Re: Maria del Carmen means?


Javi wrote:
> Douglas G. Kilday wrote:
> >
> > Your Israeli friend is mistaken, because the vowel is short: it is <karmel>
> > not *<karme:l>. The -el is a formative suffix (cf. <Se:pel> 'dish, bowl',
> > <barzel> 'iron') and has nothing to do with <?e:l> 'mighty one, hero' used
> > as an epithet of God (and Nebuchadnezzar, see Ezek. 31:11 <?e:l go:yim>
> > 'hero of nations').
>
> What meaning adds the formative suffix "-el"?

to give an accurate answer one would have to do a lot of comparative
semitics
and afro-asiatics and argue oover the results. the original vowels may
have been lost by the development of the root system resulting in
several reconstructions for -l .
there is one detailed work on reconstructing these. but medieval arab
ohiloloists had noted /l/ as one of the phonemes frequently appearing
in quadriliterals.

there is a reference I will try to find.

> Is there any case where the <?> (does it indicate a glottal stop or

I can answer yes.

also the form found in theophoric names in arabic from hebrew - aramaic
is usually in the form -'i:l and in those from sabaic (mostly in lists
of yemeni kings) usually -il or -'il .

> anything else? I am a layman in Hebrew) is lost in composition?
>
> --
> Javi

.