2096: Semitic Roots: Blood, Man, and Earth pt. 2

As discussed yesterday, there is a clear connection between the words for 'man', 'blood', and 'earth' in Semitic languages from the root א-ד-ם (a-d-m). What is less clear, is how this came to be. There are several theories about the order of this; generally it is agreed that 'blood' was the first meaning, but whether that led to 'man' i.e. someone who has blood, or that 'red earth/clay' was first and the meaning of 'man' is more like 'earthling' is the cause of some debate. Another theory is that this started with the word 'idol' as in 'like a man' but also something for which blood sacrifices (were) made; in that case, it has less of a connection to dirt, but would have a greater connection to the other two meanings.

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2095: Semitic Roots: Blood, Man, and Earth pt.1

There are a number of English words with etymological connections to the ideas of both dirt and red such as 'rust' and 'rubric' (originally referring to a stamp made of clay) but this same pattern is much clearer in Hebrew with the words אדום (adom) for 'red', and אדמה (adama) for 'earth'. This root in Hebrew also makes 'אדום (adam) for 'man' and is related to the Akkadian word 'adamu' for 'blood' from the root '*dam'. There will be more on this in the following post.

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