Plant Names in Yiddish

By Mordkhe Schaechter
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
Published in 2005

384 pages, 6 x 9 in
Paperback

Yiddish linguist Dr. Mordkhe Schaechter confronts the stereotype that "there aren't any plant names in Yiddish” with the meticulously researched, long-awaited Plant Names in Yiddish, first  published by YIVO in 2005. This groundbreaking Yiddish-English botanical dictionary draws on literary, scientific, linguistic and religious sources to document a wealth of Yiddish plant names—including many dialectal and regional variants. It is an essential reference work for Yiddish speakers and readers, scholars, researchers, culinary and nature enthusiasts, historians, scientists, and linguists.

Plant Names in Yiddish is a fascinating study not only in botany, but also in the development of the Yiddish language as reflected in botanical vocabulary. For example, Schaechter cites Yiddish terms for willow: sháyne-boym, noted in the writings of Mendele Moykher-Sforim and A. Golomb (from hoysháyne >hesháyne >sháyne - 'willow twigs used ritually on the holiday of Sukkoth'). He also notes that Yiddish terms for the halakhically appropriate vegetable species for a Passover seder have been documented since at least the 12th century, and that 'potato' is regionally known as búlbe, búlve, bílve, kartófl(ye), kartóplye (!), érdepl, ekhpl, ríblekh, barbúlyes, zhémikes, mandebérkes, bánderkes, krumpírn, etc. The Galician town of Sanok, at a crossroads of languages and cultures, boasts five different synonyms for 'potato’; such examples display the richness of the Yiddish language and its regional diversity.

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