Journal of Semitic Studies LXVI/2 Autumn 2021 doi: 10.1093/jss/fgab015 © The author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the University of Manchester. All rights reserved. 293 ON THE EMERGENCE OF THE SHORT FORM יה- IN HEBREW NAMES* VLADIMIR OLIVERO UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD Abstract This study investigates the emergence of the ending יה- in Hebrew personal names. All available epigraphic evidence is first gathered and then assessed. This source of information is essential to understand when the ending יה- came into use and gained currency and to locate this phenomenon in an absolute chronology. The appearance of the short form יה- receives here a socio-historical explanation. The author believes, in fact, that the shift from the ending יהו- to its shorter ver- sion יה- should be read against the backdrop of the Assyrian domina- tion during the second half of the eighth century and the seventh century BCE. More specifically, the deportation into the land of Israel of foreign groups of people contributed to the assimilation of the theophoric element in Hebrew names to the hypocoristic ending -īya, attested all over the Ancient Near East. Brief Overview of the Subject In 1938, Tur-Sinai used the name גמריהו, occurring in the Lachish ostraca, to formulate a rule about the use of theophoric names in Ancient Hebrew. In the light of the evidence available to him, he came to the conclusions that personal names ending in יהו- were pre- exilic, while those ending with the shorter ending יה- hailed from the post-exilic period. This change in orthography was ascribed to Ara- maic influence on Hebrew. His overarching statement was further buttressed by the Aramaic papyri from Elephantine, where all per- sonal names ended in יה- apart from the single occurrence of עבדיהו. The same conclusions can be reached also by looking at the biblical data: pre-exilic texts prevailingly show the long ending, whereas * I would like to thank Dr Aaron Hornkohl and Dr Frances Reynolds for feed- back on previous drafts of this study. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jss/article/66/2/293/6429344 by guest on 16 November 2021