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Rûm (Greek) Names: Cross-Language Adaptations in the Levant
The names used by Levantine Rûm today show a long history of adaptation between Greek and semitic languages like Aramaic and Arabic. Some Greek names were adapted into Arabic forms, while in other cases, Semitic names were Hellenized, and then adapted back into Arabic later. This movement was not linear — it was a two-way process shaped by cultural, religious, and linguistic shifts over centuries. For example: The Greek name Philippos became Fares in Arabic and Gregorious became Najeeb. On the other hand, the Semitic name AbedShams was Hellenized into something like Heliophilos and the Arabic Hareth became Aretas in Greek texts (my personal favorite is Greek Hatzi, from Arabic Hajji, a prefix added to Greek surnames to indicate that someone who is Greek Orthodox had committed the pilgrimage to Jerusalem). The table below (originally compiled by Father Basileus Mahfouz) lists many such names, showing their Greek, Arabic, and Latin transliterations. These shi...
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