Yeah, yeah, this supposed to be an English language site, BUT... I had a conversation last night with someone who asserted that the Hebrew derivation of the name, "Adam," comes from a feminine root word meaning "Earth," thus suggesting a pre-patriarchal "Mother Earth" connection to the Hebrew creation story. Can any of you confirm or deny this?

Asa, needing a guide to the perplexed

I found this site: http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/Hebrew/

They say that Adam (in the sense of the first man)comes from 'adam, which means to be red, or ruddy.

There is another proper name, 'Adamah, a city in Naphtali. That apparently comes from 'adamah which is indeed a feminine noun that means "ground", "land" and by extension, the whole earth.

Hope this helps.

and i don't have to look up nuthin'.

i've had plenty of hebrew help myself.⁄ but it always turns out the same way. the family doesn't want a shikseh amongst 'em.

"it always turns out the same way. the family doesn't want a shikseh amongst 'em."
_______________________________

Well, remember that an oyster is someone fond of spouting Yiddish expressions! Now I'll go clam up.

Yes, wildflowerchild, I can also confirm that, as I was once a Shikseh myself. I wonder if the "Shikseh bashing" has something to do with the fact that only if the mother is Jewish will the children be considered Jewish.

Reviving antiquity:

quote:

Well, remember that an oyster is someone fond of spouting Yiddish expressions!

You may be thinking of an oytser, which is often used in the second, ironic sense:

• a treasure: My child is an angel, an oytser to me
• far from a treasure: Her child? That brat. God save me from such an oytser!

Yiddish oytser, besides meaning treasure, also means thesaurus, which is the Greek for treasure. (I have Nahum Stutshkoff's oytser fun der yidisher shprakh.) It is from Hebrew 'otser 'supply; grainery, treasure; treasury' of unknown etymology. Yiddish shikse (pejorative) 'non-Jewish woman' is interesting because it is the feminine form of shegets (pejorative) 'non-Jewish (young) man' which is from Hebrew sheqets 'abomination; ritually unclean'.

quote: Yiddish oytser, besides meaning treasure, also means thesaurus

Really!? Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue says,

The richness of the English vocabulary, and the wealth of available synonyms, means that English speakers can often draw shades of distinction unavailable to non-English speakers. ... English, as Charlton Laird has noted, is the only language that has, or needs,
books of synonyms like Roget's Thesaurus. “Most speakers of other languages are not aware that such books exist." [The Miracle of Language, page 54]

quote:

Charlton Laird has noted: [,,,] “Most speakers of other languages are not aware that such books exist." [The Miracle of Language, page 54]

Well, I can't speak for the other 6 thousand plus languages in the world, but Yiddish has a thesaurus, which was published by YIVO in the '50s. I have a copy and I've used it. It's pretty much like Roget's or any of the other thesauruses I've used in English. I have seen a thesaurus for German, called I believe a Synonymwoerterbuch, published by Dudens, and which is still in print. In spite of what Mr Laird has written and Mr Bryson has repeated, I'd find it hard to believe that there are not thesauruses for most of the European languages. Arabic also seems a likely candidate.

Pardon me for being unclear, zmj. There can't be any doubt that you are right, as you have the thesaurus in your hands. I wasn't disagreeing with you; I was noting Bryson's error.

[wordnerd, having a greater respect for facts than for authorities]

The source of Adam's name is not explicit in the Bible, but it indeed does presumably derive from the word 'adamah', of which Arnie gives an accurate translation. The Bible says that God created Adam of dirt from the 'adamah'. There is no reference that I know of that connects Adam with ruddiness.

There was someone else, though, whose name did derive from the word for red: Edom, which is another name for Esau. The Hebrew word for red is Adom, by the way.

Hmmm, I see I'm a couple years late with this.

quote:

Hmmm, I see I'm a couple years late with this.

Not TOO late! Thanks for the good information! Good to have you here at the asylum!