Pere Porta wrote: “My warm congratulations for your study on words with
suffix -WN. Me also, I did a study on this word type. …2. xalon, window (Gn
26:8)… Nouns in -WN (= on) have some mystery….”
Isaac Fried wrote: “XAL-ON, 'a thing that is XALUL, or KALUL in a wall'….”
Dr. Fournet wrote [addressing Isaac Fried]: “How do you explain: Xalul +
aniY => Xal-on ?”
Hey, guys, let’s pull this all together.
XAL is attested in 17 different names at Nuzi. Nuzi was located on the
southeast corner of Naharim (Genesis 24: 10).
Xalwu, with the consonants XLW, meant “fence made of stone” in the
non-Semitic language of Naharim. But as spoken in a sentence at Naharim, a
noun or
name would have up to 9 suffix elements, often including near the beginning
we-ni or we-na or we-ne, which would be –WN in early Hebrew defective
spelling. The Biblical Hebrew word XLWN has a Naharim root, XL, attested at
Nuzi, and a Naharim suffix, -WN, attested in Amarna Letter EA 24 written in the
non-Semitic language of Naharim. It’s a foreign word, being all-Naharim all
the way, meaning “window in a foreign ruler’s stone palace” or “parapet”
or “wall (over which a foreign ruler looks)”.
Proof that -WN is a non-Semitic Naharim suffix lies in the three names of
non-Semitic lords in the Patriarchal narratives that I referenced in my prior
post, each of which has a Naharim root attested at Nuzi, plus the classic
Naharim suffix, -WN.
But then why do two of Leah’s sons have names that end in –WN? To ask the
question is to answer it. $M(-WN and ZBL-WN were born in Naharim in the
non-Semitic heartland of eastern Syria, and their mother, Leah, lived
exclusively in Naharim until middle age. So it’s very natural that in honor of
their father Jacob, the root of their names is west Semitic, but reflecting
Leah’
s homeland, the suffix in their names is a vintage Naharim suffix: -WN.
To sum up:
(1) XL-WN is an all Naharim foreign loanword, consisting of a Naharim
root, XL, and a Naharim suffix, -WN, none of which are Semitic. [The lexicon I
consulted as to this Biblical Hebrew common word said simply: “derivation
unknown”.]
(2) (PR-WN is an all Naharim non-Semitic name of a foreign lord in Canaan,
whose original homeland was Naharim. (PR-WN consists of a root attested at
Nuzi -- E-pi-ri and I-pu-ur and I-ip-pa-ri and A-pa-ri -- plus the vintage
Naharim suffix, -WN.
(3) $M(-WN, the name of Jacob’s #2 son, born in Naharim, is the west
Semitic/Hebrew root, $M, in the form of $M(, plus a vintage Naharim suffix,
-WN,
with the latter reflecting his birthplace in Naharim to a mother who lived
there until middle age.
The reason why I am so super-excited about the vav nun suffix phenomenon is
that the only way in which over 40% of the common words and personal names
that end in vav nun could appear in the Patriarchal narratives is if that
text was composed in the mid-14th century BCE. That was the only time when
many cities throughout Canaan were ruled by princelings with names that
indicate that Naharim was their original homeland.
The pinpoint historical accuracy of the Patriarchal narratives in a
mid-14th century BCE historical context is truly astounding. For proof, look
no
farther than all those many glorious vav nun suffixes in that ancient text.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
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