ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3373 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3373 ************************************ 9 Jan 2009 From: "Melissa Barton" Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for our opinion of as a 6th to 13th century Arabic feminine name meaning 'Naila the Dancer'. Here is what we found. Arabic names in your period could contain five types of elements: two of these were the ism (personal name) and a nisba (a byname based on occupation or geographical origin). The form is a common historical form attested for female names as well as male [1]. (a more correct spelling of ; \aa\ is a long \a\ and the apostrophe represents a glottal stop, explained below) does not appear to have been a common name in your period, but we were able to find some examples. It was the name of a legendary pagan woman who was turned to stone after fornicating with her lover near the Qaba, as well as the name of the wife of , third Caliph of the Islamic Empire, whom she married in 649 CE after converting to Islam [2]. An Indian woman named was the mother of in the 13th century (the doubled vowels indicate long vowels) [3]. We have not found used by a Muslim woman after the seventh century. We're not sure whether that reflects our lack of data or whether Naa'ilah> was considered inappropriate as an Islamic name. is pronounced \naah-?ee-lah\, where \aah\ is the same as \ah\ but longer in duration, and \?\ is the glottal stop, the 'catch in the throat' heard between the two syllables of 'uh-oh'. The occupational nisba is found in an Arabic language document from a collection of documents about the Jewish community in Cairo between the 10th-12th centuries. (Here the period after the s represents a dot under the previous letter, indicating an emphatic consonant.) It is pronounced \ar-rah-QAAH-sah\, where the \Q\ is a sound not found in English, similar to a \K\ but further back in the mouth. Instead of making contact with the soft palate, the back of the tongue makes contact with the uvula. The \AAH\ is like \AH\ but longer in duration. Although the modern meaning is 'the dancer,' in your time period may have meant 'the errand girl' [4]. would be a plausible name for an Arab woman in the early part of your period. However, we are not certain whether the byname has the meaning you requested, and we are not certain whether would have been suitable for a Muslim woman. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Bronwyn ferch Gwyn ap Rhys, David Cameron Staples, Juliana de Luna, Mari neyn Bryan, Talan Gwynek, and Ursula Georges. For the Academy, Leonor Ruiz de Liso/n 9 January 2009 ----------------------------------------------------- References [1] Appleton, David B. (Da'ud ibn Auda), _Period Arabic Names and Naming Practices_ (2003) . [2] Bearman, P.J., et al., eds., _Encyclopedia of Islam_ (Boston: Brill). s.n. , s.n. <`Uthmaan b. `Affaan> [3] Ibid. s.n. Here the period after the \k\ indicates an emphatic consonant; it is the same as the \q\ in . is spelled in the source; the spelling has been standardized in the body of this letter. [4] Goitein, Shelomo Dov, _A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza_ (San Francisco: UC Press, 1967), vol. 1, p. 431, n. 19.