17
edits
Changes
→The title Theotokos: occasional transliteration as Theotocos
The most popular translation, ''Mother of God'', is accurate to a point, but the difficulty with that one is that ''Mother of God'' is the literal translation of another Greek phrase which is found on nearly all [[icon]]s of the Theotokos: Μητηρ Θεου (''Meter Theou''), usually in the standard [[iconography|iconographic ]]abbreviation of '''ΜΡ ΘΥ'''. Additionally, a number of hymns employ both ''Theotokos'' and ''Meter Theou''—translating both as ''Mother of God'' can yield some rather nonsensical language, and it destroys the distinction that the hymnographer intended.
The usage that seems to be dominant in English-speaking Orthodox churches in North America is to adopt the original term itself into English (something English speakers have traditionally done with foreign words almost since the earliest known history of the language), transliterating it simply as ''Theotokos'' (or, occasionally, ''Theotocos''). British usage gives preference to translating ''Theotokos'' as ''Mother of God''.
==Full title of Mary==
