Chanak, “To train up,” Strong’s H2596

The first occurrence.

And the officers shall speak to the people, saying, “What man is there that has built a new house, and has not dedicated it?” Deu 20:5

The primitive root.

Strong’s H2596 חנך chanak, a primitive root meaning, “to train, dedicate, or inaugurate.” The 3-letter root is chet + nun + kaph.

chet ח = wall, thus outside, divide, half
nun נ ן = seed, thus continue, heir, son
kaph כ ך = open palm, thus bend, open, allow, tame

The cognate words will help us find the story. According to the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon, the concrete noun derived from this verbal root is palate, associated with the roof of the mouth. This is because the roof  (chet, as a wall above the house) of the mouth is cupped, like a cupped palm (kaph). Thus, an infant is trained to suck by placing a sour substance on the roof of the mouth (chet + kaph). The sour – the training substance – is the seed (nun) which helps the infant do the necessary thing of which he was previously unaware.

THE ANCIENT HEBREW LEXICON | INDEX OF HEBREW ROOTS