"...say if th'hadst rather hear it from our mouths, Or from our masters.." - macbeth
...Bare with me, maybe we can solve this.....
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In the book(s):
'let's name the baby' (C.R. Gibson company 1978)
Vanessa "butterfly"
The 1st reference was from 'What to name the baby: a treasury' by
Evelyn Wells does say "from the greek phanes, ....vanessa was one of the loves of dean swift"
The Phanessa is under greek, vanna under italian, but not for (vania) under russian -is a form of jane/john. This book is copyright 1946.
National Audubon socity field guide to NA butterflies, American painted lady "hunter's butterfly and virginia lady"
Vanessa virginaiensis former V.huntera (+vanessa anabella, atalanta, etc)....
Websters' unabridged 20thc -
Vanessa .n. [gr phanes an orphic (mystic) divinity]
Funk & Wagnalls new desk std diction. copy. 1948 "-phane, -phany -- combining form from greek phaneros, visible"
+ (ph) pronounced (f) the phenician (vau), through the hebrew (vau),(v )also phenician(vau) into greek upsilon (and we know latin (v) pronounced (w)-foot note), (v) interchangeible with (u) [maybe vaunessa/vanessa ??]
***fun fact
Merriam-webster english usage
au = ou, v = ve in sound
{THIS in mind}Known as a/an
'ETYMOLOGICAL FALLACY'
states "is a term used by philologists and linguists to describe the insistence that a word in present day english derivied from a foreign (and especially greek or latin) word must have the same meaning as the foreign word or must have it's meaning limited in some way....one thing to remember when you read or hear someone insisting that an english word must have a certain meaning because of its' latin or greek roots is that these insisters apply their etmologies very selectively ....", Ex:"...DECEMBER used for the 12th month, when latin root means 'ten', manure being used as a noun meaning 'dung' originally a verb meaning 'to work (land) by hand' " - Merriam-webster english usage
Latin TXBK states vanus/Vana = vain -- esse = sum = to be
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THIS MIGHT be a Wild goose chase and the trans- of ES-
VAN- is in the wimsy, Perhaps a butterfly Lover named Their daughter for its' beauty and it caught on.
LET ME know if this is the wrong direction.?
ps
PHANESSA could be used as a gaelic form, for the lack of words that start with V,W,Y among others........
***This bk also has extra info like many dictionaries of the desk std, U nited S tates P ostal R ates, 1st class 3cent per oz, single postcard 1cent, SD fee 1st class up to 2lb 15cents over 2lb & not more than 10lb 25cents..;)