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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Eliana Corbari wrote: > > Since some members find it very difficult to accept that Peter derives > from a fem. noun, and that the feminine version of the name is > actually its original, I will address some of the points raised: > > 1) The Gospel passage (Mt. 16:18) where Peter is named by Jesus > reads as follows: > From Aramaic "You are KE'PHA' (a stone) and upon this KE'PHA' (a > stone) I will build my church." > In Aramaic KE'PHA' is a fem. noun, in both cases. Which begs the > question: is it significant that Jesus named Peter with a feminine > noun? > > From Greek: "You are PETROS (a stone) and upon this PETRA (a rock) I > will build my church." > In Greek Petros is masc. and petra is fem. This is all very well, but as we don't have the Gospels in Aramaic, we are not much further forward. > 2) Petra is a feminine name currently given to women in Germany > and the Netherlands (among other countries). > > 3) Petronella, has it has already been point out, it a feminine > *diminutive*. Moreover there is evidence of a Saint Petronella from a > mosaic in one of the Roman catacombs. Also, she was the daughter of > Saint Peter according to Domenico Cavalca, OP (fourteenth-century). No, it was was pointed out that it was a diminutive of the Roman gens nomen "Petronius" (fem. Petronia). "Why?" is a good question, as diminutives seem to be usually formed from the cognomen, e.g. Drusilla and Agrippina. For some reason, women didn't seem to have a praenomen. "Gens" is feminine, by the way. John Briggs ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html