Editing Barlaam and Josaphat (section)

== Names ==
In this context, the name Josaphat is derived from the [[Sanskrit]] ''[[bodhisattva]]''.<ref name="Macdonell1900"/><ref name="CatholicEncyclopedia"/><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Trainor |editor1-first=Kevin |title=Buddhism |publisher=Duncan Baird Publishers |year=2001 |page=24}}</ref> The Sanskrit word was changed to ''{{lang|pal|Bodisav}}'' in [[Middle Persian]] texts in the 6th or 7th century, then to ''{{transliteration|ar|Būdhasaf}}'' or ''{{transliteration|ar|Yūdhasaf}}'' in an 8th-century Arabic document (Arabic initial "b" {{script|Arab|ﺑ}} changed to "y" {{script|Arab|ﻳ}} by [[Arabic diacritics|duplication of a dot]] in handwriting).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Choisnel |first1=Emmanuel |title=Les Parthes et la Route de la soie |year=2004 |page=202 |language=fr |quote="{{lang|fr|Le nom de Josaphat dérive, tout comme son associé Barlaam dans la légende, du mot Bodhisattva. Le terme Bodhisattva passa d'abord en pehlevi, puis en arabe, où il devint Budasaf. Étant donné qu'en arabe le "b" et le "y" ne different que ...}}"}}</ref> This became ''{{transliteration|ka|Iodasaph}}'' in [[Georgian language|Georgian]] in the 10th century, and that name was adapted as ''Ioasaph'' ({{lang|grc|Ἰωάσαφ}}) in Greece in the 11th century, and then was assimilated to ''[[Jehoshaphat|Iosaphat/Josaphat]]'' in Latin.<ref name="D.M. Lang 1957">D.M. Lang, The Life of the Blessed Iodasaph: A New Oriental Christian Version of the Barlaam and Ioasaph Romance (Jerusalem, Greek Patriarchal Library: Georgian MS 140), BSOAS 20.1/3 (1957):</ref>

The name Barlaam derives from the Arabic name ''Bilawhar'' ({{lang|ar|بِلَوْهَر}}) borrowed through [[Georgian language|Georgian]] ({{lang|ka|ბალაჰვარ}} {{transliteration|ka|Balahvar}}) into [[Byzantine Greek]] ({{lang|grc|Βαρλαάμ}} {{transliteration|grc|Barlaám}}). The Arabic ''Bilawhar'' has historically been thought to derive from the Sanskrit [[Bhagavan#Buddhism|''bhagavan'']], an [[epithet]] of the Buddha, but this derivation is unproven and others have been proposed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Forster |first1=Regula |title=Acteurs des transferts culturels en Méditerranée médiévale |chapter=Buddha in Disguise: Problems in the Transmission of »Barlaam and Josaphat« |date=24 October 2013 |publisher=Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag |doi=10.1524/9783486989342.180 |isbn=978-3-486-98934-2 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1524/9783486989342.180/ |language=fr}}</ref> Almuth Degener suggests derivation from Sanskrit ''[[purohita]]'' through a hypothetical [[Middle Persian]] intermediate.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Degener |first1=Almuth |title=Barlaam the Priest |journal=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft |date=2014 |volume=164 |issue=2 |pages=527–530 |jstor=10.13173/zeitdeutmorggese.164.2.0527 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297970563 |issn=0341-0137}}</ref>

The name of Josaphat's father, King Abenner, derives from the Greek name ''Abenner'' ({{lang|grc|Ἀβεννήρ}}), although another Greek version of the legend gives this name as ''Avenir'' ({{lang|grc|Ἄβενιρ}}). These Greek names were adapted from the Georgian ''Abeneser'' ({{lang|ka|აბენესერ}}; later shortened to {{lang|ka|აბენეს}}, {{transliteration|ka|Abenes}}), which was itself derived from the Arabic version of the legend where he is named King ''Junaysar'' ({{lang|ar|جُنَيسَر}}). According to I.V. Abuladze, during borrowing from Arabic to Georgian, misplaced [[Arabic diacritics#I'jām (phonetic distinctions of consonants)|''i'jām'']] resulted in the misreading of ''Junaysar'' as ''Habeneser'', after which the initial ''H''- was omitted.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lopez |first1=Donald S. Jr. |title=In search of the Christian Buddha: how an Asian sage became a medieval saint |date=2014 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-393-08915-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Taniguchi |first1=Isamu |title=Story of Barlaam and Josaphat as Crucible of Intercultural Communication |journal=Journal of Human Sciences |publisher=St. Andrew's University |volume=21 |issue=2 |year=1985 |pages=45–57}}</ref> The origin of the Arabic name is unclear.