Yes, I know she isn’t named in the Bible, but I’m reading aloud a children’s book which names her as Naamah. Apparently, this is the traditional, if not Biblical name for her.
As I’m going to be reading it in front of a group, I’d like to not get it wrong. So can someone try to phoneticize it for me? In my head it’s something like “NAY-uh-mah”. How far off am I?
According to this source, your have two choices: NAY-a-ma or nah-ah-MAH.
Also, a couple of sources indicate that the meaning is pleasant rather than beautiful, but maybe that depends on one’s concept of beauty.
Thanks, Zoe!
It’s still in use as a Hebrew/Jewish name, though more popular in the English-speaking Jewish world than in Israel, where the more traditional names are out of fashion. I’ve known at least one Naamah.
It’s usually pronounced nah-ah-MAH, or NAH-ah-mah if you have very American pronunciation, and it’s from the same root as the Hebrew word na’im, which does mean pleasant.
By the way, in the Book of Ruth, Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi is actually called Na’ami in the original Hebrew, and it’s basically the same name, with the same root.
What Zahava424 said, with the emphasis that in (modern) Hebrew, the proper way is nah-ah-MAH. And the middle ah is the Hebrew letter Ain that is a throat-generated sound not present in English.