as spirit or life-force, as the word can also be applied to animals, whereas _neshumuh_ cannot. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Savaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@Savaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savaka)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186/10 "2002-08-30T15:42:25Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Jomo Mojo** _ > The Sanskrit word corresponding to rûh is âtman, which also comes from an Indo-European root meaning ‘breath’ (compare the High German word Atem, ‘breath’). And in Pali, the language the Buddha used, the word is _atta_, more commonly translated as “self” or “ego.” Pali is descended from Sanskrit, hence the similarity in the two words. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186/11 "2002-08-31T02:55:40Z")
**vinryk** and **Zev\_Steinhart** , I already covered those words. Or didn’t you read my posts? ---
**Author:** ![Gozu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gozu/32/6615_2.png) [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-crossovers/126186/12 "2002-08-31T03:09:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Janx \* > \*\*Alma is how you say it in Portuguese. \*\* Same in spanish. I see someone already covered arabic 🙂