ʕīsā

The form is first unambiguously attested in the Qurʾān, though epigraphic evidence suggests it may have existed in pre-Islamic Arabia. Traditionally, the name is considered of uncertain origin; while the Christian Arabic name يَسُوع (yasūʕ) is a regular equivalent of Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ), the Qur'anic عِيسَىٰ (ʕīsā) represents morphological difficulties. Al-Jallad and Al-Manaser (2021) make a connection to the divine name 𐪑𐪚𐪖 (ʿsy) on a Safaitic inscription in Ḥarratu š-Šām. They argue that the inscription very likely makes reference to Jesus due to the strongly Christian-sounding messaging of the inscription, and that it is the direct precursor to the Arabic عِيسَىٰ (ʕīsā). Regarding the etymology, their main proposition is a derivation from the root ع س ي (ʕ s y), cognate to Sabaean 𐩲𐩪𐩺 (ʿs¹y, “to purchase, acquire”). This root, when following the فَيْعَل (fayʕal) pattern, would form the agentive *عَيْسَى (ʿaysay, literally “the Purchaser”) in Old Arabic. Alternatively, several theories, though none satisfactory, have been brought forward to explain why the letter ʿayn was shifted from the last to the first position: * It has been noted that ʿayn was not pronounced in some dialects of Aramaic, including that likely spoken by Jesus himself (compare for this Hebrew יֵשׁוּ (yēšū́)). * There are indications that an unetymological word-initial ʿayn may have occurred more often in Arabic loans from Aramaic (compare عَمْرُوسَة (ʕamrūsa, “small lamb”) from ܐܷܡܪܘܿܣܬܴܐ (ʾemrōstā) or عَقْر (ʕaqr, “the midst of a house”) from ܐܶܩܪܶܐ (ʾaqrā)). * Guillaume Dye and Manfred Kropp suggest that this may be an orthographic device borrowed from Classical Mandaic, where ʿayn was lost in pronunciation, but used to indicate a long initial /i/.