Thursday, April 26, 2012

Oh! Livia...

Hi friends, here's one for your 'interesting/weird names' collection. It's from this week's AJN and is a very strange Hebrew translation/transliteration for Olivia - pronounced as "levaya" (although that word is actually spelled  "לויה")

I really think that mums and dads who aren't too fluent in Hebrew, should discuss the Jewish name they plan to give their child with a rabbi or someone who nows the language well.



5 comments:

  1. Oh AJNWatch ...it's so easy to criticise.
    Perhaps the parents know Hebrew, perhaps they don't.

    But judging by your post, you don't "now" English very well.

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  2. Did it occur to you that the Hebrew also translates to "Livia"?

    Richard Szental

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  3. Hi,
    I, a reader of this blog, not the owner, is responsible for the above post.

    I wasn't aiming to disparage anyone, just to point out what can happen when there may be a lack of language skills.

    And I agree with Richard that it also translates - or rather - can be read as - Livia, but that doesn't negate what I had written that it also reads Levaya.

    In any case, I think that reading the AJN birth notices (and also Bar and Bat Mitzvas) we see that more than a few parents go for the strange, weird and nutty names which no doubt some kids will not be happy about as they grow up.

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  4. Livia is actually a name in its own right. The most famous person to bear that name was the mother of the Roman Emperor after whom the famous city of Tiberias in Israel was named.

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  5. AJNWatch - while this isn't related per se to the item on "Olivia" that I am commenting on, it's something that I thought readers would be interested in. The AJN has a poll on their website asking readers what their favourite festival is. The list of chagim to choose from is quite fascinating in what the good folks at the paper have chosen to omit. It seems that the shalosh regalim have been reduced to two!

    ReplyDelete

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