The Name Ahuvah

[RCK]

Has anybody studied the origins of the (Ashkenazi?) feminine given name Ahuvah/אהובה? I seemed to remember reading in Beider's dictionary that that name is actually a recent Hebrew calque of the Yiddish Leeba, but when I looked at his entry on that name earlier today and didn't see this point. 

Also, using https://www.onomasticon.net/ I found that there is a bullae found in Jerusalem that bears the name נאהבת, which essentially means the same thing as אהובה, except that one is the in the פעול form and the other is in the נפעל form. See https://www.academia.edu/19515093/Hebrew_and_Non_Indicative_Bullae_from_The_Summit_of_the_City_of_David page 336. I wonder would, if anything, would be the difference between אהובה and נאהבת. Truth is, I'm not convinced that נאהבת in that bullae has to be proper name, it could have been a description or simply common noun. Any thoughts on that?

A Gezunte Vinter to all,

Shalom & Kol Tuv

Reuven Chaim Klein

Beitar Illit, Israel

Author of: God versus Gods & Lashon HaKodesh

ORCiD | LinkedIN | Google Scholar | Amazon

[Biró Tamás]

Hi,

Hopefully all of you are all well and safe. Regarding the name נאהבת, even if it were a proper name back then, it is extremely unlikely that one could demonstrate a continuous usage of the name for millenia. Much more probable is that the same idea was used to create feminine names at multiple occasions in history. Moreover, we should be careful when projecting our concepts back to antiquity: nothing guarantees that the semantic field and cultural connotations of the root אהב were exactly the same back then and today (cf. Ronit Nikolsky, אהב (to love) in the Bible: a Cognitive Evolutionary Approach, 2019). Consequently, I wouldn't dare guessing the difference between a nifal participle and a qal passive participle.

Best, and stay safe,

Tamas

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Feladó: jewish-l...@googlegroups.com <jewish-l...@googlegroups.com>, meghatalmazó: RCK <rac...@futurecities.com>
Elküldve: 2023. október 13., péntek 14:04
Címzett: jewish-l...@googlegroups.com <jewish-l...@googlegroups.com>
Tárgy: [Jewish Languages] The Name Ahuvah

 

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[Alexandre Beider]

Hi,

I fully agree with Tamás: there is no need to search for a continuous usage:  prior to the 20th century, the name appears in sources studied by me neither for Ashkenazim, nor for Sephardic, Maghrebi, or Middle Eastern Jews. 

Concerning a possibility of the creation of it as a calque of Yiddish Libe (I think I could share this idea with you in a personal email communication), if you search the Yad Vashem data base for this given name, you'll see multiple confirmations.

Curiously, the list also includes a unique non-Ashkenazic occurrence: in Monastir/Bitola. I'm wondering whether it is an accurate information or a Hebrew calque made by the author of the testimony page of the genuine name.

Alexander Beider

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