how to say “internal” and “external” in Hebrew
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פְּנִימִי, חִיצוֹנִי
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In yesterday’s dose, we saw the Hebrew expressions for introvert and extrovert.
Something internal in Hebrew is פְּנִימִי , coming from the root פ.נ.מ (p.n.m) meaning interior, while something external is חִיצוֹנִי from the root ח.צ.נ (kh.ts.n), which itself derives from the root ח.ו.צ (kh.w.ts) meaning exterior or outside.
, coming from the root פ.נ.מ (p.n.m) meaning interior, while something external is חִיצוֹנִי from the root ח.צ.נ (kh.ts.n), which itself derives from the root ח.ו.צ (kh.w.ts) meaning exterior or outside.
לַחֶדֶר הַפְּנִימִי בְּיוֹתֵר בַּבַּיִת אֵין חַלּוֹנוֹת.
The innermost (most internal) room in the house does not have windows.
and
כְּשֶׁרוֹצִים לְהַכִּיר בֶּן אָדָם, צָרִיךְ לְהִסְתַּכֵּל מֵעֵבֶר לַמַּרְאֶה הַחִיצוֹנִי.
When (we) wish to get to know a person, (we) must look beyond the external appearance.
Likewise, internal medicine is רְפוּאָה פְּנִימִית
פנימי and חיצוני also lend themselves to create words that express qualities of “internalness” and “externalness” – the metaphorical inside and outside of a person.
For example:
צָרִיךְ לְחַפֵּשׂ אֶת הַפְּנִימִיּוּת אֵצֶל הָאָדָם, וְלֹא לְהִתָּקַע בַּחִיצוֹנִיּוּת.
(We) must search for the inside of the person and not get stuck (focusing) on the outside.
I wonder whether Hebrew פנימי has something to do with the Russian word for understand – понимать (ponimat’). I don’t know enough Russian language or historical phonology to do the research. If one of you does, I’d be happy to hear about it.
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