The Hebrew word דבר has a dual meaning because it can mean "word/speak" and also "thing." Contemporary Kabbalists use this dual meaning to argue for a metaphysical connection between concrete things and the Hebrew words which refer to those things. One Kabbalist even claimed that he spoke to various linguists and confirmed that in no other language is there a single word that means both "word/speak" and also "thing." Can this claim be verified?
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4This isn't the kind of claim that can be verified by speaking to a few linguists, unless between them they have a thorough knowledge of the 7000 or so languages of the world.– TKRSep 9, 2021 at 22:08
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"thing" itself originally referred to a court matter or trial before switching to the issue at hand by metonymy, then becoming a physical object. Not the same but similar...– Luke SawczakSep 10, 2021 at 2:24
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5 Answers
The Proto-Slavic word *rěčь “speech” (Old Church Slavonic рѣчь) has its descendants in all the modern Slavic languages, mostly with the same meaning. But in Polish rzecz [ʐɛtʂ] and in Ukrainian річ (rič) [ritʂ] the main meaning of the word shifted to “thing” (cf. Polish rzeczpospolita “republic”¹, from rzecz (“thing”) + pospolity (“common”), calque of Latin rēspūblica (“public affair”)), while at the same time retaining the old meaning “speech”, although in Polish this latter meaning is considered obsolete and in Ukrainian colloquial.
¹ In the 17th century and later the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania a.k.a. Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was also known as the 'Most Serene Commonwealth of Poland' (Polish: Najjaśniejsza Rzeczpospolita Polska, Latin: Serenissima Res Publica Poloniae)
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@GrzegorzOledzki - Yes, but I guess rzecznik is not from the noun rzecz, but from the verb rzec /ʐɛt͡s/ (“to say”), — ‘the sayer/speaker’ rather than ‘speech man’. In any way, the original root is the same. Sep 10, 2021 at 17:17
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@GrzegorzOledzki - By the way, where's the stress in rzeczpospolita? Some sources say it's on the penult: (rzeczpospolita), others say it's on the antepenultimate syllable, 3rd from the end: (rzeczpospolita)... Sep 10, 2021 at 17:25
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1Sorry. I am not a professional. Indeed fil.ug.edu.pl/wydzial_filologiczny/instytuty/… claims it's 3rd from the end. But 2nd from end doesn't sound wrong to me either. Sep 10, 2021 at 17:34
Japanese こと koto corresponds to both "(abstract) thing, matter" (written 事) and "word" (written 言), although the word for "word" in the modern language is 言葉 kotoba, a compound of 言 koto + 端 ha "extremity".
Aramaic mellṯā has the same two meanings (not just in Jewish dialects, but also in Syriac etc.)
In Russian, the word понятие can mean a thing, matter or a term for that thing.
In English similar role have words notion, conception.
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3But does it mean ‘word’? Notion and conception do not mean ‘word’. Sep 10, 2021 at 12:06
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3Nether do they mean ‘thing’. When someone dies of a brick that fell on their head, you cannot say “a heavy conception crushed their skull”. Sep 10, 2021 at 12:43
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The word "news" can be all three words you mention in Hebrew. Indicating something about intel/in tell. I find as I get older dictionaries can change and spellings can also. I grew up with a temple using Sholom in English and not Shalom but they can use both in some readings today and their awning reads Sholom. Sometimes I find the Hebrew letters change occasionally but it still works.
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3Are you suggesting that "intel" is shortened from "in tell"? If so, I'm sorry to disappoint, but it's short for "intelligence", apparently ultimately from Latin "inter + legere" - "to choose between". The rest of your answer doesn't seem to have much to do with the question.– IMSoPSep 10, 2021 at 17:33