SIFT SHaFahDT
Shin-Phey-Tet
Shah-FAHT שפט [SH-F-DT à SFT]
ROOTS: SIFTING is associated
so much with food preparation that we can forget that SIFT means distinguishing the truth by careful
examination. “To make a careful
examination” is the 3rd definition of the AHD -- no sieve or flour
needed. “Sift the evidence” (AHD) is the
job of a judge, not a chef.
There is no “Indo-European root” for SIFT. Middle English siften can
only be traced back to Old English siftan.
The portion of Shoftim (Judges, also the name of a Biblical
book) begins in Deuteronony 16:18
with the command to “appoint judges”
(KJV and older JPS), שפטים SHoaFDTeeYM , who will שפטו SHahF’DTOO,
“judge” (plural verb), a “righteous judgement ,”
משפט-צדק MiSHPahDT-TSeDeQ.
צדק
TSeDeQ (righteous or just) may
be parsed as צד
TSahD (side -- see “SIDE”) + דק DahQ (fine, minute, thin -- see “ACUTE”). And so the SIFTER of evidence, or
judge, does have to SIFT as with a sieve
through the two opposing sides of a legal case.
BRANCHES: SLAVIC sifters < שפט,
SHaPHahDT, to judge
iSPiTa (investigate) --
Macedonian
iSPiTati (examine, sift, test, search,
assay, investigate)
--
Bosnian, Croatian
iZViDJETi (investigate) --
Bosnian
PyTaCCa (inquire) --
Belarusian M231
raSPiTati se (inquire)
-- Bosnian, Croatian
VyŠeTriť , VyŠeTrovať
(investigate, screen, find out, study, inquire)
-- Slovak M213
VyŠeTrovat (investigate, try, sound, inquire)
-- Czech M213
ZaPiTvam (inquire) --
Bulgarian
ZBaDać (investigate, examine) -- Polish
ZePTat se (inquire) --
Czech
Other possible vestiges of שפט, SHaPHahDT:
apšaubīt (question) -- Latvian M213
Ichoputa (investigate, verify) -- Igbo
Pētīt (investigate, delve) -- Latvian fricative drops
PyeS (interrogate) --
Albanian ß dental drops