ANGOLA

Nephite GN

1.

NEPHITE city (Mormon 2:4)

Etymology

ANGOLA is the name of a NEPHITE city. If the name is from a HEBREW root, it may be a combination of words, since the HEBREW letter nun is contact with any other consonant within a word would make it subject to "progressive assimilation" or "regressive assimilation" (i.e., "ng" or "gn" becomes "gg"). Thus, the name may derive from the HEBREW word ʿayn, "spring, well," and a word from the root GLH, "to uncover, reveal" or GLL, with the basic meaning of "to roll, roll away (a rock or stone)." A combination of ʿayn plus a form of either of the roots may generate the names "Open Spring" or "Rock Spring." An EGYPTIAN etymology is also possible, as is one from an indigenous language.

It also seems unlikely that the transliteration practices used by the prophet Joseph Smith for representing the ʿayin with gn or ng were used in representing the ng of ANGOLA. Joseph adopted the practice as a result of his study of HEBREW with his Sephardic Jewish teacher, Joshua Seixas, after his arrival of Kirtland, Ohio in the early 1830s, after the publication of the Book of Mormon.

It seems unlikely that the GN ANGOLA is connected with the name of the African state of Angola (a former Portuguese colony), whose name derives from the title ngola held by the kings of Ndongo, It is quite likely that Joseph Smith had never heard of the name Angola before translating the Book of Mormon.

See also Angola / Angolah Variant

Variants

Angolah, Angelah

Deseret Alphabet: 𐐈𐐤𐐘𐐄𐐢𐐂 (ænɡoʊlɑː)

Notes

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