Talk:Hebrew name

Susan/Shoshana comes ultimately from ancient Egyptian, if I recall rightly - I'll have to look into that one... - Mustafaa 23:16, 5 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Personally, I think it's perfectly alright to list Hebrew names that were originally adapted from other languages, as long as they have undergone the hebraization process. That's why so many Aramaic names can also be considered Hebrew names. Additionally, even the Tanakh occasionally attributes names to loan from a foreign language, such as Egyptian or Aramaic. Another example of an Egyptian Hebrew name is Nephi. Also, it is possible that Asenath is an Egyptian name, given that she was from Egypt. :) (Note: Unlike controversial BoM names, "Nephi" is an Egypto-Hebrew name documented historically in the eastern hemisphere, and is also appears in the non-LDS books of the Apocrypha. The Arabic name "Nafiyah" is believed to be from the same source.) - Gilgamesh 01:01, 6 May 2004

Sure; but in such cases, their previous etymology is also of interest, and should be listed if possible. - Mustafaa 05:10, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Out of curiosity, where does Nephi appear in the Apocrypha? I havem't read most of them. - Mustafaa 05:11, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know, as I have never read the Apocrypha either. I just know that the name is there. Easily confirmed, I imagine. - Gilgamesh 05:57, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Oh - and what Arabic name Nafiya? The only one I can think of (or find with Google, offhand) is Nâfi`, which has a ayin at the end and thus doesn't fit very well with the suggested etymology of Nephi... - Mustafaa 05:18, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

I just remember encountering Nafiyah in a discussion about Nephi in a linguistic journal somewhere when I was browsing the Internet once. I remember it being "Nafiyah" (either that or "Nafiya") as an Arabic name, but I can't remember the location or the time period. I got the impression that it was probably pre-Islamic. I think you're witnessing the flaky side of my Wikipedia presence; it's not intentional, mind you. ^_^; - Gilgamesh 05:57, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I don't claim to know every single pre-Islamic name, so I won't deny the possibility. But it does sounds suspicious; Nafiyah (with a y) in Arabic means "negating" or "banishing"! - Mustafaa 06:22, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I don't discount the possibility that I may have been mistaken about "Nafiyah". It doesn't matter anyway, as it's not relevant to the content of Hebrew name. :) - Gilgamesh 06:42, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Both "Nephi" and "Nafiyah" are supposed to be Egyptian loans, as I said before. If I recall, the Egyptian form was N-F-R, where the final R had evolved to Y by the time of the Coptic. So perhaps it can be found in Coptic records too, which would be especially good because Coptic is written with both consonants and vowels in Greek script. - Gilgamesh 05:57, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

That makes some sense... It can in fact: the Coptic form is noufe. The ou is believed to derive from ancient Egyptian a (via o, as in Phoenician. - Mustafaa 06:19, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Mormon Hebrew Names

Could you provide some more details on that? (In particular - which inscriptions, and what exact spellings are given in the inscriptions, so the reader can better judge the extent of the similarity?) - Mustafaa 23:27, 5 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Sure, I have links to PDFs that talk all about it, with their own bibliographies. I just wasn't sure where to put the links, or whether to add the links before I could also add some neutral links to balance the NPOV of the links provided. Here are the links: [1] and [2] (LDS POV, but the scientific method is still very widely used).

Also, I'm sorry for "Phenomenon", I didn't know the right word to use. The reason I thought "phenomenon" is because many of the names don't appear in other books, but have been found in abundance in archaeological digs in Israel-Palestine. - Gilgamesh 01:01, 6 May 2004

Hmm... Looking through the first one, I notice a couple of problems: why would yrm be interpreted as "Jarom", when the Old Testament already has the name Joram[3]? And "Sariah" relies on a reconstruction of missing text; and one would expect Aha to be Acha, if the etymology is as proposed. Still, Alma and Aha are interesting. - Mustafaa 05:01, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

The second link has a lot more names, but a lot less detail on the evidence for them, so there's no real way for me to judge it. - Mustafaa 05:08, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

More Proposed Names

Havatzelet (Habassaleth) - woman's name; means some kind of plant. - Mustafaa 00:02, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's okay to tentatively add names even if you don't know all the details (spellings, Tiberian vowels, etc.). If found, those details can be added later. Also, names don't have to be Hebrew-alphabetized right away. - Gilgamesh 01:01, 6 May 2004

Movement of Hebrew names list

I've just discovered that our ambitious new article is already larger than 30K. I suspect that the vast majority of that is the names list. Maybe we should move it to List of Hebrew names. For now, I can copy the list there, and if you all think it's proper, we can turn it into the permanent new home of the list. Hebrew name and List of Hebrew names can link to each other, so everything is peachy. - Gilgamesh 05:35, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Moving it sounds good to me! I worry that that too may grow longer than 30K, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it. - Mustafaa 05:41, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, the names are already on the other article. I'm clearing them off the main article now. - Gilgamesh 05:59, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]