A break from the Mycenaean Sequence for something seasonally Relevant
A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOSANNA
Apart from its religious relevance for Palm Sunday Hosanna is also a fascinating example of how Greek dealt with loan words from Hebrew and Aramaic.
Originally Hoosanna was 2 words in OT Hebrew
HOSHI'A + NA
This became Hosha'na in Aramaic. Greek however has no "sh" sound and however Hoosan(n) acquired an extra N! Possibly becausa - sana is arare sound combination in Greek whereas double - nn appears in names and perhaps someone thought this was a noun and not a verb plus a particle.
Its a good example also of semantic change. Surely it really should have become something like sooze in Greek SAVE?! Somehow it became instead of a plea a prayer of praise and confidence !
Which brings me to the third delight of Hosanna as a word.
Its just plain fun to sing and shout
HOSANNA HOSANNA HOSANNA TO THE HIGHEST !
I hope you're having a great palm Sunday.
Next post a quick trip to ASINE !
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