# yamaka question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2001, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yamaka-question/72683 "2001-07-16T14:45:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yamaka-question/72683/21 "2001-07-17T14:07:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \* > \*\*I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know the etymology of the word. > > However, [http://www.m-w.com](http://www.m-w.com) has this to say: > > > [@](#): > > > > Etymology: Yiddish yarmlke, from Polish jarmulka & Ukrainian yarmulka skullcap, of Turkic origin; > > \*\* See, **Zev** , that’s the difference between us. While I may not know the etymology of the word either, I would never _admit_ it in public. 😉 From the [JewFAQ](http://www.jewfaq.org/signs.htm): > [@](#): > > \*\* > The most commonly known and recognized piece of Jewish garb is actually the one with the least religious significance. The word yarmulke (usually, but not really correctly, pronounced yammica) is Yiddish. According to Leo Rosten’s _The Joys of Yiddish_, it comes from a Tartar word meaning skullcap. According to some Orthodox and Chasidic rabbis I know, it comes from the Aramaic words “yerai malka” (fear of or respect for The King). The Hebrew word for this head covering is kippah (pronounced key-pah).\*\* ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yamaka-question/72683/22 "2001-07-17T14:26:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > IzzyR - > > > [@](#): > > > > Also, sdimbert, Yiddish and Hebrew are pronounced the same > > Not exactly. Yiddish and _Ashkenazic_ Hebrew are pronounced the same. Sephardic Hebrew is pronounced quite differently. I’m not sure of what you are driving at. There are many dialects of Yiddish, as there are many dialects of Hebrew. _Any given group pronounces their Yiddish identically to the way they pronounce their Hebrew_. Sefardim did not speak Yiddish at all, and thus there is no Sefardic dialect of Yiddish. But there is no inherent difference between Yiddish pronunciations and Hebrew ones, and thus - for this thread - no reason why a Hebrew word should morph into a different pronunciation when used in a Yiddish context. > [@](#): > > Sephardic Hebrew, incidentally, is the dialect spoken in Israel - by Ashkenazim and Spharadim alike - and is thus by far the more common language, at least in terms of day-to-day use. That is true. And therefore… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yamaka-question/72683/23 "2001-07-17T15:24:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by IzzyR \* > **no reason why a Hebrew word should morph into a different pronunciation when used in a Yiddish context.** _Kainahora!_\* (kain ‘ayin ha-ra‘ = No evil eye.) ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yamaka-question/72683/24 "2001-07-17T15:40:05Z")
**Jomo Mojo** I’m unsure if you meant to dispute my post, but in case you did I’ll respond. _Kainahora_ is, as you note, a combination of three words (the first one Yiddish and the next two Hebrew). The reason it is pronounced the way it is is **not** because the Hebrew _ayin hora_ is pronounced _aynihora_ in Yiddish. A Yiddish speaker using the term _ayin hora_ alone pronounces it exactly the way it is pronounced in Hebrew. Rather, in the case of the combined _Kainahora_ its just ordinary slurring of the pronunciation. (Other common examples are _gutyuntif_ for _gut yom tov_, and _Yashekoyach_ (or even _shkoyach_ for _yiyasher kochacha_). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yamaka-question/72683/25 "2001-07-17T23:07:31Z")
Izzy - I think I must have misunderstood you. I took your remark - “Yiddish and Hebrew are pronounced the same” - at face value, and inferred that you were saying that “all Hebrew is spoken the same way as Yiddish”, which is obviously untrue, and not at all what you meant. However, while I’ll readily admit that there are many different ways to speak Ashkenazic and Sephardic Hebrew, there are some clear differences between the two dialects. For example, the “Soft _Taaf_”, which is common in Ashkenazic, does not exist in Sephardic, which is why a few weeks ago Chaim claimed that the Hebrew word for “leperosy” was _Tzaraas_ and I claimed it was _Tzara’at_. Obvioiusly, we were both correct. It’s the same as the difference between _Shabbes_ and _Shabat_. More importantly, the accent in both dialects is different. While Ashkenazic Jews tend to emphasize the next-to-last vowel (“milel”), Sephardim almost always pronounce the last one (“milra”). Take the Hebrew phrase for “happy New Year” - _Shana Tova_. An American Jew would pronounce it “SHA-na TO-va”, while an Israeli would pronounce it “sha-NA to-VA”. It all goes to show you, how two people can write a language the same way, using basically the same grammatics, and still be mutually incomprehensible in speech. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yamaka-question/72683/26 "2001-07-17T23:10:03Z")
To any non-Hebrew speakers: obviously, whenever I used the phrase “Sephardic Hebrew” I also meant “Modern” Hebrew, the dialect spoken in Israel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yamaka-question/72683.md?page=1)