Can someone who understands Yiddish grammar help me?

TzipG

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 12:38 pm

I was talking to someone about Yiddish and she said that words like mommy, tatty, zeidy mean "my mother" "my father" "my grandfather" like a possessive form from hebrew of imi= ma sheli, avi=aba sheli

I disagreed, I think its a matter of pronunciation that mamme just became mommy, zeide became zaidy, tatte - tatty.

Who's right? Does Yiddish have a possessive form like Hebrew of adding an "ee" sound at the end of the word?

tralala

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 1:10 pm

yes, this person is right! In yiddish we say totty when talking to him, but tatte when talking about him.

Ruchel

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 1:20 pm

tralala wrote:

yes, this person is right! In yiddish we say totty when talking to him, but tatte when talking about him.

I don't know anyone who has the -ee thing in Yiddish.

myself

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 1:23 pm

TzipG wrote:

Who's right? Does Yiddish have a possessive form like Hebrew of adding an "ee" sound at the end of the word?

Not as far as I know!

abound

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 1:29 pm

tralala wrote:

yes, this person is right! In yiddish we say totty when talking to him, but tatte when talking about him.

yiddish does not have possessive form but in this situation she is correct. You say Totty, mommy, bubby, zeidy when talking about your own grand/parent but when talking about them to someone who does not have the same connection to the grand/parent as you do you say zeida, bubba, mamme, etc.

myself

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 1:58 pm

Well, doesn't that go for English too? You call them Mummy, Tutty etc. however when you talk about them to somebody unrelated you say 'my mother / father' etc.

TzipG

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 2:25 pm

Is it possible that the 'ee' sound at the end is more an expression of endearment rather than a possessive?

freidasima

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 2:45 pm

As far as I know there is no meaning to the "ee" that anglos put on words in yiddish, it is not possession because yiddish grammar is not like hebrew but more like german, which means that you add mein to a word to say it is yours. The "ee" sound is not possession but endearment or childish diminutive.

sarahd

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 2:52 pm

TzipG wrote:

Is it possible that the 'ee' sound at the end is more an expression of endearment rather than a possessive?

Yes, it most certainly is. The same way as Chani doesn't mean my Chana and Sruli doesn't mean my Yisroel.

You are right; your friend is wrong.

Besiyata Dishmaya

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 2:54 pm

freidasima wrote:

Some communities call their mother Mami, some Mama and some Mom or Mother.

Mami, Tatty, Daddy is just a way of calling them, like Suri, Chany and Dovi.

mummy-bh

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 2:57 pm

Ruchel wrote:

This is "ee" trend is totally Anglo.

I used to think so too, when I heard yiddish speakers in England calling their parents Mammy and Tatty (one family I know call the parents "Mamme" and "Tatte"). Until, that was, I met a lovely Yerushalmy lady here in Israel. Her family certainly have no Anglo influences whatsoever, they live just behind meah shearim , the kids learn in yiddish and speak virtually no ivrit and the only english word they know is 'camera'. Well, I almost fell off my chair when I heard her my new friend's daughter call her "Mammy", with a very similar accent to how my kids call me!

It is most definitely a term of endearment.

quickchef

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 3:14 pm

It IS a form of endearment, as well as indicating that she is "our mommy" (possesive) that is being talked about.

For example, you would still be speaking about Sruli "ee" even though you were talking to his Rebbe... whereas if you were talking to his Rebbe about "our mother" you would not say "mommy"... you would say "mame" (not "ee")

Besiyata Dishmaya

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 3:32 pm

quickchef wrote:

What about English speaking people, Jews and non-Jews who say "Mommy" "Daddy"? Do they also think of the Hebrew possession?

gryp

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 3:35 pm

I've heard "Mammeh" and "Tatteh" plenty, when talking directly to mother/father. The "ee" sound is not possessive.

quickchef

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 3:36 pm

GR wrote:

I've heard "Mammeh" and "Tatteh" plenty, when talking directly to mother/father. The "ee" sound is not possessive.

The same way I may have heard someone address their mother as "Mother, would like some tea?" (Old-fashioned, not much in use these days for those who converse naturally in Yiddish.)

gryp

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 3:39 pm

Old-fashioned, yes. The people I'm thinking of very much converse naturally in Yiddish, in fact so much so, that they'd never let the "ee" shtick in.

quickchef

Wed, Dec 22 2010, 3:39 pm

quickchef wrote:

GR wrote:

I've heard "Mammeh" and "Tatteh" plenty, when talking directly to mother/father. The "ee" sound is not possessive.

The same way I may have heard someone address their mother as "Mother, would like some tea?" (Old-fashioned, not much in use these days for those who converse naturally in Yiddish.)

I probably shouldn't say "old-fashioned"... but more like, whoever uses the term "Mameh, Tateh" instead of "Mommy, Totty" is probably being ultra careful with Derech Eretz/Kibud Av V'aim.... definitely not the more common, conversational Yiddish that is prevalant today.