Question
The facts = Hashem changed the names and gave them a different meaning:
Abram to AbraHam
Sarai to Sara
Jacob to Yisrael
I understand the meanings, and I think they are fantastic!
What I would like to know, how the changes operate in the original Hebrew! You see, I am learning Hebrew, but I don`t find the clue how this fits in linguistically, how the letter "H" in Abraham makes it the father to many...
Answer
If Avram stands for Avi Aram, “father of Aram”, then the added “H” with the mem at the end symbolizes the word “hamon” – many, while the Resh retains it’s original conotation. These symbolic readings are hinted at in the lettering but are not functions of “pure” linguistic or gramatical usage.
A word with a “Heh” ending, when made possessed by first person, will get a yud instead of the heh, though usually with a “tzereh” for the vowel, unless the word is plural, so that sadeh, field, becomes sadi (my field) or sadi (my fields).
