Mokum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

City Yiddish Translation
Amsterdam Mokum Alef City A
Berlin Mokum Beis City B
Delft Mokum Dales City D
Rotterdam Mokum Resh City R

Mokum (מקום) is the Yiddish word for "place" or "safe haven".[1] It is similar to the Hebrew word mokom (מקום), which means "place" or "location".[2] In Yiddish the names of some cities in the Netherlands and Germany were shortened to Mokum and had the first letter of the name of the city, transliterated into the Hebrew alphabet, added to them. Cities named this way were Amsterdam, Berlin, Delft, and Rotterdam.[3]

Mokum, without Aleph, is still used as a nickname for Amsterdam. The nickname was first considered to be Bargoens, a form of Dutch slang, but in the 20th century it lost its negative sound and is now used as a nickname for Amsterdam in a sentimental context.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Yiddish Dictionary Online
  2. ^ Milon
  3. ^ Martens, Hadewych (2006-09-26). Jiddisch, ontstaan en etymologie. www.ety.nl. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  4. ^ Berns, Jan; Daan, Jo (1992). Hij zeit wat. De Amsterdamse volkstaal (in Dutch). The Hague: BZZTôH, p. 66. ISBN 90-629-756-9. 
 This Yiddish language-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Languages