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Re: Niam
niYam meaning rules is, of course, Hindi (and Bengali, and ...); though I did not know it was used as a personal name. Thank you for letting me know that it is still used as such. What I do not know, however, is whether Niam that the original poster is writing about is the same name (or, for that matter, how that Niam is pronounced).niYam comes from Sanskrit. The root yam meant to support, to wield a weapon, to grant, to establish, to fix, to subdue, etc., and is cognate with the root of Greek ζημία. The indeclinable ni (cognate with part of the English word beneath) narrows a meaning with the qualities of down, back, inside. The combination ni-yam means to stop, lower, bring near, grant, etc. and niyama meant a restraint or rule. It was used as an epithet of vishnu, the protector, in classical times.
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