The reason your Egyptian friend pronounced it with a "b" is because there is no "p" in Arabic and that is his/her native language. Native Arabic speakers usually pronounce p's as b's and vice versa because they actually don't hear the difference. My kids used to drive their father totally nuts by making him use the word "backpack".? Bad children with a good understanding of languages. LOL
Ancient Egyptian did have a "p".
Maryanne
On Nov 22, 2006, at 6:14 PM, Beverley H. Kane, MD wrote:
One of my Devons is named Hapi, the god of the Nile and the North.
When we were thinking of names for her, I reached for the Egyptian grammar
on the back of our bed, and opened it at random to the page w/ that name.
We (I+my husband, who reads hieroglyphics) pronounce it "HAH pee."
