Re: Non-constructed religions

Carlos Thompson wrote:
>
[...]
>

> Related question (for those with Hebrew and Arab knowlege):
> Are Yaveh/Jeovah and Allah related?  What are te ethimology of these
> words?
"Yaveh" and "Jehovah" are attempts to pronounce the quintessentially
unpronouncable four-letter name of God (I forget the fancy Greek word)
that appears in the Bible - YHWH (i.e. the Hebrew letters yod- he- vav-
he). The word seems to be related to the Hebrew root meaning "to be,"
but while there are many theories I don't think there's one accepted
view.

YHWH isn't etimologically related to Allah. Allah is the Arabic word for
God, with a capital "g," related to the word ilah which means "a god."
The Hebrew cognate is el, meaning god or God. I think both stem from a
very old Semitic root (the two-letter Semitic words are often among the
oldest and most basic, predating the now much more common three letter
roots).

Both Arabic and Hebrew (or rather Islam and Judaism; I can't comment on
Arabic Christian terminology) then have a long series of epithets and
descriptive names for God. Sometimes these are similar, eg haraHaman
(the Mercifiul) in Hebrew, and ar-raHman in Arabic with much the same
meaning.


        Conlanglikeg coluiereiin
        (In Conlangish friendship)


        Shaul Vardi