Name of the animal

Many animals have Hebrew names dating back to the origins and most of them are identified with animals or plants nowadays, why not use them?

I am required to the subject of names of animals, birds and plants because of a repeated encounter with a foreign reference to those who have a Hebrew name, a Hebrew name that in most cases is derived from the sources and since it has been identified zoologically/botanically it is correct and appropriate to use it.

What prompted the writing of the following lines was a gross error by a translator. One of the books I love and appreciate is "The Little Prince", so when I learned that there is a new edition of the book in a new translation, I was happy to read it, as much as I loved the book, I was disappointed. I was disappointed by the ignorance of the translator who translated Rose into Shoshana. It's a shame that the expenditure is not careful.

After decades in which Hebrew is a written language and is spoken as a trivial language, there is no place and no forgiveness for such blatant errors and mistakes. In the past I have already referred to the common confusion between an eagle and an eagle or between a tiger and a tiger and between a scout and a hummingbird, a confusion that was "justified" decades ago. It is to be hoped that over time the speakers/writers will learn and internalize the differences.

This time a reference to several names of animals and birds and to conclude a request and an offer. As Israelis reach different corners of the world, Hebrew names are given to creatures that have never been seen in our country, in many cases the names are forced as "transgressions" of the scientific or popular name, sometimes names received by word of mouth by travelers and guides. An example of such a name is - Shkitan, the Hebrew name given to the flamingo bird, but unlike in other cases and since I do not understand or know the origin of the name, I do not insist on using the strange Hebrew name.

Among English speakers (and Europeans) a gross error was made when they first encountered the deer and antelopes in Africa. In many European languages, a special name is given to a deer that grows antlers during the rutting season and is known as "Buk", when the Europeans came to Africa and saw the "forest of horns" they called many of the deer - Buk. It is understood that because the name "book" originates from a lack of familiarity with the subject, an attempt to transgress such a name will cause error and confusion.

Not so the case with other names. Let's start with one of the most beautiful carnivores that, unfortunately, is no longer in Israel - the cheetah. In the past, the cheetah was common in the country and the inhabitants of the country knew it and gave it its Hebrew name. So why do tour guides, photographers, writers and journalists repeatedly tell us about "Cheetah"? "Cheetah" is an Indian name which is appropriate as it means - the dotted one. It is true that speakers of many languages ​​will understand who is meant when one says cheetah, but when speaking (and writing) Hebrew it is proper and correct to call it cheetah.

One of the common, large, impressive herbivores is probably the source of domesticated cattle. The Americans call it bison, in most western countries it is called buffalo, but in our sources the name buffalo appears even before the English saw it and before the "American language" was created, therefore there is no reason not to continue calling it by its original Hebrew name - buffalo.

Now for the one who was almost chosen as our national bird - the nightingale. I have often heard how it is explained that "he got his name because of the confused nest he is building and not her." The bulbul is a name given to him in Turkish and Persian and means singer or nightingale. The one who gave him the name heard and appreciated Silsoli's poetry and therefore called him Nightingale. The first zoologists in Israel proposed to call it "Palestinian Nightingale",
Imagine that he would have been chosen as the national bird under the name "Palestinian Nightingale". The proposed name was rejected and the name Bulbul was accepted. Therefore again it is appropriate that all the "explainers" know that the origin of his name is not in his confusion but in his singing.

Another bird that creates problems and errors in the mouths of speakers is the ostrich. The name "Bat-Yana" is often heard, which appears in our sources but has no clear identification (there were those who suggested that it meant one of the owls) therefore it lacks the ability to fly, the chicken whose pecking and swallowing reflexes are unified and therefore different objects are found in its stomach, the chicken that is said to be "His head in the sand" simply because he eats from the ground, the chicken that may be sitting / will soon be returned to our Negev

A small predator that is mentioned a lot in our sources is the fox. Shimshon who tied 300 foxes together, and the phrase "little foxes sabotage the vineyards" hint at a problem, since with all due respect even Shimshon the hero could not gather 300 foxes since the small predator we know as a fox is a solitary animal and in order to gather 300 individuals he had to The hero to scan large and vast areas, so maybe there is an ancient confusion here?
Because the one who is known as an omnivore and therefore "sabotages the vineyards", the one who lives in large herds and therefore a hero could capture 300 of his individuals is the jackal. Both the common fox (Canis Vulpes) and the golden fox (Canis aureus) are common in our environment and there may be another hint of confusion in the foreign name, in most European languages ​​the jackal is called Jakal. Am I the only one who hears the similarity between a fox and a "jackal"?
The fox is common, common and well-known in Europe, how is it that the rare and less well-known jackal received a popular name - Jackal, which sounds like it is possible because over the years the confusion has arisen and everywhere in our sources it says fox
Do you mean Canis aureus? Is it possible that those who caught Shimshon were the ones we call jackals today? Obviously, no one will suggest changing names, but there is room for wonder...

Finally, a request: most of the birds and animals that are mentioned by a Hebrew name in the sources have a contemporary zoological identification. In most cases, the Hebrew names preceded foreign names, therefore it is appropriate and correct to avoid unnecessary blasphemy, and to call life in the correct Hebrew name.

And a suggestion: one of the animals mentioned in the sources and not identified with certainty is a singer. The singer is always mentioned as a symbol of height, and so do writers and poets these days. There were those who tried to identify the singer with an animal that our ancestors knew, for some reason the identification was not accepted.

In Africa there is a tall and noble animal, an animal that until about 3000 years ago was also common in our region - a giraffe. The miracle in the name of the giraffe is a derivative of the Swahili word mrefu which means - long, meaning the Africans called the tall animal long or tall...meaning again a symbol of height or a singer. So maybe it's time to give the giraffe its original Hebrew name - Zemar.