On 13 April, BP Jonsson wrote:

>At 12:42 13.4.2000 +0300, Dan Sulani wrote:
>> >
>> >> Would anyone (read: Steg :-)  know the original form & meaning of
>> >> Elizabeth.  IIRC its Russian counterpart has /s/, not /z/.  True?
>> >
>> >> /BP
>> >>  B.Philip Jonsson  <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
>> >.
>> >
>> >All i can think of is _elisheva`_, which means something like "my god
>> >swears/has_sworn/will_swear" from what i can tell.
>>
>>Good thinking, Steg. My  English dictionary
>>  (Webster's New World , 1957 [you'd think it was time already
>>to get a new one! :-) ])
>>has the following derivation of "Elizabeth":
>>  (L = Latin, Heb = Hebrew  lit = literally)
>>     "L. Elisabeth; Heb. elisheba' , lit., God is (my) oath"
>
>What's the -t(h) then?  The feminine ending?

The ( ' ) at the end of the name elisheba' is an 'ayen
and is part of the Semitic three-letter root:
shin-vet-'ayen, without endings.

(Why there is a /b/ in the middle is another question.
The verb "to swear an oath" can have either /b/
or /v/, depending upon what part of the paradigm
one is referring to. [/b/ is usually found in the passive,
for example.] In Israel, the name is pronounced  /eliSeva/
with a /v/. )
In Hebrew, the name is written:

aleph-lamed-yod-shin-vet-'ayen

(aleph-lamed-yod = my God
shin-vet-'ayen = oath)
    The 'ayen at the end is, AFAIK, a pharyngeal sound.
How that changed into an alveolar or even interdental,
I don't know. I do seem to recall that the development
from /h/ to /s/ is attested to in some languages
(sorry, I forget which). Perhaps something similar
occurred.


    Dan Sulani

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likehsna rtem zuv tikuhnuh auag inuvuz vaka'a.

A word is an awesome thing.