Message: "question about Malthace/Thacia"

[Facts] question about Malthace/Thacia

by r (guest)

4/14/2009, 7:00 PM

I was reading "The Bronze Bow" by Elizabeth George Speare. There is a character in the book named "Malthace" who is also called "Thacia". I have not been able to find out what the name means or really how to pronounce it. Does anyone know? The character is a girl and she is Jewish. The book is set in Israel around 30 A.D. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

#Malthace #Thacia

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- Mo (guest) +1

9/10/2021, 8:32 AM

12 years later...

We are also reading this book.
I looked it up and there seems to be two pronunciations: Mahl-TAH-chuh and MAHL-tuss. Not sure which she'd be, but my jewish Mother-in-law says it's most likely the first one.

I hope this helps, even though it's years late.

- thegriffon

9/16/2021, 7:57 AM

It was neither. this is a Hellenic name, the Greek feminine form of μαλθακός "soft", and pronounced Mahl-Thahkeh, later -ee. /θ/ is a rare phoneme, but we can assume most in the Greek-speaking regions of the Roman empire would have been able to sound it correctly.

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