[Note: All Basque words are in Italics and Bold-faced Green]
YIDDISH
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT *
A review derived from the following: Nyland, Edo. 2001. Linguistic Archaeology: AnIntroduction. Trafford Publ., Victoria, B.C., Canada. ISBN 1-55212-668-4. 541 p.
----Please CLICK on underlined
categories for detail [to search for Subject Matter,
depress Ctrl/F ]: Introduction An ancient language form that
originated in the North African area of our most ancient civilizations has
been studied by Nyland (2001). He found that
many words used to describe names of places and things in Yiddish seem to be
closely related to the ancient language, which Nyland called Saharan, and which later was predated by the Igbo Language of West Africa. Fortuitously, the Basque Language is a close relative to
the original Saharan.
Following is a discussion of this relationship:. - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The originators of the Romance languages and English used mostly that
half of the Basque language which begins with vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV and VCCV), but according to Nyland the
linguists making up Yiddish used the entire Basque vocabulary (CV and VC
words), which allowed much more flexibility in word development. Vowel
linking was not always maintained.
Nyland believed that all Yiddish words, supplied by Rosten, could be
broken up into Basque roots, sometimes with surprising results. In many words
the meaning thus obtained with the Basque dictionary was related to the
translation shown in Rosten's book. What surprised Nyland the most was the ease with which many
Yiddish words were translatable from Basque, as shown below. Some words took more time or defied the
decoding process entirely, which is understandable because, with popular use
over centuries, words do change. Many
of the Yiddish words were the same as in Hebrew or showed only slight changes
in spelling. How old Yiddish is, is a good question, but it appears that
Yiddish is older than German, possibly dating back to the time that the blond
Khazars of the Lower Wolga region accepted Judaism, which would date the
language to the 7th to 9th century. It may well be that the Benedictine
linguists used Yiddish and Hebrew vocabulary and syntax to help them in the
construction of the German language during the 9th and 10th centuries. Nyland concluded from the following list of translations that Yiddish may have
been assembled out of the astonishingly versatile Basque language. The list gives first the Yiddish word
followed by the English translation in brackets as supplied by Leo
Rosten. After this are shown the
components of the word, separated by hyphens, and the Basque words these
components represent with their translations. Any vowels and "h"s removed in the language invention
process are shown as dots. The
"sh" in Basque is spelled "x". MISC. YIDDISH WORDS
DECODED WITH THE BASQUE DICTIONARY
Nyland (2001) suggested that
the clearest manner in which to show the derivation of a word is: Ashkenazim However, when dealing with large numbers of words the
following shorthand notation is used. am ha-aretz (ill-mannered
person), am.-.ha-aretz: ama (mother, Priestess) ahalgegabe (shameless) arretzin (unacceptable): "The Priestess' shamelessness is
unacceptable". apikoros (skeptic, atheist), apik-iku-oroz: apika (perhaps) ikur (sign) orozale (ambition):
"Perhaps a sign of ambition". Ashkenazim (Germany), ash.-kena-azim: axola (caring, worrying) kena (to take away, to loose) azima (character, identity): Worried about
loosing our identity". averah (unethical act), abera: aberats (wealthy):
"Wealthy". aydem (son-in-law), aide-em: aidetu (to become a
relative of) eme (female): "He became a relative of the female (member of
the family)". ayin harah (evil eye), aien-aharra: aiene (lament) aharra (disturbance):
"(We) lament the disturbance". baalshem (Master of the Good Name), bala-shem: balakatu (to flatter) xeme (native son): "To flatter the
native born son". badchanim (jester, entertainer), bad.-.ka-anim: badaezbada (eventual) akabu (death) anim (animal): "The eventual death of
the animal". (just what did that "jester" do?) balbatim (master of the house), bal.-.bant-im.: balaztatu (to control) abantaila (privileged) imatz (dwelling, house): "Privileged to
control the house". balabatish (responsible), bala-aba-ati-ix: balaztatu (to control,
operate) abantaila (privileged) ateka (small door) ixi (quietly): "Privileged to open and close the small door
quietly". baleboss (head of the household), bala-abots: balaztatu (to control) abots (voice): "The voice
controls". balmalocha (craftsman), bal-.ma-aloka: baliarazu (to make valuable) ama (mother) alokai (payment): "He
makes something valuable for mother for payment". bar mitzva (man of duty), bar-imi-itz-.ba: ibarretshe (house in the
valley) imini (to place) itz (obligation) -aba (work): "He has a work obligation at the house in the
valley". batlanim (misfit, lazy person), bat-lan-im: bat (one) lan (work) imatz (house): "One
for the work house". behama (ignorant person), beha-ama: beha (to observe, to stare at) ama (mother): "He stares at
mother". ben (son), ben: ben (honest, trustworthy):
"Trustworthy". bentsh (to bless), ben-tsh: ben (honest) tshalo (applause):
"Honesty is applauded". berrieh (woman with remarkable energy), berri-eh.: berri (new) ehule (weaver): "New weaver". besdin (house of judgement), bes-din: bestemunduku (exceptional) adin (judgement, justice): "Exceptional
justice". bes midrash (house of study), bes-imi-ido-orraz: bestemunduku (outstanding) imitatu (to imitate, to
copy) idoro (to discover) orraztari (editor, collection): "Outstanding copy of the discovered
collection". blintzeh (filled pancake), balintz-eh: balintz (requirement) ehotza (act of eating):
"Must be eaten" (come and get it!). bnai brit (sons of the covenant), ben-.nai-barrit: ben (honest) anaiarte (brotherhood) barritu (to reform):
"Honest brotherhood (promoting) reform". borderkeh (female boarder), border-ke: bordari (settler, colonist)
kementsu (energetic): "Energetic settler". bonditt (bandit), bon-.dit: bonbon (lavish spending) aditugabe (unheard of):
"Unheard of lavish spending". cabala (tradition), kabal-la: kabal (cattle) -la (like): "Like cattle". chasidim (pious man), kasi-idi-im.: kasik (almost) idi (ox) imintziogabe (expressionless):
"Almost like an expressionless ox". chassen (man-of-the-hour), kasu-un: kasu (circumstance) une (moment): "Momentary
circumstance". chasseneh (wedding), kasu-une: kasu (pay attention) une (a moment): "Pay attention for a
moment". chaver (friend, comrade), kabe-er: kabe (without) eragozkor ((hindering,
obstruction): "Without obstruction". chazzen (a seer), gaz-zen: gaz (with) zentzu (common sense):
"With common sense". chedar (room), kedar: kedarketa (smoke stained):
"Smokestained". chevra (comradship), keb-bara: kebelar (tobacco) bara (slow): "Smoking slowly". chillul chashem (profaning God's
name), chillul:
.kil.-.lu-ul.: akilarre (witch) alu (vulva) ule (hairy): "The witch's hairy vulva". chashem: kash-em: kashkartu (to degrade
oneself) ema (prostitute): "Self-degrading prostitute". chloppeh (to knock, to bang), kalo-ope: kalonje (priest) oper (time off, away): "When the
priest is away". chmallyeh (severe blow), kamel-li-eh.: kamelu (camel) libratu (to set free, to
run away) ehizibilatu (to beat): "To beat the run-away camel". choleria (plague), kol-eri-a: koldar (coward) eri (illness) a (the): "The coward's
illness". chollileh (God forbid that should happen), koli-ile: kolitza (belltower) ilintitu (To set on fire):
"Burning of the bell tower". chometzdik (fermented), kome-etz.-.dik: komenigarri (beneficial) etzaldi (rest) adikor (understandable):
"That he needs beneficial rest is understandable". (Needs to sleep
it off). chozzerai (junk, trash), koz-erai: koz (intended for) erain (scattering, disposal): "Intended
for disposal". chutzpa (audacity), kutz.-.pa: kutzaketa (profanity) apalatu (to humiliate):
"Using profanity to humiliate". cockamamy (mixed up), kok-ama-mi: kok (bellyfull) ama (mother) mi (my): "Bellyfull from my
mother". darshan (preacher), darj-anai: adarjo (to pull one's leg,
tease) anaia (religious brother): "To tease the preacher". dayan (rabbinical judge), dai-an.: daiteke (he can be) anaia (religious brother): "He can be a
religious brother". diaspora (exile, dispersion), .di-as.-.po-ora: adibide (advice) asagotu (to go far away) apokeria (filthy deed) oraintxe (right now):
"The advice is to go right now, far from the filthy deeds". dovid ha Melech (expected Messiah),
.do-obid/.ha/me-ele-ek.: adoratu (to worship) obidientzia (obedient) ahal (I hope) Mesias (Messiah) ele (story) ekarri (to bring): "With obedient worship I hope to bring the
story of the Messiah". dreck (wet dirt, crap), .d.-.re-ek.: adarka (goring) areztatu (to cover with
sand) eki (as much as
possible): "Cover the gore with sand as much as possible". dresske (hand-me-down garment), dar-eske: darama (to take) eske (alms): "Taking alms,
begging". elohim (YHVH), elo-ohi-im: elorritsu (troublesome) ohitu (to be accustomed to) imitapen (imitation):
"He is accustomed to troublesome imitation". (He is jealous: Exodus
34:14). eppes (a little, something), epe-ez: epe (time limit) eza (shortage): "Shortage of
time". eretz Yisroel (the land of
Israel), eretz-Israel: eretz (on the side of): "On the side of Israel". farbissen (unpleasant), .far-bizi: ifar (north) bizi (to live): "To live in the
north". farblondjet (wandering
aimlessly), .far-.bel-ond.-jet: ifar (northern) abel (herdsmen) ondo (harvest colored) jetshi (descend): "The
strawhaired northern herdmen descend (on us)". farchadat (dizzy, confused), .far-kada-at.: ifar (northern) -kada (to hit) -at (direction, from): "Northern
storm hits us". farshtinkener (all stunk up,
farting), .far-tink-ener: ifar (north) tinkatu (to press, to push) ener (when): "When the north (wind) pushes, blows". flayshedig (meat of all sorts), .f-.lai-shede-ig: afa (happy) alai (rejoicing) shede (to reach the goal) iges (shelter); "Happy rejoicing when
the shelter is reached". folks-mensh (man of the
people), bolk-men-sh: boladak (groups of people) men (power) sh (little bit): "A little bit of power to the people". fress (to gorge, devour), .fa-arrez: afa (happy) arrezkero (from then on):
"Happy from then on". frosk (slap), .f.-.rotz-k.: afa (happily) arrotsu (jovial) -ko (slap): "Happy jovial slap". frum (pious), .f.-.ru-um.: afa (happy) arrunt (simple) ume (child): "(Like a) simple happy
child". galitzianer (Jew from Galicia),
gali-itz-ia-ner: gali (wheat) itz (promise) iaio (cheerful) onera (maturing): "The cheerful promise of the maturing
wheat". galut (exile), gal-ut: galdos (pasture ground) utzi (to leave behind): "To leave the
pasture ground behind". Gan Eden (Garden of Eden), gan-eden: gandoa (pasture) eden (poison); "Pasture of
poison". ga'on (genius), ga-on: garai (outstanding) onbide (example):
"Outstanding example". gelt (money), geld: geldi (little by little): "(Saving)
little by little". gesundheit (health), gizond.-haiet: gizondu (to grow up, old) haietara (to them):
"Good growing old to you". get (divorce), ge-et: gehitu (to reproduce) eten (to cut): "Cut
reproduction". golem (shapeless), gol-em: golo (goitre) emendatu (to enlarge):
"The goitre enlarges". goniv (thief), ganib: ganibetada (knifing):
"Stick-up with a knife". gott (god), gotor: gotor (support, strength): "Support and
strength". goy (nation), goi: goian
(in heaven, on high): "On high". gozlin (swindler), goz-lin: gozagaitz (disagreeable) linburtu (flatterer):
"Disagreeable flatterer". graub (uncouth), g.-.raub: gabe (without) araubide (discipline):
"Without discipline". habdala (separation), abe-edala: abere (brutal) edalari (alcoholic):
"Brutal alcoholic". haftarah (end, conclusion), af.-.tera: afa (happy) atera (to pull out): "Happily (to have
been) pulled out". haggadah (tale telling), aga-ada: agariz (publicly) adarjo (to make fun of):
"Publicly made fun of". haimish (home), hei-im-ish: hei (shelter) imatz (woven branches) ishi (quiet): "Quiet shelter of woven
branches". halakha (law), ala-aka: alabear (destiny, fate) akabu (ultimate): "Ultimate fate". halevai (I wish I had), aleba-ai: alebanatu (to shell out
grain) ai (grief, suffering): "Give out grain to ease the
suffering". hamantash (pocket), amanta-ash: amantal (apron) ashola (caring,
collecting): "Collecting apron". haskalah (education, knowledge), aska-ala: askar (bright) alabear (future, destiny):
"Bright future". hatikva (the hope, national anthem), .atik-ba: batik (special) abagadune (occasion): "Special
occasion". hok a tshynik (to talk nonsense),
oka-tshai-nik: oka (bubbling over) tshaire (air) onik (harmless): "Bubbling over with harmless air". hotzeplots (God only knows where), hotz-pilotz: hotz (cold) pilotz (plenty):
"Plenty cold. Jehova (YHVH, YHBH), YHaBaliH/ihabali (to be afraid of):
"To be afraid of". judesmo (Ladino Jew), jud-esmo: judas (traitor) esmoil (cruel): "Cruel
traitor". kabotz (to beg), kabe-otz: kabe (without) otzan (shame, humility): "Without
shame". kaddish (holy), kad-itz: kada (blow, hit, killing) itzi (denounce): "Denounce the
killing". kalikeh (cripple), kali-ike: kalifikaezin (unknown) ikergai (topic of
investigation, cause): "Unknown cause". kalleh (bride), kale: kaleratu (to throw out into
the street): "Throw her out into the street!" kaporeh (forgiveness), .ka-apo-ore: ekandu (to be used to) apokeria (insult) orrelako (like that):
"He is used to insults like that". kasheh (difficult), kash-eh: kashako (abandon) ehi (hunt): "Abandon the hunt". kibbutzim (collective), .kip-utzi-im: akipen (exhausted) utzi (to leave) imatz (home): "Too exhausted to leave
home". kibbitzim (criticizing), aki-itzi-im: akipen (exhaustion) itzi (to denounce) imintzio (gesticulating, arm
waving): "Denounce the exhausting
arm waver". kiebitz (lapwing, meadow bird), ki-ibitz: kidetu (to be alike) ibitzale (fond of walking):
"(Male and female) look alike and are fond of walking". kibosh (nonsense), ki-ipo-oz: akipen (exhaustion) ipo (little fellow) ozar (insolent): "Insolent and
exhausting little fellow". kiddush (sanctification), kid-dutsh: kidetu (to be like one of
us) dutsha (shower, dunking): "A dunking to become like one of
us". kinder (children), aki-indar: akigabe (tireless) indar (vitality): "Endless vitality". kinderlach (little children), ki-indar-lak: akigabe (tireless) indar (vitality) laket (pleasure giving):
"Pleasure giving, endless vitality". klezemer (musical instruments), oke-elez-emer: oke (plentiful, lots of) elezun (adulation) emer (woman who recently gave birth): "Lots of adulation for the young
mother". klutz (bungler, oaf), .k.-.lu-utz: aka (ultimate) alu (vulva) uts (useless, faulty): "The ultimate
useless vulva". knish (small dumplings), k.-.nitz: kako (little turds) anitz (many): "Many little turds". kochalayn (room with cooking), koka-alai-in: kokaldi (bellyfull) alai (joyous) indar (vitality): "Bellyful gives
joyous vitality". (Compare with name of
Irish hero: Cuchulainn). kohen (Hebrew priest), .ko-ohe-en.: okolu (pasture next to house) ohe (bed) ene (my): "My bed is in the
pasture". kosher (proper), ko-sherra: koilarakada (spoonful) sherra (little bites):
"Spoonfuls of little bites". koved (honor, glory), .ko-obe-ed: uko egin (to refuse) obe (preferable) ederrak hartu (to be defeated):
"I refuse; it is preferable to be defeated". krechtz (grunt, moan), .k.-.rek-tz: akabu (the end) arek (that one) tz (suffix): "It's the end for
him". krenk (sick), .k.-.renk: akatz (defect) arrenka (limping):
"Some defect makes him limp". kurveh (prostitute), .ku-urbe: uku (gone bad, stinking) urbelar (scum):
"Stinking scum". kvell (pride, swell), kabe-el.: kabe (without) ele (words): "Without words". kvetsch (to sqeeze), kabe-ebatz: kabe (without) ebatzaile (bruising): "Without
bruising". kvitch (to yelp, to sqeal), kabe-itsh: kabe (without) itsharo (trusting):
"Without trusting". ladino (familiar with), .la-adino: alabehar (destiny) adinaro (attaining full
rights): "Our destiny is to attain full rights". latke (pancake), .lat-ka: alatu (to eat) kalda (hot): "Eat while they are
hot". l'chayim (here's to life!), ele-ekai-im: ele (story) ekai (job, accomplishment) imitagarri (exemplary):
"Story of an exemplary accomplishment". letz (life of the party, wit), laitz: laitzin (in front of
everybody): "Stand-up comic". levaya (funeral), le-ebanja: ele (story, speech) ebanjalari (preacher):
"Preacher's sermon". litvak (pedantic type), li-ito-obak: eli (to nourish) ito (quick) obakuntza (improvement):
"Nourishment resulted in quick improvement". loch in kop (hole in the head),
lok-in.-kope: alokari (renter) inozo (stupid) kopetadun (shameless): "Shameless stupid renter". loksh (skinny person), lok-sh: lokarri (rope) sh (diminutive): "Thin rope". lox (salmon), (German: lax), lok-is: lokaldi (spawning) izokin (salmon): "The
salmon are spawning". luft (air), ulu-ufat: ulu (howling) ufatu (to blow): "Howling wind". mairev (evening prayer), .ma-aireb: maiz (often) aireberritu (to expose to air,
open air): "Often in the open air". maggid (teacher, preacher), ma-agi-id: maisugoko (pertaining to
teaching) agian (I hope) idatzi (to write): "I hope to learn to write". mah nishtana (distinguishes), .ma-aniz-tan-na: mazaltasun (decency) anitz (many) -tan (times) nahi (desirous): "Decency is many
times more desirous". marrano (secret Jew), marra-ano: mara mara (quietly) anonimo (anonymous):
"Quietly anonymous". matzes (unleavened bread), ma-atzez: mahai (table) atzezka (face-up, good side
up): "Good side up on the table". mavin (expert), ma-abi-in: maixu (expert) abiadan (fast) indartsu (strong): "The
expert is fast and strong". mazel (luck), .ma-aze-el: ama (mother) azentuata (to emphasize, often
repeat): ele (story): "Mother often repeated the story". mazik (clever child), ma-azik: ama (mother) aziketa (upbringing):
"Mother's upbringing (did it)". mechaiek (pleasure), .me-ekai-ek.: eme (female, woman) ekarkortasun (fecundity) ikertu (to explore):
"To explore the woman's fecundity". mechule (finished), me-eku-ule: eme (female) ekuru (quiet) ulerketa (understanding):
"The woman's quiet understanding". medina (country), medi-ina: medio (by means of) inarrosketa (agitation):
"By means of agitation". melchik (milky), me-elki-ik: emeta (gently) elki (to empty) ik (you): "You (must) empty it
gently", i.e. (milking). menorah (candalabrum), men-ora: menpegabe (emancipated, free)
orregatik (because of, in appreciation of): "In appreciation of our
freedom (or emancipation)". meshogge (crazy), me-esho-oge: eme (woman) exotiko (exotic) oge (bed): "An exotic woman in
bed". metsieh (find), me-etsi-ehi: mendizain (forest ranger) etsi (to abandon) ehi (hunt): "The forest ranger
abandoned the hunt". midrash (to study), .mit.-.raz: imitapen (to copy) arrazoi (to be right, correct):
"Copy it correctly". - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hundreds more could be added but Nyland (2001) concluded that the foregoing sufficed to show the
Yiddish relationship with the Basque language. He used this example to demonstrate the difference between an invented
and a constructed language. |