[Avodah] Yehoshua and Yehonasan

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 10:11:17AM -0600, Lisa Liel wrote:
: >BUT, if the vowels of the first two letters weren't sheva and 
: >cholam, why would Yehoshua and Yehonasan as they are?

: >That's assuming, of course, that the suffix version is more likely 
: >to be modified: Yoshiyahu, Eliyahu....

: A counter-argument would be that ancient Assyrian and Babylonian 
: inscriptions transcribe names like Yehoram as Yau-ram and Yehudah as 
: Yaudi.  The letter heh is dropped in Akkadian, and this suggests that 
: the suffix version is closer to the correct pronunciation of the Shem 
: Havaya.

Thanks. Although one could argue the reverse too... (Not saying I /am/,
just trying to look at every angle.)

Now that you gave a reason for Yoshiyahu, Eliyahu, Mikhayahu, Yirmiyahu,
etc... that makes sense, the question about the origin of the prefix
version is stronger. Perhaps Eliyahu et al are named with the non-Hebrew
cognate. You said it's Assyrian, and all the people I thought of lived
in that end of Israel.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha