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Might there be some relationship between the words "tekhelet" (תְּכֵלֶת ; the Biblical blue dye) and "shechelet" (שחֵלֶת ; one of the four named ingredients of the holy incense, listed in Exodus 30:34)?

My question is based upon the concept of root words in Hebrew, although I'm not sure that "tekhelet" and "shechelet" actually share a root...?

http://www.jewfaq.org/root.htm

Ryan Speakman MBA
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    I'm not posting this as an answer because it isn't one and I don't know an answer to your question whether they're related. But I see no evidence of it: note in particular that the two "ch" sounds are different letters in Hebrew. – msh210 May 06 '20 at 22:06
  • Similarly taf and sin are not really related. People do not treat them in the way that (as an example) Rav Hirsch treats alep, chet, and ayin in hi analysis of words. – sabbahillel May 07 '20 at 01:55
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    @sabba taf and shin are regularly exchanged in Aramaic-Hebrew cognates like שלשה and תלתא – Double AA May 07 '20 at 02:10
  • @DoubleAA However, this is not Hebrew and Aramaic. This is two different Hebrew words. – sabbahillel May 07 '20 at 02:39
  • @sabba however clearly tav and shin are related, unlike what you said. How, I can't say. – Double AA May 07 '20 at 02:41

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Welcome to Mi Yodeya Ryan! Thank you for sharing your insightful question - The Sefer Yetzira (2:3) is one of the earliest sources which discusses the connection between each group of letters which are interchangeable and explains:

עשרים ושתים אותיות יסוד חקוקות בקול חצובות ברוח קבועות בפה בחמשה מקומות אחה"ע בומ"ף גיכ"ק דטלנ"ת זסשר"ץ [קשורות בלשון כשהלבת בגחלת אחה"ע משמשת בסוף הלשון ובבית הבליעה בומ"ף בין השפתים ובראש הלשון גיכ"ק על שלישיתה של לשון נכרתת דטלנ"ת בראש הלשון משמשת עם הקול וסצר"ש בין השינים ולשון שכובה ושטותה] - Twenty-two letters are formed by the voice, impressed on the air, and audibly uttered in five situations: in the throat as guttural sounds; in the palate as palatals; by the tongue as linguals; through the teeth as dentals; and by the lips as labial sounds.

Although the letters in תְּכֵלֶת and שחֵלֶת certainly sound similar, when connecting words it's important to note which letters are interchangeable. In this case, although ת and ש are not technically interchangeable in Hebrew, Rav Hirsch would occasionally use those two letters interchangeably when connecting them to Aramaic terms in the Gemara where ת and ש are interrelated. Perhaps the more significant reason why it may be difficult to connect these two words is the difference between כ and ח. Though they do sound somewhat similar, the Sefer Yetzira groups them differently. Consequently, I don't recall Rav Hirsch connecting those two letters too much (if at all).

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    Saying that het and khaf sound similar is like saying that Alef and Ayin sound similar. They only sound similar if you're doing it wrong. – Aaron May 07 '20 at 21:54
  • Thank you for the thoughtful responses, everyone. So, from this, I suppose that my conclusion must be that, although the words sound similar, there is no known (or presumed) relationship between "tekhelet" and "shechelet". – Ryan Speakman MBA May 10 '20 at 23:39
  • yeah, I'm with the others. We pronounce them the same, but chaf and ches are really very very different. The ancients called ches a "groni" - it was pronounced in the back of the throat, kind of a rough hhhh - ask any Yemenite, they still say it that way. Much more than even the Sefardim, who kind of move it back to the soft palate. This is why so many words used to be transliterated with an H: Hanukkah. It's really much closer to an H than to a K. Chaf is a softened (aspirated) K; very different part of the mouth. – MichoelR Feb 01 '21 at 20:31