# I am my beloved's, my beloved is mine (feminine form)



## triple7

Hello, thank you so much for your time. It is my wife's and my 15th wedding anniversary and I would like to write out this verse in Hebrew for her. Could you please show me this verse in Hebrew writting? I am my beloved's, my beloved is mine. It would also be helpful if you could point me in the right direction to learn how to say it. Thank you very much again.


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## בעל-חלומות

Here are my suggestions and transliterations. If you want to be able to read the actual Hebrew letters, I recommend the wikipedia article on the Hebrew alephbet.​ 
אני שייך לאהובתי, ואהובתי שייכת לי (ani shayakh le'ahuvati, ve'ahuvati shayekhet li) - Litterally: I belong to my beloved, and my beloved belongs to me.
or
אני שייך לאהובתי, והיא שייכת לי (ani shayakh le'ahuvati vehi shayekhed li) - Lit.: I belong to my beloved, and she belongs to me.
or
אני של אהובתי, ואהובתי שלי (ani shel ahuvati, veahuvati sheli) - Lit.: I am of my beloved (my beloved's), and my beloved is of me (mine).
or
אני של אהובתי, והיא שלי (ani shel ahuvati, vehi sheli) - Lit.: I am of my beloved (my beloved's) and she is of me (mine)​ 
The third one is the most litteral, but I thonk the first two sound better.​


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## Flaminius

Now that *ba`al chalomot* has provided a series of good answer, I think I can ask to critique my try without making much confusion.  

How is it acceptable to make an invention upon the classic phrase "Dodi li, va-ani lo"?

דודתי לי, ואני לה.
Dodati li, va-ani lah.

I understand _dodati_ usually means "my aunt" in Modern Hebrew but is it also "my aunt" in a flowery locution such as this?


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## scriptum

Flaminius said:


> How is it acceptable to make an invention upon the classic phrase "Dodi li, va-ani lo"?
> 
> דודתי לי, ואני לה.
> Dodati li, va-ani lah.


 
The Hebrew verse is "ani le-dodi ve-dodi li". I cannot see any reason not to quote it literally.


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## Flaminius

שיר השירים 2:16 goes, "דודי לי ואני לו".  From the way "dodi" is described in the whole book, I always assumed that the beloved is male.  I wonder, therefore, a female form should be devised in reference to one's wife as one's beloved.


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## scriptum

Flaminius said:


> שיר השירים 2:16 goes, "דודי לי ואני לו". From the way "dodi" is described in the whole book, I always assumed that the beloved is male. I wonder, therefore, a female form should be devised in reference to one's wife as one's beloved.


 
I apologize, you are right. The text says it twice.
2:16
דּוֹדִי לִי וַאֲנִי לוֹ 
6:3
אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי

The female counterpart of דודי in the text seems to be רעייתי.


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## netia1128

*<<< NEW QUESTION - threads merged by moderator >>>*​
Hello All,

I am hoping someone can please help me understand if there is a female to female form of the phrase 'Ani L dodi dodi Li'?

I did mange to find this old thread where a female to female version is given, but it doesn't quite answer my question because:
      a) one answer says to replace dodi with dodati, but then the thread later specifies that dodati translates into English as aunt. That seems weird to me.
      b) one answer also just says : Female to female: אֲנִי לַאֲהוּבָתִי וַאֲהוּבָתִי לִי. However, it doesn't explain the English pronunciation, nor does is specify if it is using
          dodati in place of dodi, which as I mentioned above, would really be me just talking about loving my aunt (not what I want to say).
      c) someone also presented the phrase ""Ani La'Ahuvi va'Ahuvi Li" as an option, but doesn't give the Hebrew text for the phrase. And also, the thread calls the word Ahuvi "dull". I'm not sure what a dull word it, but if it is simply an awkward phrase, it also doesn't sound like what I am after.

At the end of the day, I am a lesbian with a Jewish heritage looking to get the phrase engraved on a wedding ring in Hebrew. I'd prefer the phrase not refer to a man, my aunt, or simply be awkward or weird for modern day Hebrew speakers. And I'd like to know how to pronounce the phrase as well. Does this exist?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can lend here!


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## ADoA

Modern Hebrew translation of dodi is "my uncle," so dodati would naturally be its feminine form. I think (but could be wrong) the problem stems from the fact that "ani ledodi ve'dodi li" is not a phrase that should be taken literally. Anyone who speaks the language but is not familiar with this phrase (me included) would think it means "me for my uncle and my uncle for me." So I think the alternative suggested of אֲנִי לַאֲהוּבָתִי וַאֲהוּבָתִי לִי (ani le'ahuvati ve'ahuvati li) is probably meant to give the phrase a more literal and somewhat modern meaning.

אֲנִי לַאֲהוּבָתִי וַאֲהוּבָתִי לִי and אֲנִי לַאֲהוּבָי וַאֲהוּבָי לִי are identical with the exception that one is referring to a male loved one and the other female. Ahuvati is a female loved one and Ahuvi is a male loved one.

ani le'ahuvi ve'ahuvi li (אֲנִי לַאֲהוּבָי וַאֲהוּבָי לִי)
ani le'ahuvati ve'ahuvati li (אֲנִי לַאֲהוּבָתִי וַאֲהוּבָתִי לִי)

Having a female partner, you would want to use the latter. The word "ani" is gender-neutral. It would basically mean "Me for my loved one and my loved one for me."


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## netia1128

Thank you so much for your quick reply!

If I went with the phrase 'ani le'ahuvati ve'ahuvati li (אֲנִי לַאֲהוּבָתִי וַאֲהוּבָתִי לִי)', would you consider it to be "dull" or "awkward"?


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## ADoA

netia1128 said:


> Thank you so much for your quick reply!
> 
> If I went with the phrase 'ani le'ahuvati ve'ahuvati li (אֲנִי לַאֲהוּבָתִי וַאֲהוּבָתִי לִי)', would you consider it to be "dull" or "awkward"?



Not at all. It actually sounds pretty romantic and poetic — but please wait for a few more opinions. Because I'm not too familiar with the original phrase and because of its similarity to this one, I can't tell for sure if any of the original meaning will transfer over for those who are familiar with it. Assuming that the very original meant the same thing, you're good.

A little heads up: I copied and pasted the Hebrew phrases to save time on typing. The spelling is correct, but the nikkud in the sentence for male version is different than the one I pasted. You were not going to use it, anyway, but still something to keep in mind.


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## slus

אֲנִי לַאֲהוּבָתִי וַאֲהוּבָתִי לִי is beautiful and poetic. As ADoA said, אני לדודתי sounds ridiculous in modern eyes. 
As for Niqqud, I think it is correct this way, but I think that if you choose a nice font, without niqqud would be better - less room for mistakes and clearer graphic.


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## ystab

אני לדודי ודודי לי comes from the Biblical book Songs of Songs. In it, the feminine equivalent of דודי is mostly רעייתי (with niqqud רַעְיָתִי, Ra'yati). Today, its main meaning is my wife, my consort.
So, especially on a wedding ring, my suggestion for a feminine equivalent is: אני לרעייתי ורעייתי לי (with niqqud אֲנִי לְרַעְיָתִי וְרַעְיָתִי לִי, Ani LeRa'yati VeRa'yati Li).


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