Friday, January 07, 2011

The Hebrew in "Black Swan"

As Natalie Portman explains:


Natalie recalled an early script where her character was named Alexandra. ‘But she seems very much a Nina,’ Natalie said, explaining that in Hebrew, Nina means grace


I thought chen meant grace.

My Hebrew dictionary has nina as meaning a female great-grandchild (in modern usage, but see Genesis 21:23 and Isaiah 14:22); or as deriving from the Hebrew word yinon which means long-enduring, everlasting (see Psalms 72:17).

Has Natalie forgotten her Hebrew?

The film's web site.

^

1 comment:

muebles said...

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