Observation ·
Do Kippot and Keffiyehs Share an Etymology?
By PhilologosOnly one was a mark of prestige for ancient rabbis.
Language
Latest Mosaic Content for Language
Observation ·
The Origins of “Tariff,” the Most International of Words
By PhilologosBrought from Arabic via Algerian pirates and Italian merchants, it only acquired its current meaning at the end of the 18th century.
Observation ·
This Hebrew Saying Might Have the Same Origin as an American Southern One
By PhilologosCould "It’s easier to take the Jew out of exile than to take exile out of the Jew" and "You can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy" have shared roots?
Observation ·
How Monotheistic Israel and Pagan Rome Gave the World Its Weeks
By PhilologosA rivalry between the Jewish numerical and European pagan-astronomical nomenclatures for the seven-day week has played out over millennia across the world.
Observation ·
Was There an Ancient Superlanguage Called Nostratic?
By PhilologosAnd could the story of the Tower of Babel actually reflect a dim folk-memory of its breakup?
Observation ·
The Scourge of “Jewsplaining”
By PhilologosI've been spared an encounter with the neologism until lately. But, frankly, now that I have made its acquaintance, I find it idiotic. (And don't get me started about "goysplaining.")
Observation ·
Is a Jewish Language Really Still Spoken by Non-Jews in Bavaria?
By PhilologosOnly in Schopfloch, as far as I know, have a large number of originally Jewish words survived in the speech of the local populace to this day.
Observation ·
Four Examples of What Happened to Yiddish After It Reached the United States
By PhilologosIn some cases, changes were minor. In others, Yiddish phrases were transformed nearly beyond recognition.
Observation ·
What’s the Reason for Hebrew’s Mixed-Up Genders?
By PhilologosQuite a few masculine and feminine Hebrew words, when pluralized, take the form of the opposite gender. Why?
Observation ·
Do All Human Languages Derive From A Single Source?
By PhilologosSome paleolinguists have floated the idea of an original human language they call “Proto-Sapiens.” Is that what our ancestors were speaking when they built the Tower of Babel?
Observation ·
Why the Word “Poodle” Was Banned from Use on the Floor of the Knesset
By PhilologosIsraeli politicians have in recent decades become obsessed with calling each other poodels.
Observation ·
What Are Those Floating Dots Doing in My Hebrew Bible?
By PhilologosAmid the familiar clutter of vowels and cantillation marks, a few strange dots appear. They have no obvious function, and yet they go back thousands of years. Their purpose is . . .
Observation ·
Last Month Philologos Asked for Language Help, and Got It
By PhilologosA Mosaic reader was able to solve the mystery of the Yiddish expression tapn a vant, “to grope a wall.”
Observation ·
They Call It “Fake News” in Other Countries, Too
By PhilologosFrom Hebrew to Spanish to German to Italian and onward, the term is now as international as Coca-Cola.
Observation ·
The Movement to De-Gender Hebrew is Linguistically Mad
By PhilologosIt is practically impossible to utter a complete sentence in Hebrew that lacks gender.
Observation ·
Did King Solomon Trade with India?
By PhilologosOn the possible whereabouts of Ophir and Tarshish, and how to get there by ship from Palestine.
Observation ·
Why Yiddish Was Often a Source for Thieves’ Slang in European Languages
By PhilologosWhat we learn from the story of the Russian phrase shakher-makher, or wheeler-dealer.
Observation ·
The Journey of the Word “Artichoke” Shows Folk Etymology at Its Most Creative
By PhilologosA linguistic investigation prompted by a meal in Rome of carciofi alla giudia.
Observation ·
The (Not-So) Jewish Roots of Esperanto
By PhilologosCreated by an East European Jew disillusioned with Zionism and Hebrew, the language was meant to unite humanity in a spirit of brotherhood.
Observation ·
Language Evolves, but Kinship Words Like “Uncle” and “Grandchild” are Surprisingly Durable
By PhilologosWhy certain terms having to do with the basics of life are less prone to linguistic change than others.
Observation ·
How Israeli Backpackers Imported an Element of Spanish into Hebrew
By PhilologosWhat nahagos, the casual term for "driver," tells us.
Observation ·
How English Words Get Entrenched in Israeli Speech, and How to Get Them Out
By PhilologosWhy the Hebrew word for "shaming" (as in "Facebook shaming") should not be sheyming.
Observation ·
How Did Yiddish Words Make Their Way into German?
By PhilologosA centuries-old tale of complicated, ambivalent, and, sometimes, covertly intimate relationships between a largely anti-Semitic Christian society and its Jewish minority.
Observation ·
Does the Word “Hacker” Come from Yiddish?
By PhilologosIs the tech term, as in computer hacker, connected with the verb hakn, meaning to chop?
