IRREANTUM: Difference between revisions

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IRREANTUM is composed of four elements: a prosthetic aleph, the root ''rwy'', the nominalizing element ''-ān'', and the root ''tmm''.
IRREANTUM is composed of four elements: a prosthetic aleph, the root rwy, the nominalizing affix -n, and the root tmm, and probably means “abundant watering of completeness.” This meaning is an acceptable match with the translation given in 1 Nephi 17:5, “many waters.”1


Normally in the west-Semitic languages if a consonant is doubled in pronunciation, it is not doubled in the writing. (Footnote 1). But the spelling of IRREANTUM in the Book of Mormon indicates that the initial /r/ of the root ''rwy'' is doubled in pronunciation. The presence of the prosthetic aleph before ''rwy'' would also indicate that the /r/ is doubled. (Footnote 2). Thus, back-transcribed into Hebrew, it would be 'rrê-<*'rwey-. (Footnote 3).
The root rwy is common to the West Semitic languages and has the general meaning “thorough watering, to water plentifully.”2 That IRREANTUM has a doubled /r/ does not present any problems. None of the West Semitic languages originally indicated in the orthography the doubling of consonants. (Akkadian, the East Semitic language group, did indicate on occasion the doubling of a consonant.) Not until more than a thousand years after the time of Lehi were diacritical marks introduced into written Hebrew and Arabic that indicated the doubling of a consonant. However, the pronunciation of the doubled consonants in Lehi’s day is certain, because the doubling is phonemic.  


The best suggestion for an etymology comes from Egyptian, r3-ʿntyw-m, and r3-n(n)-t3[]wm-dšr, names for the mouth of the Red Sea in both the Louvre and British
The /i/ that precedes the doubled /r/ is also easily explained as either a prosthetic aleph added to the name to break up a consonant cluster,3 or as the aleph of the Arabic definite article ʾil. When the article is pronounced together with the noun that follows it, the /l/ assimilates to the following consonant, doubling it.4 Supporting this interpretation of the first two elements of IRREANTUM is the existence of a pre-Islamic city/village name ʾrwy, 5 exactly what might be expected from the combination of a prosthetic aleph or an assimilated definite article and the root rwy. The first part of IRREANTUM would then be ’rrȇ-<*’rrey-<*rwey-.
Museum mss. of a mythological papyrus. In the first we have the dual of ʿnt, “finger, ten thousand,” of which the second is the philological equivalent of the Hebrew rb,  
rbb, “myriad, ten thousand,” the highest number in Hebrew for which there is a word<ref>Higher numbers must be expressed by combinations of lesser numbers. It is interesting to note that in the Nephite sections of the Book of Mormon, the highest numbers expressed are in thousands. Only in the Jaredite section does the number “millions” appear.</ref> (RFS, “Egyptianisms”).


Nibley also points that “one of the more common Egyptian names for the Red Sea was Iaru...[which] is not Egyptian...[and whose] meaning is unknown,” and that “antum”
The element -n is a common affix (a particle appended to a word) used in all the Semitic languages, including ancient South Semitic. It occurs Aespecially in abstracts,@6 meaning abstract nouns, similar to the use of the affix ABship@ in the English word Akingship.@  An abstraction from Awatering@ seems to fit the requirement here that IRREANTUM have something to do with Awater.@7
from iny-t and ʿnjt both describe large bodies of water (SC, 196). Also note that “many waters” is a typical Egyptian designation, e.g., Fayyum (SC, 195).


As attractive as the Egyptian etymologies are, Semitic sources should not be overlooked. My colleague, Brian Hauglid, drew my attention to the root rwy in South Semitic
The final element, tmm, could well be the common West Semitic root meaning “complete, whole; innocent, perfect; etc. Both the noun form and the infinitive form in Hebrew are tōm, which reverts to its earliest form, tūm, when it is not stressed. Together with the first part of IRREANTUM, the name would mean, somewhat literally, “abundant watering of completeness,” That Irrean and tum are separate words would also explain why the /n/ does not assimilate to the following /t/, which always happens within a word of Hebrew origin, but not when the /n/ ends one word and the /t/ begins another.
dialects. In North-west Semitic dialects it means to “saturate oneself, . . . to saturate, . . . to irrigate, . . . to be saturated.”<ref>DNWSI, p. 1063</ref> He also made me aware that the “-tum” may
consist of the feminine marker “t” and the nominative singular ending “-um.”<ref>Moscati, §12.75, in Epigraphic South Arabian, mimation can occur “in the singular, the internal plural, and the external feminine plural.” </ref> In the South Semitic dialects, the “n” does not always to assimilate when not followed by
a vowel to the following consonant.<ref>Moscati, §§9.3 and 16.117.</ref> The fact that Nephi gave us a translation of the name probably means that “Irreantum” was not a word in the language that
constituted the language of the plates.


Confer the city name URUa-ri-ia-an-ta in North-west Syria [M.C. Astour, “The Partition of the Confederacy of Mukiš-Nuhašše-Nii by Šuppiluliuma,” Orientalia 38 (1969):
It is possible that the Akkadian city name URUa-ri-ia-an-ta in north-west Syria (Michael .C. Astour, “The Partition of the Confederacy of Mukiš-Nuhašše-Nii by Šuppiluliuma,” Orientalia 38 [1969] 410) could be etymologically related to IRREANTUM. (PYH)
410].  


See also the king of Ashdod during Sennacherib’s Third Campaign, Mi-ti-in-ti (Col II, line 54).
Several Egyptian etymologies have been proposed. Hugh W. Nibley has suggested as possible derivations r3-ʿntyw-m, and r3-n(n)-t3[]wm-dšr, names for the mouth of the Red Sea in both the Louvre and British Museum mss. In the first there is the dual of ʿnt, “finger, ten thousand,” of which the second is the philological equivalent of the Hebrew rb, rbb, “myriad, ten thousand,” the highest number in Hebrew for which there is a word (RFS, “Egyptianisms”).8


Cf. Book of Mormon [[ANTUM]], et al., [[MORIANTUM]], [[CORIANTUM]]
Hugh W. Nibley also points out that “one of the more common Egyptian names for the Red Sea was Iaru...[which] is not Egyptian...[and whose] meaning is unknown,” and that “antum” from iny-t and ʿnjt both describe large bodies of water (SC, 196). Also note that “many waters” is a typical Egyptian designation, e.g., Fayyum (SC, 195.).


Notice that not all Semitic languages regularly assimilate the “n”. E.g., RS 8.145:26 ta-na-an-din, “she shall give.”
Bibliography
Paul Y. Hoskisson, with Brian Hauglid and John Gee, “Irreantum,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 11,1 (2002): 90-93.


Mandaic, I am told, does not always assimilate the “n” to a following dental.


See also [[Irreantum Variant]]
Cf. Book of Mormon [[ANTUM]], et al., [[MORIANTUM]], [[CORIANTUM]]


New Footnote to be linked, 1: Special diacritical marks are used in Hebrew and Arabic to indicate that a consonant is to be doubled. The doubling of consonants in the Semitic languages is phonemic, and therefore cannot be ignored.
Notice that not all Semitic languages regularly assimilate the “n”. E.g., RS 8.145:26 ta-na-an-din, “she shall give.”
 
New Footnote to be linked, 2: It could also be that the presence of the initial aleph would precipitate the doubling of the following consonant.  


New Footnote to be linked, 3: Other instances of prosthetic aleph in Hebrew include 'arba' and...


==Notes==
==Notes==

Revision as of 23:02, 17 March 2011

Lehite GN Sea, most likely off the Arabian coast, meaning “many waters” (1 Nephi 17:5)

IRREANTUM is composed of four elements: a prosthetic aleph, the root rwy, the nominalizing affix -n, and the root tmm, and probably means “abundant watering of completeness.” This meaning is an acceptable match with the translation given in 1 Nephi 17:5, “many waters.”1

The root rwy is common to the West Semitic languages and has the general meaning “thorough watering, to water plentifully.”2 That IRREANTUM has a doubled /r/ does not present any problems. None of the West Semitic languages originally indicated in the orthography the doubling of consonants. (Akkadian, the East Semitic language group, did indicate on occasion the doubling of a consonant.) Not until more than a thousand years after the time of Lehi were diacritical marks introduced into written Hebrew and Arabic that indicated the doubling of a consonant. However, the pronunciation of the doubled consonants in Lehi’s day is certain, because the doubling is phonemic.

The /i/ that precedes the doubled /r/ is also easily explained as either a prosthetic aleph added to the name to break up a consonant cluster,3 or as the aleph of the Arabic definite article ʾil. When the article is pronounced together with the noun that follows it, the /l/ assimilates to the following consonant, doubling it.4 Supporting this interpretation of the first two elements of IRREANTUM is the existence of a pre-Islamic city/village name ʾrwy, 5 exactly what might be expected from the combination of a prosthetic aleph or an assimilated definite article and the root rwy. The first part of IRREANTUM would then be ’rrȇ-<*’rrey-<*rwey-.

The element -n is a common affix (a particle appended to a word) used in all the Semitic languages, including ancient South Semitic. It occurs Aespecially in abstracts,@6 meaning abstract nouns, similar to the use of the affix ABship@ in the English word Akingship.@ An abstraction from Awatering@ seems to fit the requirement here that IRREANTUM have something to do with Awater.@7

The final element, tmm, could well be the common West Semitic root meaning “complete, whole; innocent, perfect; etc. Both the noun form and the infinitive form in Hebrew are tōm, which reverts to its earliest form, tūm, when it is not stressed. Together with the first part of IRREANTUM, the name would mean, somewhat literally, “abundant watering of completeness,” That Irrean and tum are separate words would also explain why the /n/ does not assimilate to the following /t/, which always happens within a word of Hebrew origin, but not when the /n/ ends one word and the /t/ begins another.

It is possible that the Akkadian city name URUa-ri-ia-an-ta in north-west Syria (Michael .C. Astour, “The Partition of the Confederacy of Mukiš-Nuhašše-Nii by Šuppiluliuma,” Orientalia 38 [1969] 410) could be etymologically related to IRREANTUM. (PYH)

Several Egyptian etymologies have been proposed. Hugh W. Nibley has suggested as possible derivations r3-ʿntyw-m, and r3-n(n)-t3[]wm-dšr, names for the mouth of the Red Sea in both the Louvre and British Museum mss. In the first there is the dual of ʿnt, “finger, ten thousand,” of which the second is the philological equivalent of the Hebrew rb, rbb, “myriad, ten thousand,” the highest number in Hebrew for which there is a word (RFS, “Egyptianisms”).8

Hugh W. Nibley also points out that “one of the more common Egyptian names for the Red Sea was Iaru...[which] is not Egyptian...[and whose] meaning is unknown,” and that “antum” from iny-t and ʿnjt both describe large bodies of water (SC, 196). Also note that “many waters” is a typical Egyptian designation, e.g., Fayyum (SC, 195.).

Bibliography Paul Y. Hoskisson, with Brian Hauglid and John Gee, “Irreantum,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 11,1 (2002): 90-93.


Cf. Book of Mormon ANTUM, et al., MORIANTUM, CORIANTUM

Notice that not all Semitic languages regularly assimilate the “n”. E.g., RS 8.145:26 ta-na-an-din, “she shall give.”


Notes

RFS
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