On Thu, 8 Mar 2001 14:54:49 -0800, Max Dashu <
maxdashu@...>
wrote:
>>First, /Isis/ is the Hellenized form of Coptic /Esi/, which is from Egyptian
>>[ist] if I recall.
>
>Ast, Aset, Auset are the forms usually cited. As I understand it, the names
>the Greeks called Isis and Osiris did not begin with different sounds in
>Kemetic.
Isis is usually transcribed [3st] ([ast]), but is actually written
with the "throne" sign <st> + fem. <-t>. The word <st> "seat, place"
(from which the sign is derived) may have been earlier <j-s-t>, so the
name of the goddess is likely to have come from *<y-s-t> or *<?-s-t>,
not *<r-s-t> as the transcription <3st> would suggest. The Egyptian
sign <j>, when initial, can stand for earlier *y- or *?- (which merged
early in Egyptian). Inital *r- became a guttural sound (transcribed
as <3>), which later merged with glottal stop (from *?- or *y-), and
later disappeared (or at least wasn't notated) in Coptic. It is
curious that the name traditionally transcribed as <wsjr> "Osiris", is
also written with initial <(j)st>.
=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...