CEZORAM
| Lehite PN | 1. | Chief judge, ca. 30–26 BC (Helaman 5:1; 6:15, 19) |
Etymology
If the initial ce- of CEZORAM is a phonetic variant of the HEBREW independent demonstrative pronoun ze,[1] meaning “this, these, such a one, he of,”[2] then this personal name may be etymologized as “he of ZORAM,” perhaps analogically related to ze sînay, “He of Sinai” (Judges 5:5) and ZENEPHI, “he of NEPHI.” If this etymology is correct, then the name may be related to the Book of Mormon name, SEEZORAM,[3] but not ZERAM, ESROM, ZEEZROM, or EZROM (an amount of silver) since the later four appellatives do not allow for a long /o/ or /u/ vowel between the sibilants z/s and the liquid /r/. (For more detailed information on each of these names, see the individual entries.) If CEZORAM is not derived from ZORAM, then it would seem reasonable to group CEZORAM, SEEZORAM, ZORAM, and possibly (if ce- is not a prefix) ZERAM, ESROM, ZEEZROM, and EZROM, together because of the possible common consonants zrm or srm. See ZORAM and ZERAM for etymological possibilities. Note that CEZORAM's brother’s name, SEANTUM, according to the Deseret Alphabet spelling also begins with the sound, /i:/. CEZORAM could possibly be from szr, though the combination of two initial sibilants is a very unusual in West Semitic. Unlikely is the suggestion that CEZORAM is related to Chi-zi-ri, the EGYPTIAN governor of a Late Bronze Age Syrian city (LID 26, 28). Similarly unlikely is a derivation from the EGYPTIAN PN Zoser/Zeser (LID, 30) because the consonants do not easily correspond.
Also possible, though unlikely because it would mix languages, is that ce is EGYPTIAN s3, prefix for “son” (JAT).
See also Cezoram Variant
Variants
Deseret Alphabet: 𐐝𐐀𐐞𐐄𐐡𐐊𐐣 (siːzoʊrʌm)
Notes
- ↑ The HEBREW particle is a variant of the common West Semitic deictic particle *zu, represented by d in Ugaritic, d in Aramaic, and ḏū in Arabic.
- ↑ HALOT. The Ugaritic cognate means “which, that, of” (UT, #382).
- ↑ It should be noted that the Deseret Alphabet spelling of SEEZORAM and CEZORAM are identical, indicating that the second half of the 19th century, there was no distinction in pronunciation between the two names.
