Talk:Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno

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[edit] Obadja Sforno

I have confirmed, at least to my own satisfaction, that this is an alternate spelling.

I have made a fragmentary, unwikified article of this name a redirect to the current article. It included the following discussion of the alternate spelling. Is this of any value? If it is, could someone with more knowledge in this area than myself incorporate it into the article?

Obadja is an esoteric spelling the Hebrew name "Ovadia." In somme Sephardic pronunciations, the soft "bet" sound is a unique sound, neither "B" nor "V." To produce this sound, tighten the opening of the lips as in producing a W, hold it there, and let air out slowly so that the lips vibrate slightly. To an untrained ear, the sound is close to a B.

In Ashkenazic pronunciation, and in many Eastern pronunications, the soft bet is a V sound (the letter is pronounced vet, or vais/veyz). Moving Ashkenazic V to Sephardic B-V, onoe moves from Ovadia to Obadia.

In addition, classic German transliterations use a J to represent a Y (as in Y[es]) sound. Phonetically, Ovadia is O-vad-ya, so the German transliteration would be Ovadja.

Combining the two, one gets Obadja. On the face of it, this spelling is weird, because Germanic transliteration is by definition an Ashkenazic one, so Obadja is a mish-mash of odd Ashkenazic-German and incorrectly-heard-Sephardic.

Thanks Cje 21:12, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Source for Henry II story

What is the source for the story about Sforno and King Henry II?

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—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 217.132.181.209 (talk) 09:45, 8 March 2007 (UTC).