What’s in a Name? Irreantum

Title

What’s in a Name? Irreantum

Publication Type

Journal Article

Year of Publication

2002

Authors

Hoskisson, Paul Y. (Primary), Hauglid, Brian M. (Primary), and Gee, John (Primary)

Journal

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

Pagination

90-93, 114-115

Volume

11

Issue

1

Terms of use

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Bibliographic Citation

Abstract

The Book of Mormon was written in a language that was grounded in Hebrew and Egyptian; the people of the Book of Mormon most likely spoke this same language. It is interesting, then, that the Book of Mormon authors periodically included definitions for certain terms that they used in their writing, as if their audience did not understand them. This technique, known as a gloss, suggests that those terms may not have been a part of that ancient language. In an attempt to uncover the true origin of such words, this article dissects the Book of Mormon term Irreantum and delves into its linguistic characteristics to determine whether the term could have originated from Hebrew, Egyptian, ancient South Semitic, or another language.

Language
Semitic
Egyptian
Name
Gloss
Language - Reformed Egyptian
Onomastics
Irreantum
Language - Hebrew

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