shaka, skhiah, and sheka

The Hebrew root שקע shaka means "to sink [down], submerge, depress." It only appears six times as a verb in the Tanakh, and once more as the noun מִשְׁקָע mishka in the phrase מִשְׁקַע־מַיִם, meaning "settled [literally 'settling/sinking of'] water" in Yechezkel 34:18.However, the uses, forms, and derivatives expanded in Rabbinic, Medieval, and Modern Hebrew. Let's take a look some of them.While the primary meaning of the kal form of the verb שָׁקַע is physical sinking, we already find in the Torah a more figurative sense. Bamidbar 11:2 says וַתִּשְׁקַע הָאֵשׁ - that the fire subsided, died down.In Rabbinic Hebrew we find the verb used to describe the setting of the sun - שקע השמש (or שקע החמה). From here we find in Medieval Hebrew the familiar term שְׁקִיעָה skkiah - "sunset" (an abbreviated form of the longer term שְׁקִיעַת־הַחַמָּה, which is found in earlier Talmudic literature). This is also the origin of the modern word שֶׁקַע sheka. It originally could mean depression,…