Was Rabbi Matya ben Harash the son of a deaf-mute or is "ben Harash" just a coincidence?

Question

Talking about the rabbi who appears in Mishna Yoma 8:6, Pirkei Avot 4:15.

Answer 1

A deaf person is called a חֵרֵשׁ (cheresh), i.e. with a tzeire, not charash (with a patach) or chorosh (with a komotz).

While nikkud is a relatively modern addition to the texts of Mishnayos and Gemara, generally the tanna Rabbi Matya is called בן חָרָשׁ, (ben charash/chorosh, depending on your havhara), i.e. with komotzim.

A חָרָשׁ generally means an engraver or another type of artisan. Compare Shmuel 2 5:11:

וַיִּשְׁלַח חִירָם מֶלֶךְ צֹר מַלְאָכִים אֶל דָּוִד וַעֲצֵי אֲרָזִים וְחָרָשֵׁי עֵץ וְחָרָשֵׁי אֶבֶן קִיר וַיִּבְנוּ בַיִת לְדָוִד

The word וְחָרָשֵׁי above is חָרָשׁ in plural construct (smichut) form, and in the pasuk here clearly means artisans of wood (i.e. carpenters) and of stone (i.e. stonemasons).

So, assuming that the way we pronounce the name of this tanna is correct, Rabbi Matya ben Charash should mean Rabbi Matya son of an artisan (such as a carpenter or stonemason), not of a deaf man.