Chanukkah & its friends
First, a big thanks to you. Last
week’s hits were twice the usual. Who knew Dog idioms are a fascination of the
culture?
Since this post is up right in the
middle of Chanukkah (December 8 to December 16), let’s take an
etymological glance at Chanukkah & a few Chanukkah-related
words that have made their way into English.
I’ll start by noting that the
spellings I’ve chosen for this post are those favored by Balashon– the Hebrew Language Detective. Do
others prefer other spellings? Yes. Any time English steals from elsewhere
(which is most of the time), spellings get funky. There you go.
Not surprisingly, Chanukkah,
means consecration. It entered
English at the late date of 1891 (linguistic anti Semitism at work, perchance?).
Interestingly, Chanukkah was the proper name of Cain’s oldest son, the father
of Methusaleh.
Menorah entered English about the same time (1886), meaning candlestick, from a
Semitic term meaning to shine or give
light. This word came from the Arabic word manarah or manarat
meaning fire. The word minaret
comes from the same root, which means there’s hardly an etymological degree of
separation between minarets all over the world, from which Muslims are called to
prayer, & the countless menorahs lit for Chanukkah.
Dreidel comes to English through Yiddish, & came to Yiddish through German.
Not surprisingly, the root German word drehen
means to spin. Its relatives include throw,
torque, twist, & torment. This may shed new light on the idiom “she’s got her knickers in a twist,”
though I’m not sure exactly what we can learn from that.
For as long as I remember I’ve had a
fondness for the term Mazel tov. It came into English in
1826 from the Modern Hebrew term mazzel tob, which means good luck. This came from another Hebrew
word mazzaloth,
which refers to constellations, a
connection to the understanding that one’s luck might be in the stars.
So, this Chanukkah, may menorahs
burn brightly, dreidels spin nimbly, minarets do their good work, &
may nobody’s knickers get in a twist over any of it.
Mazel tov!
Remember when I drew a menorah incorrectly on the board while we were studying Anne? Haha, oops.
ReplyDeleteHey Heather,
ReplyDeleteMaybe you subconsciously knew menorah is related to minaret & you drew a series of minarets instead of a menorah? I guess that's a bit of a stretch, isn't it?
You left out "Jzlubb": The cousin who shows up at the Hannukah bush decorating party in zorries, ratty red headband, fringed suede jacket (circa Easy Rider) zonked to Santa's roof-top and wants to French kiss everyone, including Grampa Sammy and the mini French poodle, who is the only one who wants it. (He's never been very selective. The poodle.)
ReplyDeleteI love that menorah and minaret come from the same root word. But then all three of the "great" religions stem from the same prophet, Abraham. And yet...ah well. Happy, happy and merry, merry to all!
ReplyDeleteI guess I'd better go light my minarets.... Love SK's "Jslubb" story. That cousin doesn't just show up for C/Hanukkah. I've seen him at way too many Yule celebrations, too.
ReplyDeleteHi Christine, Anne & Steve,
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, good old Cousin Jzlubb transcends all religion & culture, I suppose, & I'm with Christine on the minaret/menorah point.
WOW! Nice post!! Words, meaning, get lots of information from your blog. I love the festival of light, menorahs. Thank you.
ReplyDelete