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Help[Facts] Isavella
I'm looking for the origin and meaning of the name Isavella. Does it simply follow along with Isabella or does it derive from a different source? It may possibly be Greek, thats as far as I've gotten. Any suggestions?
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It is almost certainly Isabella written in a hypercorrected form.
My first guess is that the source is Spanish, but the Greek theory holds water as well.
On the subject of b/v correlation, Hebrew, Greek, Russian, Spanish & Gaelic all have it, at least in part.
My first guess is that the source is Spanish, but the Greek theory holds water as well.
On the subject of b/v correlation, Hebrew, Greek, Russian, Spanish & Gaelic all have it, at least in part.
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What I've been told is that in Greek names the letter B is usually replaced with a V.
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I don't think it's just Greek - phonetically the B and V sounds are close, so a language that doesn't have one will comfortably use the other, and one might change into the other over time as well.
For instance, the Hebrew names we know in English as Abram and Deborah seem to be Avram and Devorah nowadays - though I don't know if that's what they were in Hebrew all along, or if it signals a shift in pronunciation.
For instance, the Hebrew names we know in English as Abram and Deborah seem to be Avram and Devorah nowadays - though I don't know if that's what they were in Hebrew all along, or if it signals a shift in pronunciation.
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You are right, V and B are pretty much the same, in fact in Hebrew there is only one character for both (Beth). It is only one little dot that makes the difference between the two and for a long time none of these dots and little lines were written in Hebrew. As far as I know the Greeks got their alphabet from the Phoenetians (is this how you you spell it?), and their alphabet was rather close to the Hebrew one.
When the bible was translated first into Greek and later into Latin, all Beths were turned into Bs, no matter what the Hebrew pronunciation was at the time. So in the Hebrew bible you'll find Avram and Dvora and some people nowadays return to this old spelling and pronunciation and may name their child Rivkah instead of Rebecca.
But of course Isabella is not a biblical name; Elizabeth is from the Hebrew Elisheba, Elisheva resp.
So I would think the change in your name is due to someting else. I know in Spain they pronounce V and B the same, but I don't think they would change Isabella to Isavella, as Isabella is a typical Spanish name. So maybe it did happen in Greece after all, or maybe it was the idea of an individual …
If you find out more about your name, please let me know. Thanx!
Andy ;—)
When the bible was translated first into Greek and later into Latin, all Beths were turned into Bs, no matter what the Hebrew pronunciation was at the time. So in the Hebrew bible you'll find Avram and Dvora and some people nowadays return to this old spelling and pronunciation and may name their child Rivkah instead of Rebecca.
But of course Isabella is not a biblical name; Elizabeth is from the Hebrew Elisheba, Elisheva resp.
So I would think the change in your name is due to someting else. I know in Spain they pronounce V and B the same, but I don't think they would change Isabella to Isavella, as Isabella is a typical Spanish name. So maybe it did happen in Greece after all, or maybe it was the idea of an individual …
If you find out more about your name, please let me know. Thanx!
Andy ;—)
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Sure, if you spell a V you must pronounce a V.
DEVRA is a variant of DEBORA/DEVORA(H), for some reason the O was dropped. So you have many different spellings of the name and each one has it's own right. The original name from the Hebrew bible is pronounced Dvo-rah with the stress on the second syllable. This is at least how it is pronounced in modern Israel. The E (like in Deborah or Devorah) comes in because the quiet vowel after the V (it is called Shwa) was taken as a sounding vowel by the Greek and Latin translators. Take GIDEON: In the Hebrew bible it is GID'ON, but the translators but in the E and in Latin it would be pronounced Gi-dee-on.
Confused? - Good.
Andy ;—)
DEVRA is a variant of DEBORA/DEVORA(H), for some reason the O was dropped. So you have many different spellings of the name and each one has it's own right. The original name from the Hebrew bible is pronounced Dvo-rah with the stress on the second syllable. This is at least how it is pronounced in modern Israel. The E (like in Deborah or Devorah) comes in because the quiet vowel after the V (it is called Shwa) was taken as a sounding vowel by the Greek and Latin translators. Take GIDEON: In the Hebrew bible it is GID'ON, but the translators but in the E and in Latin it would be pronounced Gi-dee-on.
Confused? - Good.
Andy ;—)
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