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[Facts] Zanetta . . .
Zanetta could be an Anglicised form of Zsanett (the Hungarian cognate of Jeanne / Johanna). Here it is in the official Hungarian names list: http://www.origo.hu/utonevtar/index.html?id=2590 - unfortunately also in Hungarian, but you can see where they refer to Johanna. I believe that the 'zs' is pronounced something like the 'zh' sound (ie the j in the French masculine Jean), but if the name was Anglicised then that could have been transposed into a straight 'z'.
ChrisellAll we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.

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Zanetta may come from Greek. It may be the Greek equivalent of the French Jeannette or the Italian Giannetta. The first sound is really "Z" in Greek since Greek people would hardly pronounce the French or Italian sounds in that name.I cannot explain while the Hungarian Zsanet would be spelled Zanetta in English. The Hungarian name is also a verson of the French Jeannette and if someone did not like the Hungarian spelling, why not return to the original French spelling or to the English Jeannet?The name Zanetta might also come from Poland. The Polish spelling of the French Jeannette would be Zaneta with a special dotted Z. But why the double "t" in Polish?
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It would happen if . . .- if someone from one of those countries (Hungary, say) immigrated to an English-speaking country. Their name might be Anglicised for the sake of convenience (I know of some people whose names were Anglicised for them by immigration officials who simply couldn't pronounce the original name). The Anglicised version might then move into the general body of names in the new country, because other people would see it and use it.
ChrisellAll we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.

This message was edited 4/22/2005, 4:39 PM

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Hey, thanks for this Chris, I assume that Zenetta is also a variant of Zanetta, as well? Tolkien fan, hey? amongst my autograph collection i have his and a couple of his original sketches, of Hobbits, although they look more like a trolls. I bought them a few years back in an auction before he came back into fashion. Sadly, i neglected to bid on his dairy in the same auction. Can you imagine what you might pay if they came up for sale today? Hmmm...
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Zenetta could be a variation of Zanetta, although it's getting more removed from the original, if Zanetta *is* from Zsanett (which is only an educated guess). It's worth noting that there is another Hungarian name, Zsinett, which is related to Genevieve (presumably along the lines of the English Genette) - which could be another etymology of Zanetta / Zenetta, depending on which came first.Yes, I'm a Tolkien fan. I'm a member of the Australasian smial of the Tolkien Society - here's the link if you're curious:http://members.optushome.com.au/aussff/Tol_Harndor.htmlThat's pretty cool about the sketches - I wasn't aware that Tolkien's family had auctioned off any of his things, as they're pretty possessive about the whole thing (and quite understandably so!).
ChrisellAll we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.

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