ked- = To go, yield.
How does 'to go' relate to 'to yield'? Both verbs appear to differ in meaning.
Moreover, what precisely does 'to go' mean here? Is this the right diction?
I'm confused, because most verbs deriving from this PIE root concern either a submissive 'yield' or hindered progress (eg cede), neither of which equates to 'to go' somewhere.
I was puzzling over these meanings for "ked": 'go', 'give', and 'give up' (possibly 3 separate meanings), looking for a good explanation of words containing this root for my students in an advanced ESL Reading/Vocabulary class.
"Intercede", "secede", and "exceed" do not appear to contain a recessive semantic element to them, and even could be taken as somewhat aggressive.
So here's a hypothesis I submit for consideration:
The original meaning of "ked" was 'go', and this was the basis for all the non-recessive words containing "ked". But if you go/leave from a battle or hostile encounter, that is giving, giving up, or yielding, so this secondary meaning was later derived.
Does anybody have any information supporting or refuting this hypothesis?
I don't know if there's any connection between the PIE root *ked- and the Sematic root "K.D.M" (Hebrew קדם; Arabic قديم).
I know Hebrew, and there this root (KDM) creates a lot of words that actually mean "opposite" ideas. And to understand them, I think you need to think what's the origin of the words?
So, in ancient times, before the age of compass, people didn't align themselves to the north, but rather to the east - where the sun came out of. This direction was called Kadma (קדמה). And so (one can speculate that) the notion of advancement became connected with the movement of the sun. That's why the word "forward" is Kadima in Hebrew (קדימה). As forward is what follows what is here (position wise) or now (time wise). What came after in time is also called "progress" or Kidma (קידמה). You can get forward in social status, i.e. you can get a promotion, or Kidum (קידום).
But the idea can also be in reverse - the sun moves, and you can focus on where its going to (go forward) or where it came from (backward).
And so what comes before is in Hebrew Kodem (קודם). What is ancient is Kadum (קדום) or Kadmon (קדמון).
And so, and not for the first time, the same word, or root, can mean opposite ideas, depending on your point of view.
So with that, maybe it's a bit easier to understand how the movement of the sun can on one hand imply activeness, "going" somewhere, advancing; and on the other hand it can also imply passiveness, "yielding", leaving something behind.
Hope it might help!
I think the key here is relationships. Within any relationship (human to human, human to earth, human to "spirit" or God) any movement (to go) corresponds to a concession on the other end of the relationship (to yield).
This reminds me of the dynamic between "to do" and "to be". When considering a single organism, doing inherently alters the organism's state of being
One might say that any two entities in relationship with one another constitute a single organism, wherein if one component acts the other is also affected (or is that "effected"? I get confused). Anyhow, when considering a single-component entity "to go" and "to yield" are two distinct actions; but within a dual-component system "ked" describes the interaction of going and yielding happening at the same time.
So, it seems possible that the root "ked" originated in a context where the distinction between subject and object was blurry.
