Shalom!
To start off this blog, I've decided to dedicate a schpiel to why I italicize Hebrew words. The answer is quite simple - they're in a foreign language, and style guides say you're supposed to italicize foreign words. Besides, it makes it obvious that the word is foreign and prevents confusion - I've certainly had times when someone used a Hebrew word but I thought it was simply a fancy English word, only to find that no English dictionary had the word. Then I begain questioning if I'd missed something, or if it was misspelled, or what. So, I don't like that - confusion is bad.
posted by Michael A. Seidman @ 3:22 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
So, is schpiel a foreign word? If Yiddish is a language, then yes. Since Cornell has a Yiddish linguistics course, maybe that counts. But, it's a pidgin language, and I don't know the rules there. I need Jessi. If you don't know Jessi, you should, she's very cool. Oh, and she's single, too.
I'm Jessi, and apparently I'm very cool!
Yiddish words should be treated the same as true foreign words, and therefore italicized. Yes, it's pidgin, but it's a derivation of many early germanic dialects mixed with some aramaic. It's actually a perfect topic for your first blog post, given your stated purpose: Yiddish came into existence out of a need for a liguistic 'community' amongst Jews who spanned several geographic, and thereby linguistic, areas.
So, yes. Italicize schpiel to your heart's content...just dont't confuse it with the english 'spiel', meaning: A lengthy or extravagant speech or argument usually intended to persuade. ;-)
Okay, follow-up. Shouldn't Germanic, Aramaic, and English all be capitalized?
Oh, and for those that care, check out the relevant Wikipedia entry for spiel.
Oh, and don't only has one "t" even if Jessi is an English expert. :-D
Yes. Germanic, Aramaic, and Yiddish should all be capitalized. 'Don't' does only have one 't', and I'll do a better job of adding my own hyperlinks in the future. I apologize for the sloppy, slopping posting at 6:50am... However, while we're on grammar, shall we start up a rousing debate on the topic of the serial comma (see my second sentence for an example)?
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