First of all, we can safely say that #4 is not related to the first 3. The original form of the word of the word was מנתנה, but the nun dropped out
We can? Are you sure? Maybe they all derived from the 2-letter root מן.
I think, Liora, it's pretty safe to assume that the mem im מתנה is a prefix used to turn the verb into a noun (or possibly an infinitive as in Aramaic), just as we have מדרגה, etc.
You can, though, argue that one word could develop from the other (as happened, for instance with להחיל -> תחילה -> להתחיל to my understanding), but that would mean taking a root מתן from מתנה, which would be possible, but the root would not be מן and you'd have to have some strong arguments if you want to convince anyone of this idea.
I'm not knowledgeable enough about Hebrew grammar to make any kind of argument from a perspective of scholarly etymology or archeography. It just makes sense in my mind that the words you've listed all derived originally from a 2-letter מן root, as all the 3-letter מן roots pertain to the opposites of "holding back" (waiting) and "giving" in some manner as well: (apportion, divide and limit, מנה); (give willingly, gift, מנח); (hold back, מנן); (withhold, מנע).
I'll bet there's even a connection to emunah and emet in the mix as well.
oops, sorry Joel, I mean the words that DLC listed
Funny, I had always figured that moten and matun were connected, in that your moten is right in the middle (top to bottom) of your body, and matun is balanced, taking the passive, sensible, middle ground. Maybe not, though...
Well, Liorah, if you want to argue that they're related, it might be easier to argue that their common root is תן rather than מן.
מעניין מאוד!
Liorah -
Anything's possible, but I haven't seen anything to back up the connections you describe.
Toby -
I also thought that when the question was first asked. But after thinking about it more, the motnayim are actually an area representing strength, and not patience.
Commenting by HaloScan
