The meaning of names among Mediterranean Jews
Marc Eliany
©
ASSOR
ASSER
among other possible variations depending on the country and language of the
person.
A'SSOR is in all likelihood a Hebrew name, derived from 'one tenth' refering to the ancient tradition of contributing one tenth of the crop to public purposes for the maintenance of the Temple and the priesthood. It may also mean 'decade'. The name may also have a meaning in Arabic A'ssor = presser, usually refering to the occupation of oil pressing. The name is common in North Africa. The name A'ssor in Arabic may be related to A'sser.
Prefixes
attached to the root name such as (aben, iben, abi, avi, am, ben, bin,
abou, a, aj, al, bel, ha, i, la, lel, me, m, o, wi, vi, ) denotes usually a
relation to a person, i.e., the father of or the son of X, a place, i.e.,
a person from X, an occupation, i.e., a person who practices a specific occupation,
a characteristic of a person, i.e., beautiful... The prefixes al, el are equivalent
to 'the' in English or the article 'le' in French. In the Moroccan Berbers tradition,
prefixes such as 'wi' 'vi' 'i' means usually a family relationship to X, the
equivalent of Abu in Arabic, i.e., 'the father of', 'son of' a man, a tribal
affiliation and so forth.In
the Hebrew tradition, the prefix ‘M ‘ is an abbreviation of
the word 'from.'
Suffixes
such as oulah, oulay, ilah, ily, el, eli are used in Hebrew and Arabic to associate
a name with God' blessing.
Suffixes such as 'illo' 'ano' 'ino'
Suffixws such as 'oun' 'on' 'yout' 'out' characterize adjectives in Hebrew,
for example: Hayoun, hayout...
ASSER Mosés Salomon (XIXes.). Netherlands. Lawyer. Social activist who pushed for the integration of Jews in the Dutch society. Advisor of King Guillaume I.
References:
Azoulay, Hayim Yossef Shem Hagdolim (the names of the great)
AZOULAY Haïm Yossef David (Hida) (1724-1807) Chém haguédolim va’ad lahakhamim (The names of the Great Council of Sages).
Levi, J et. al. 2000 Dictionnaire biographique du monde Juif Sepharade et Mediteranean, Editions Elysee, Montreal.
Toledano, J. 1983 La saga des familles, Les juifs du Maroc et leurs noms, Editions Stavit, Tel Aviv
Laredo A. 1978 Les noms des juifs au Maroc (Madrid, 1978)