عيسى

See also: عیسی, عیسیٰ, and عيشي

Arabic

Etymology

The form is first unambiguously attested in the Qur'an and is of uncertain origin. While the Christian Arabic name يَسُوع (yasūʕ) can be considered a phonetically regular equivalent of Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ), which is and has been believed to be Jesus's historic name, the Qur'anic عِيسَى (ʕīsā) seems to be a phonetic modification. The common name Safaitic 𐪒𐪊𐪚 (ʿs¹y) likely represents the same name, but cannot be securely linked to Jesus. Several theories have been brought forward to explain why the letter ayn was apparently shifted from the last to the first position. It has been noted that ayn was not pronounced in some dialects of Aramaic, including that likely spoken by Jesus himself (compare for this Hebrew יֵשׁוּ (yēšū́)). Moreover, there are indications that an unetymological word-initial ayn may have occurred more often in Arabic loans from Aramaic (compare عَمْرُوسَة (ʕamrūsa, “small lamb”) from ܐܷܡܪܘܿܣܬܴܐ (ʾemrōstā) or عَقْر (ʕaqr, “the midst of a house”) from ܐܶܩܪܶܐ (ʾaqrā) ). Dye and Kropp suggest that this may be an orthographic device borrowed from Classical Mandaic, where ayn was lost in pronunciation, but used to indicate long initial /i/. For more information, see Isa (name) on Wikipedia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʕiː.saː/

Proper noun

عِيسَى • (ʕīsā) m

1. (Islam) Jesus (Isa), son of Mary, revered as a major prophet in Islam.

   Synonym: (Christianity) يَسُوع (yasūʕ)

2. a male given name, equivalent to English Isa

Usage notes

• عِيسَى (ʕīsā) is used almost exclusively in Islamic contexts. Arabic-speaking Christians call Jesus يَسُوع (yasūʕ).

Declension

Declension of noun عِيسَى (ʕīsā)

Singular	singular invariable
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	—	عِيسَى ʕīsā	—
Nominative	—	عِيسَى ʕīsā	—
Accusative	—	عِيسَى ʕīsā	—
Genitive	—	عِيسَى ʕīsā	—

Coordinate terms

• المَسِيح (al-masīḥ, “Messiah, Christ”)
• (Islamic prophets) آدَم (ʔādam), إِدْرِيس (ʔidrīs), نُوح (nūḥ), هُود (hūd), صَالِح (ṣāliḥ), إِبْرَاهِيم (ʔibrāhīm), لُوط (lūṭ), إِسْمَاعِيل (ʔismāʕīl), إِسْحَاق (ʔisḥāq), يَعْقُوب (yaʕqūb), يُوسُف (yūsuf), أَيُّوب (ʔayyūb), ذُو الْكِفْل (ḏū l-kifl), شُعَيْب (šuʕayb), مُوسَى (mūsā), هَارُون (hārūn), دَاوُد (dāwūd), سُلَيْمَان (sulaymān), يُونُس (yūnus), إِلْيَاس (ʔilyās), الْيَسَع (al-yasaʕ), زَكَرِيَّا (zakariyyā), يَحْيَى (yaḥyā), عِيسَى (ʕīsā), مُحَمَّد (muḥammad) ^{(Category: ar:Islamic prophets)}

Derived terms

• عِيسَوِيّ (ʕīsawiyy)

Descendants

• → Armenian: Իսա (Isa)
• → Bashkir: Ғайса (Ğaysa)
• → Kabyle: Ɛisa
• → Kazakh: Иса (İsa)
• → Laz: ისა (isa)
• → Malay: Isa
  • Indonesian: Isa
• → Persian: عیسی ('isâ)
• → Swahili: Isa
• → Turkish: İsa
• → Uzbek: Iso

References

• Dye, Guillaume and Manfred Kropp (2011) "Le nom de Jésus (‘Îsâ) dans le Coran et quelques autres noms bibliques: remarques sur l’onomastique coranique", in Figures bibliques en islam, sous la direction de Guillaume Dye et Fabien Nobilio
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1890) “Miscellen”, in Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes (in German), volume 4, pages 334–337
• Jeffery, Arthur (1938) The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʾān (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series; 79), Baroda: Oriental Institute, pages 219–220
• Torrey, Charles Cutler (1933) The Jewish foundation of Islam‎^[1], New York: Jewish Institute of Religion Press – Bloch Publishing Co., Agents, pages 50–51