# Nahema



## Rainbowlight

Hello,

First of all, I apologize for not being able to write this message in your beautiful language as I cannot speak Hebrew.

"Nahema" is the name of a perfume made by Guerlain, a well-known French perfume house. The brand has always stated that this word means "Girl of fire" or "Fire Girl". After doing a bit of research, it became clear to me that the word had Hebraic origins and it actually meant "soul", "spirit", "breath". I went into Forvo but the pronunciations differed from one to the other. Some of them sounded like "nashemá", with the stress on the last syllable.

I wonder if someone could point me to the correct pronunciation in standard Hebrew.

Thanks for your help.

Rainbowlight


----------



## slus

Neshama נשמה means soul/spirit
Neshima נשימה means breath
Nehama נחמה means comfort/consolation


----------



## Abaye

What makes you think it's of Hebrew origin? According to the company's blog the name is from 1001 Nights, thus Arabic (or Arabized). Yet another beautiful language


----------



## Rainbowlight

slus said:


> Neshama נשמה means soul/spirit
> Neshima נשימה means breath
> Nehama נחמה means comfort/consolation


Thank you for all the information! 

However, what is the correct pronunciation of נשמה / neshama? Is the stress on the last syllable?


----------



## Rainbowlight

Abaye said:


> What makes you think it's of Hebrew origin? According to the company's blog the name is from 1001 Nights, thus Arabic (or Arabized). Yet another beautiful language


As the author of the blog states in the "A Brief History" section, "_this website is not affiliated with Guerlain in any way". Thus, it is not by any means a "company's blog"._


----------



## Rainbowlight

Abaye said:


> What makes you think it's of Hebrew origin? According to the company's blog the name is from 1001 Nights, thus Arabic (or Arabized). Yet another beautiful language


Of course I will try in the Arabic forum, too.


----------



## Abaye

Rainbowlight said:


> As the author of the blog states in the "A Brief History" section, "_this website is not affiliated with Guerlain in any way". Thus, it is not by any means a "company's blog"._


Apparently you're right about it.

The point is that while there's no such name in Hebrew, the blog provides what seems to be robust etymology, so you can concentrate on validating that the quotation there is accurate:


> Once upon a time, far away in the Orient, a sultan had twin daughters. They were so much alike that their father gave them each names that were formed using the same letters: Mahane and Nahema.



And this also appears in the Guerlain Wikipedia article:


> Nahéma (1979): This floral oriental fragrance was inspired by the legend of a sultan who had twin daughters, the gentle and obedient Mahane and the fiery and passionate Nahéma. Built predominantly around rose notes, Nahéma was an early fragrance to feature damascenones, a set of newly discovered aromachemicals with a profound fruity-rose character.


----------



## Rainbowlight

Abaye said:


> Apparently you're right about it.
> 
> The point is that while there's no such name in Hebrew, the blog provides what seems to be robust etymology, so you can concentrate on validating that the quotation there is accurate:
> 
> 
> And this also appears in the Guerlain Wikipedia article:


Thanks for all the information. However, I am more interested in less vague, more specific questions. Is "Nahéma" a given name in Hebrew? Is it a correct transliteration or a transcription of an existing word?

Thanks again for pointing to me to the story behind the perfume.


----------



## Drink

Nehamá is a name, and some will pronounce it Neháma. I have never heard of Nahéma.


----------



## Abaye

Rainbowlight said:


> Thanks for all the information. However, I am more interested in less vague, more specific questions. Is "Nahéma" a given name in Hebrew? Is it a correct transliteration or a transcription of an existing word?


Clarify if you're interested in the name as given to the perfume, or in an arbitrary name "Nahema". There's no such name in Hebrew, although there are similar words and names. If you care about the perfume and accept the suggested origin, a next logical step would be to locate the Arabic text from 1001 Nights and see how the name is originally spelled. The "h" letter may transliterate Arabic ه or ح or خ or maybe even ع (as a reply you received in the Arabic forum). Each spelling may have a totally different meaning. And the vowel "e" may also pose an issue.


----------

