Lebanese Villages: Their Meanings & Roots – part 2
By Mabelle Kreidi Follow Mabelle on her blog Here.
Ever wondered what the name of your Lebanese hometown means? This article will help you discover the meaning of some Lebanese villages, the roots of their names, you may or may not be surprised because many come from Syriac Aramaic, Phoenician and Hebrew.
Saghbine
From a common word between Aramaic & Hebrew זעפ which means anger, sharpness & prudence. Thus Saghbine means angry/raging people.
Taanayel
ܛܥܢܐܝܠ Meaning “The holder of God”. It can also come from ‘bet nail’ ܒܝܬ ܢܐܝܠ, meaning “The place were God responded”, or ‘bet aanayil’ ܒܝܬ ܥܢܐܝܠ “The place of God & his sheep”.
Andkit
Meaning: ܥܝܢ ܕܩܬܐ ‘Ain diqta’ in Syriac meaning “The dry spring”, or “The spring with little water”.
Miziara
There are 2 Semitic roots “zor” & “zir”. The first means Fight/Battle, the second means pressure or being put in a tight lock. ‘mi’ could be a contaminated form of ‘beth’ (house). In this case, the meaning of ‘Miziara’ could be ‘the house of battle’
Kfar Chellal
From shellala ܫܠܐܠ, meaning stolen goods or looted items during a time of war. “The place of Stolen goods”.
Debel
From Syriac ‘deblé’ ܕܒܠܐ, singular form ‘dbelta’ meaning Dried Figs, it’s the same in Hebrew “debelah” דבלה & it’s mentioned in the Bible (Ezekiel 6:14).
Majdel Selm
From ‘Magdal Shlam’ ܡܓܕܠܐ ܫܠܡ, ‘Magdla’ as we mentioned before means Tower and Shlam or Selm means peace, thus “The Tower of Peace”.
Qanafez
The name derives from a common semitic root “قفد” קפד meaning to shrink up against oneself.
Ijdabra
Originally Jdabra, Syriac: gadda rabba ܓܰܕܰܐ ܪܰܒܰܐ means “Great Luck”. “Jad” is also a semitic God of luck/fortune. It can also be ‘gadda da-bra’ meaning The share/fortune of the son.
Chartoun
In Aramaic shrt שרת means service or religious service, “sharet” means the server, chartoun is a miniature form. It can also come from “shyartuna” as in small gathering or sharrutin (new).
Ammatour
From Syriac “Aamma d Tura” ܥܰܡܰܐܕܬܳܘܪܰܐ meaning “The People of the Mountain.
Kfarhouna
Kfar means City/Village. Houna comes from “ahouné” ܐܰܚܳܘܢܶܐ meaning young siblings, thus “The Village of Young Siblings”.
Jenjlaya
From Syriac “gen gelayya” ܓܶܢ ܓܶܠܰܝܐ meaning a haven. The first part can also come from “goun” ܓܽܘܢ meaning “bright color”.
Jarjou’
From Aramaic/Hebrew גרע “jr3″ meaning “The Shaved” or “The Bald”.
Kfarshouba
Kfar means village, chouba can be from “shawba” in Syriac (& Lebanese) ܫܰܘܒܰܐ meaning hot weather, or from old Phoenician “shoub” שוב meaning to return, thus shouba שובח means to retreat.
Masghara
From “mashgharta” ܡܰܫܥܰܪܬܰܐ, rooting from “shaghar” ܫܰܥܰܪ שער, It’s a Phoenician term given to the place where water emerges from.
Chadra
From ܫܰܕܰܪ chaddar in Syriac meaning “to send”, it’s a distortion of the word ܡܶܫܰܕܪܰܐ meshaddra, meaning “the one who was sent” or “the ambassador” or ܫܘܕܪܰܐ shuddara i.e. embassy.
Bqerqesha
From bet qurqasha ܒܝܬ ܩܶܘܪܩܰܫܰܐ meaning the pace of loud noises. But it’s most likely derived from qarqesh ܩܰܪܩܶܫ rooting from qrsh ܩܪܫ meaning cold and frost thus place of cold & frost.
Behouita
Can have a Hebrew root from “7awwa” חוה meaning revelation and life, it can also be from Syriac “bet te7wita” ܒܝܬ ܬܶܚܘܺܬܰܐ “the place with a view”.
Qana
From Syriac “Qena” ܩܶܐܢܰܐ. “The Nest”.
Dar Baachtar
Dar means round in semitic or place of worship sometimes, 2nd part comes from Aashtar comes from Ashtarout(Astarte) Phoenician goddess of love, wife of Baal, her name means fertility.
There are probably way more villages with names rooted in Syriac/Aramaic/Phoenician and even Hebrew, if I missed your village/area let me know! And if you’re interested to know about more Lebanese villages with Syriac/Aramaic origins check “Le lexique des localités libanaises” by Anis Freiha.
Special thanks to @LBMaronites (Twitter account) for shedding light on most of this information and on Lebanon’s Syriac Aramaic heritage.
Part 1 here
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