On the first of March, for any “shtérnzeyers” (stargazers) out there, there was a remarkable “planet parade” in which all seven planets were visible in the night sky. In honor of that I thought I’d talk a little about planets in Yiddish. The words for the “galgálim” (heavenly bodies) are taken largely, though not completely systematically, from Hebrew astrological terminology. These, however, are also augmented by internationalisms as well as borrowings from German. So those same heavenly bodies can be referred to as “himl-kérpers” (from German, Himmelskörper).
The Earth is, rather unsurprisingly, “di erd”; the globe is “érdkugl” (compare German, Erdkugel) or “érdkoyl” or “érdkáylekh,” the latter two being slightly more Yiddishized versions of the former. The sun is almost uniformly “zun.” There are two Hebrew words for sun: the biblical “shemesh” and the rabbinic “chamah.” The former never occurs in Yiddish; the latter does, but only in the phrase “líke-kháme” (solar eclipse). The moon similarly has two Hebrew words: the biblical “yareach” and the rabbinic “levanah.” As with sun, the biblical word for moon also does not occur in Yiddish. The rabbinic word, however, is the most common word for moon, “levóne,” though one can use the Germanic word “mond” if one is being especially poetic. The new moon can equally be referred to as “náy-levóne” or the Hebrew “móyled.”
As we move out from the sun, I think I’m going to have a little fun with it. I will give you the Yiddish names, but also what the Yiddish versions of their names would be if Holst had written The Planets in Yiddish. First up we get Mercury, “der baflíglter shelíekh” (the Winged Messenger). The Hebrew word for this planet is “kokhav,” which is also the word for star. Interestingly, and perhaps because of this ambiguity, this Hebrew word is not part of the Yiddish lexicon. The Yiddish word for Mercury is “merkúr.”
Next up is Venus, “di bréngern fun shólem” (the Bringer of Peace). In Hebrew it is “nogah,” which does appear occasionally in Yiddish as “nóyge,” but is far more common either as “vénus” or as “óvntshtern,” the Evening Star.
Following Venus comes Mars, “der brénger fun milkhóme” (the Bringer of War). In Hebrew it is referred to as “ma’dim,” which basically means “the red one.” In Yiddish, one has the option of referring to the planet either as “mars” or as “máydim.”
Further out from Mars is Jupiter, “der brénger fun fréylekhkayt” (the Bringer of Jollity). The Hebrew word is “tsedek,” which means justice or righteousness. This is likely in relation to the association of those attributes with the Roman god Jupiter. In Yiddish, however, the planet is rarely if ever referred to by that name, possibly because “tsédek” is not uncommon in Yiddish with the original meaning of justice. The planet is instead “yúpiter.”
Saturn is “der brénger fun zíkne” (the Bringer of Old Age). In Hebrew the planet’s name is “shabtay” meaning “the one of the Sabbath” for the same reason that English “Saturday” originates in the Latin for “Saturn’s day.” It is possibly to say “shábsay” for the planet, but one is far more likely to encounter “sáturn.”
The next two planets have not classical Hebrew names for the simple reason that they weren’t first observed until the modern period: Uranus, “der mágiker” (the Magician), was first observed by William Herschel in 1781; and Neptune, “der místiker” (the Mystic), was possibly first viewed by Galileo, but it was only recognized as a planet in the nineteenth century. In Yiddish they are called “urán” and “neptún,” respectively. Lastly there is the planet I grew up with but which is a planet no longer: “plutón” (Pluto).
A star is a “shtern.” The diminutive, “shterndl,” means asterisk (which is apt, because asterisk has its origins in Greek for “little star”). To speak of a constellation we can say “mazl,” but this refers most accurately to a zodiacal constellation. Instead we can use the more international “konstelátsye” or the Germanic “geshtérn.” In a slightly more Germanicized vein one can also speak of a “shtérnkráyz” or a “shtérnbíld” (compare German, Sternbild).
The final heavenly bodies I’ll mention are meteors. In Yiddish one can use the older term “uranolít” (uranolite) as well as the more recognizable “meteór.” And last but not least is the meteor shower, especially the Perseids, which in Yiddish is “trern fun héylikn lavréntyus” (literally, St. Lawrence’s tears). This is so named because the Perseids usually occur in mid-August, and St. Lawrence’s feast day is August 10.
So keep enjoying the delights of the night sky. And as always, “léyent gezúnterhéyt” — read it in good health.
Please send Yiddish questions to: yiddishcolumn@americanisraelite.com.
