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Count me as one that pronounced it like the french word for aunt...I've been saying it repeatedly in my head to correct my head's version. Posts: 1635 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Its the same as the German word and while it might not rhyme with "auntie", that is what it means.
I've been told that Yiddish is a German dialect that is written with Hebrew letters. One of my good friends is Jewish who grew up in a Yiddish speaking household. We occasionally amuse ourselves comparing Yiddish and modern German words. She says that southern German/Austrian dialects seem closest to Yiddish. A lot of the Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine is close to Austrian cuisine as well. I guess that all makes sense considering that the Ashkenazi Jews lived in the region for a long time before they were forced to move further east.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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See I was close (I didn't mean the color tan, I just couldn't think of another lettering) t-on-ta would be closest to what I say. That's what my pre school teacher's daughter called the other teachers there (apparently she thought of them as her mother's sisters).
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: I've been told that Yiddish is a German dialect that is written with Hebrew letters. One of my good friends is Jewish who grew up in a Yiddish speaking household. We occasionally amuse ourselves comparing Yiddish and modern German words. She says that southern German/Austrian dialects seem closest to Yiddish.
I believe that Yiddish is usually considered a separate language, not a dialect, but it split off recently enough that there's still probably a pretty high degree of mutual intelligibility.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Now, since I don't know Yiddish and I did take a bunch of French years ago, why on earth have I been pronouncing it correctly all along in my mind when one would think I'd pronounce it the French way? Hmmm. Maybe just because it needs two syllables to sound "right" in front of Shvester?
It really has been ages since I've taken French, but isn't there some rule where silent "e"s at the ends of words are sometimes pronounced before a word beginning with a consonant? (yeah, we're talking over 20 years since I studied it, but wouldn't, say, Tante Marie be pronounced TAHN-tuh Marie instead of just TAHNT Marie?)
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I always thought it rhymed with Dante, as well. It's too firmly rooted in my head that way to change it easily, so it'll stay that way when I say it in my head. Posts: 1466 | Registered: Jan 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: Shvester also means "nurse"
I didn't know that.
And it's a titel for nuns. At least in the german version: "Schwester".
A "Schwester" in a german hospital can be male or female. You can say "Schwester Robert" for example, but that's quite old-fashioned. (Same applies to "nurse", doesn't it?). If you know that you refer to a male "Schwester", you normally use the term "Pfleger", but not "Bruder" (=brother). That'd be a monk.
You don't use "Pflegerin" (the female version of that noun) for a "Schwester" in a hospital, because the "Schwestern" have a better education (a longer apprenticeship and thus better medical skills and knowledge).
A "Pflegerin" cares for people who need help in their daily lives, because they are handicapped or old or disabled in any way. (Male people in that job are also called "Pfleger", there's just that one term for both of the jobs, as far as I know.)
I think Yiddish is as much an own language as the Austrian and the Swiss language. It's actually easier for me to understand those three languages than most of the dialects in Germany! Posts: 262 | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Mr.Funny: I always thought it rhymed with Dante, as well. It's too firmly rooted in my head that way to change it easily, so it'll stay that way when I say it in my head.
And how DO you pronounce "Dante"?
"Tante": the 'A' from 'fun' and the 'E' from 'the'
Posts: 262 | Registered: Feb 2006
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Pinky, which Swiss language would that be, precisely? Romansch? Swiss French?
I assume you mean Schweizerdeutsch, but that is a dialect -- well, several overlapping dialects. But you're right -- certainly Yiddish has far more claim to independent language status than Schweizerdeutsch does.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:It really has been ages since I've taken French, but isn't there some rule where silent "e"s at the ends of words are sometimes pronounced before a word beginning with a consonant? (yeah, we're talking over 20 years since I studied it, but wouldn't, say, Tante Marie be pronounced TAHN-tuh Marie instead of just TAHNT Marie?)
It's TAHNT Marie. (I HAVE a "Tante Marie" in France ) Or 'comm(e) dessert', not 'comm e-dessert'.
I tried to find some examples for that "silent 'e'"- rule, but I couldn't find any but songs like "Frère Jaques". But then it's "Frè-re Jaqu-es" and not "Frer e-Jaqu-es", too.
I admit, I probably forgot more French than I've ever learned (9 years at school), but I think you probably mean the "silent 's'"- rule...("ils" and "ont" -> "il s-on") Posts: 262 | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Originally posted by rivka: Pinky, which Swiss language would that be, precisely? Romansch? Swiss French?
Ha ha. It wouldn't make a lot of sense to refer to Swiss French or Swiss Italian, would it?
quote:I assume you mean Schweizerdeutsch, but that is a dialect -- well, several overlapping dialects. But you're right -- certainly Yiddish has far more claim to independent language status than Schweizerdeutsch does.
Okay, I read the article on wikipedia. Mea culpa. I'm quite astonished that Schweizerdeutsch is STILL called a dialect! (I don't think the average Schweizer agrees to THAT! )
Posts: 262 | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:I admit, I probably forgot more French than I've ever learned (9 years at school), but I think you probably mean the "silent 's'"- rule...("ils" and "ont" -> "il s-on")
quote:It really has been ages since I've taken French, but isn't there some rule where silent "e"s at the ends of words are sometimes pronounced before a word beginning with a consonant? (yeah, we're talking over 20 years since I studied it, but wouldn't, say, Tante Marie be pronounced TAHN-tuh Marie instead of just TAHNT Marie?)
It's TAHNT Marie. (I HAVE a "Tante Marie" in France ) Or 'comm(e) dessert', not 'comm e-dessert'.
I tried to find some examples for that "silent 'e'"- rule, but I couldn't find any but songs like "Frère Jaques". But then it's "Frè-re Jaqu-es" and not "Frer e-Jaqu-es", too.
I admit, I probably forgot more French than I've ever learned (9 years at school), but I think you probably mean the "silent 's'"- rule...("ils" and "ont" -> "il s-on")
I think this used to be a rule but isn't anymore, though, as Pinky said, you can still find it in songs. I'm not sure how long ago they would have stopped pronouncing the e in normal language, though.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:Okay, I read the article on wikipedia. Mea culpa. I'm quite astonished that Schweizerdeutsch is STILL called a dialect! (I don't think the average Schweizer agrees to THAT! )
It seems that what makes something a separate language as opposed to a dialect is that it is written differently. Hence we refer to different chinese dialects, even though the spoken languanges are as different as different European languages. Based on my experiences in Switzerland, Austria, and with Yiddish speakers, spoken Yiddish is closer to modern high German than all Swiss dialects and many Austrian dialects. But Yiddish is established in writing where, Schweizerdeutch is not, ergo Yiddish is considered a language and Schweizerdeutch a dialect (well actually a family of dialects).
In truth, there is no such thing as Schweizerdeutch, every village in Switzerland has its own dialect. Although people do transcribe Schweizerdeutch phonetically, Swiss children are still taught to write in high German and Swiss newpapers are in high German.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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To repeat the common adage, the difference between a dialect and a language is an army and a navy.
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