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A שד (pronounced shade) is a demon or ghost, in Hebrew. In English, the word 'shade' is used to mean ghost or demon in some places. (I find it in fantasy novels a lot.)

Is there any relation?

curiousdannii
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Mithical
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  • See also these questions: http://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/2451/hebrew-shemen-versus-latin-semen, http://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/2229/the-origin-of-the-word-god, and http://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/8373/hebrew-to-english-connection-through-linguistics – Sir Cornflakes Jan 09 '17 at 14:05
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    שד isn't really pronounced shade, but [ʃɛd], which is closer to English shed. – TKR Jan 10 '17 at 06:08
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    @TKR. In Biblical/Classical Hebrew it is actually /ʃeδ/, which sounds even less like “shade”. – fdb Jan 12 '17 at 00:18
  • English 'shade' for demon is metaphorical for 'shadow of a dead spirit', so the etymology is the same as that for shadow. Do you know the provenance of 'שד'? Is it somewhere on the AHD Semitic Roots list? – Mitch Jan 19 '17 at 17:14

2 Answers2

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Probably not.

The etymology of English "shade" (newest to oldest) is something like:

  • Modern English "shade"
  • Old English sċeadu (shadow)
  • Proto-Germanic *skađwaz (shadow)
  • Proto-Indo-European *sk(e)h₃-tos (darkness)

There's decent evidence for this being a native Indo-European root; while it was most productive in Germanic, it has descendants in different parts of the world as well (Ancient Greek σκότος/skótos, Irish scáth, loaned into Finnish katve).

The main etymology of Hebrew šed that I've found is:

  • Modern Hebrew šed (spirit)
  • Aramaic šēḏā (demon)
  • Akkadian šēdu (a male lamassu (protective zodiac deity))
  • (Unknown preceding Proto-Semitic form - but see fdb's answer)

(Transcribing all of these because my computer does not like changing text direction mid-line.)

There doesn't seem to be any obvious connection between *sk(e)h₃-tos and šēdu, in form or in meaning. This is more likely just a coincidence.

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Draconis
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    Hmm. Well, that's a pretty good coincidence. – Mithical Jan 09 '17 at 17:57
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    @Mithrandir Linguistic coincidences are legion. They happen all the time. For that reason, the default position when encountering a linguistic coincidence is to treat it as just that: coincidental, and nothing more, until such time as evidence is produced to make a concrete connection. In other words, when you hit a coincidence, either ignore it or see what the already-established etymologies have to say (as Draconis has done here in their answer). – Dan Bron Jan 09 '17 at 18:57
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Akkadian šēdu is probably cognate with Arabic saʽd “happiness”. Aramaic šēδā and Hebrew šēδ are most probably borrowings from Akkadian, with reversal of the meaning (“good spirit” > “pagan god” > “evil spirit”).The proto-Semitic form would then be *s1aʽd.

http://dukhrana.com/lexicon//lookup.php?p=748&l=0

fdb
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