# -ah -eh in biblical names



## Villeggiatura

In some languages, many biblical names whose ultimas are open have an additional h, e.g.
Isaiah Jonah Judah Methuselah Nehemiah Noah Sarah 
Jephunneh Manasseh Nineveh

Why is the _h_ present in English more than in other languages?
What does it represent in the original language?


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## Ben Jamin

Yoy will find many answers in Wikipedia, for instance:
A *messiah* (literally, "anointed one")[1] is a saviour or liberator of a group of people, most commonly in the Abrahamic religions. In the Hebrew Bible, a messiah (Hebrew: מָשִׁיחַ, Modern _mashiaẖ_, Tiberian _māšîăḥ_)

*Methuselah* (Hebrew: מְתוּשֶׁלַח / מְתוּשָׁלַח, Modern _Metušélaħ_ / _Metušálaħ_ Tiberian _Məṯûšélaḥ_ / _Məṯûšālaḥ_ ;

As you can see, the original names had a laryngeal consonant at the end, and the phonetic value of the consonant i today represented in various ways (for example _ħ or ḥ). _English is one of the few languages that has retained the spelling with the laryngeal consonant which is, however, never pronounced, according with the phonetics of the English language. On the other hand the "h" at the end marks an open vowel at the end, and the schwa, as it would be without the "h".
Other languages have disposed with the "h" and replaced it with another consonant (Russian Мафусаил, French 
Mathusalem, Polish Matuzalem), or just end the name with a vowel (Romanian Metusala).


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## origumi

In regard to the original language, these are several cases:

Names that end with Semitic consonant not pronounceable in English, e.g ח ḥet or ע ʿayin. The consonant disappears and may be written as "h". Examples are Noah, Methuselah, Joshuah (as alternate spelling to Joshua).

Names that end with ה = "h" in Hebrew which is not (and never was) pronounced. Sort of placeholder or "mater lectionis". Examples are Isaiah, Jonah, Judah.

Names that end with ה = "h" in Hebrew which is pronounced. In this case the final "h" better be preserved and pronounced in English. Examples are Nogah.


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## Ben Jamin

origumi said:


> In regard to the original language, these are several cases:
> 
> Names that end with Semitic consonant not pronounceable in English, e.g ח ḥet or ע ʿayin. The consonant disappears and may be written as "h". Examples are Noah, Methuselah, Joshuah (as alternate spelling to Joshua).
> 
> Names that end with ה = "h" in Hebrew which is not (and never was) pronounced. Sort of placeholder or "mater lectionis". Examples are Isaiah, Jonah, Judah.
> 
> Names that end with ה = "h" in Hebrew which is pronounced. In this case the final "h" better be preserved and pronounced in English. Examples are Nogah.


Why had Old Hebrew letters that were not pronounced? Was this historical spelling?


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## origumi

It's the opposite of historical spelling. Originally, Hebrew and the Canaanite languages were abjad - only consonants are written, no vowels. Later, few consonants started serving as matres lectionis - similar to vowel letters but not the same. This is an evolutionary process that had started earlier than Biblical Hebrew and is  attested also in Ugaritic, therefore around mid 2nd millennium BC. It continues evolving until (including) modern Hebrew.

In our case, the final ה "h" tells the reader that there's a "a" or "e" sound after the preceding consonant.

Other Semitic languages, for example Arabic and Aramaic (dialects), have similar yet different rules for the same concept.


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## berndf

origumi said:


> It's the opposite of historical spelling.


In the origin it probably was. The origin was probably mute waw, Jod, aleph or he with compensatory lengthening which led to the interpretation as long vowel signs extended to cases where there never was an original consonant, similar to unetymological lengthening h in German.

A typical example of a mute consonant that was originally pronounced is_ rosh=head_ that is spelled _r?sh_. That the aleph was originally pronounced is a relatively safe assumption because it still is in Arabic (_ra?s_).

It should maybe be mentioned that the feminine ending _-ah _is a special case. The h represent the mute t of the feminine ending -at in stand alone contexts, i.e. without suffix or genitive. Arabic has a special letter for this that looks like a blend of h an t (h with two dots, the t has two dots).


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## rushalaim

origumi said:


> It's the opposite of historical spelling. Originally, Hebrew and the Canaanite languages were abjad - only consonants are written, no vowels. Later, few consonants started serving as matres lectionis - similar to vowel letters but not the same. This is an evolutionary process that had started earlier than Biblical Hebrew and is  attested also in Ugaritic, therefore around mid 2nd millennium BC. It continues evolving until (including) modern Hebrew.
> 
> In our case, the final ה "h" tells the reader that there's a "a" or "e" sound after the preceding consonant.
> 
> Other Semitic languages, for example Arabic and Aramaic (dialects), have similar yet different rules for the same concept.


_Hei _with _Dagesh _is pronounced?   הַלְלוּ־יָהּ


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## origumi

rushalaim said:


> _Hei _with _Dagesh _is pronounced?   הַלְלוּ־יָהּ


This dot in a final ה "h" is called "mappik", not "dagesh", and its purpose is to tell us that the ה "h" is pronounced.


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## origumi

berndf said:


> In the origin it probably was [historical].


This depends on what we call historical. In the pure abjad that is likely to have preceded biblical Hebrew spelling (and contemporary documents like the Mesha Stele and the Ahiram Sarcophagos), the final ה "h" is absent. Once matres lectionis were introduced, this final ה "h" is again not historical (that is, remnant of past pronunciation) but very much alive.


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## berndf

origumi said:


> This depends on what we call historical. In the pure abjad that is likely to have preceded biblical Hebrew spelling (and contemporary documents like the Mesha Stele and the Ahiram Sarcophagos), the final ה "h" is absent. Once matres lectionis were introduced, this final ה "h" is again not historical (that is, remnant of past pronunciation) but very much alive.


Isn't that's what I said?



berndf said:


> which led to the interpretation as long vowel signs extended to cases where there never was an original consonant, similar to unetymological lengthening h in German.


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## Dan2

origumi said:


> Names that end with ה = "h" in Hebrew which is pronounced. *In this case the final "h" better be preserved and pronounced in English.* Examples are Nogah.


Do you mean that in this case:
it is better that the final "h" be preserved in English (OK, fine)
and that
it is better that the final "h" be pronounced in English (English speakers can't normally do that) (and most wouldn't want to try...)


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## berndf

Dan2 said:


> English speakers can't normally do that) (and most wouldn't want to try...)




Same is true for other European languages. I don't think any European can pronounce or would try to pronounce an h at the end of a syllable. In languages that have to sound, syllable-final h is appropriated by [x] as in the name of the Egyptian news agency _Al Ahram_.


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## origumi

Dan2 said:


> it is better that the final "h" be pronounced in English (English speakers can't normally do that) (and most wouldn't want to try...)


The point is to remember that originally this "h" is etymological, a true consonant, vs. a helper letter written but not pronounced.


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## franknagy

berndf said:


> Same is true for other European languages. I don't think any European can pronounce or would try to pronounce an h at the end of a syllable. In languages that have to sound, syllable-final h is appropriated by [x] as in the name of the Egyptian news agency _Al Ahram_.


In Hungarian there are few examples where the h is pronounced on the end of the word:
A) Alla*h*, sa*h* (Arabic, Persian origin);
B) dü*h* = anger, potro*h* = ambdomen of an insect (internal origin);
C) pe*ch* = bad luck, kra*ch* = bankrupt (Jiddish).

Usually the the h is silent on the end of the words but it sounds getting a suffix:
Cseh = Czech, cse*h*ek (plural),
juh = sheep (in singular), ju*h*ok  (plural),
méh = bee (sing.), mé*h*ek (pl.)
... but ...
mé*h* = womb , mé*h*e = her womb.


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## berndf

franknagy said:


> In Hungarian there are few examples where the h is pronounced on the end of the word


Right. When speaking of "European" languages I sometimes forget to exclude non-IE languages spoken in Europe.


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## franknagy

berndf said:


> Right. When speaking of "European" languages I sometimes forget to exclude non-IE languages spoken in Europe.


The sound set of the Hungarian language is a mixture of Slavic, German, and Turkish sounds, and the special vowel denoted by "a".


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## franknagy

Let me return to the original topic: to the Hebrew biblical names.
The -ah of biblical names appears in Hungarian bible as "-ás" (pronounced as [aa-sh]),
like Messiás, Zakariás. Ézsaiás, except Noah which is spelled as Noé.


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## Ben Jamin

franknagy said:


> Let me return to the original topic: to the Hebrew biblical names.
> The -ah of biblical names appears in Hungarian bible as "-ás" (pronounced as [aa-sh]),
> like Messiás, Zakariás. Ézsaiás, except Noah which is spelled as Noé.


It is because these names came to Hungarian through Latin, which changed the endings to -s.


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## apmoy70

Ben Jamin said:


> It is because these names came to Hungarian through Latin, which changed the endings to -s.


The Vulgate took them from the Greek:
זְכַרְיָה Zekharya > Ζαχαρίας Zakʰarías
יְשַׁעְיָהוּ Yeshayahu > Ἠσαΐας Ēsaḯas
נֹחַ Noakh > Nῶε Nôe


berndf said:


> Right. When speaking of "European" languages I sometimes forget to exclude non-IE languages spoken in Europe.


Greek pronounces the syllable-final /h/:
Αλλάχ [aˈlax] < Allah
Κραχ [krax] < Fr. krach


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## berndf

apmoy70 said:


> Greek pronounces the syllable-final /h/:
> Αλλάχ [aˈlax] < Allah
> Κραχ [krax] < Fr. krach


That is exactly what I said:


berndf said:


> In languages that have to sound, syllable-final h is appropriated by [x]


These words are pronounced with [x] at the end and not with .


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