More Desk Calendar-related Musings

[av8rmike]

I also own, in addition to the paper airplanes one, the 2005 Yiddish Word-a-Day calendar, courtesy of my dad and stepmother. There's a lot of things I'd never remember, especially in casual conversation, but I was struck by the way certain familiar words are spelled:

The word for grandfather, familiar to many Jewish youngsters: zeyde, pronounced `zA-d&.
"Grandmother" is pronounced b&-`bE, but spelled "bobe".
"Mother" is pronounced `ma-me, and is spelled "mame".
My favorite, the word for "father" is pronounced `ta-te, and is spelled "tater".

What a mishpocha*. "I'd like you to meet my dad, Tater, and my gramma Bob." Come to think of it, I think I once met a guy named Tater. Anyway, I'm off to khap a nash** at my tater's home.

*: mish-`po-[h]&, "family"
**: kop a nosh, "grab a bite (a nosh)"
Pronounciation symbols from: here

Comments

[rtfirefly.livejournal.com]

I've seen assorted spellings of both bubbe and zaide (just to sneak in one of each). When I've heard 'bubbe' pronounced, the first vowel has been like the vowel sound in 'wood', rather than the minimal 'uh' sound suggested by the Yiddish calendar.

I know, who am I to challenge the experts? All I'm sayin' is that that's how Jews I have known (fellow students in Hebrew class, ex-girfriend) pronounced it.

And Jewish folksinger Si Kahn, in a song about his grandfather, pronounces the final vowel of 'zaide' as a long E.

There may be multiple accepted pronunciations, for all I know. But those are the ones I'm familiar with.

[av8rmike.livejournal.com]

Truthfully, I haven't checked the references of the desk calendar people, or with my friendly neighborhood Ashkenazi Jew (not counting myself of course). Most likely, there isn't one "definitive" pronounciation, just like many English words.