Tell me more ×
Mi Yodeya is a question and answer site for those who base their lives on Jewish law and tradition and anyone interested in learning more. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 2 down vote favorite

It is most common for the name Yona to be used for males. There are many female Yona's too. In Parshas Noach the Pasuk says V'Hayona Lo Motzo Monoach which is a Loshon Nekeiva (female dialect). How did the name Yona become a male name?

share|improve this question

1 Answer

up vote 6 down vote accepted

It's the name of Yona Hanavi, and he was a male.

share|improve this answer
1  
so how did he get his name? – Gershon Gold Dec 12 '10 at 20:12
@Gershon: now you're asking for something that's beyond the scope of linguistics. – Chanoch Dec 12 '10 at 21:20
Maybe you can call Yona to both male and female bird and Noah just "occasionally" took a female bird. However the male version was caught more because of Yona Hanavi. – jutky Dec 12 '10 at 21:24
1  
The coincidence of grammatical gender and gender of the signified person when it comes to naming after pre-existing animals or objects isn't necessarily meaningful. Male ostriches, for example, are also b'nos ya'ana, and it would therefore not be problematic (for grammatical reasons, irrespective of aesthetics) to name a baby boy Bas Ya'ana. – WAF Dec 12 '10 at 22:23
Please note: My prior comment makes a lot of debatable assumptions. Another example is the name Simcha, which is grammatically feminine. – WAF Dec 12 '10 at 22:25

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.