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November 14 Information

knish and kneytshn

According to most every source including Wiktionary the Yiddish knish derives from the Slavic word for cake: Polish knysz, Ukrainian книш knyš or somesuch, which settles the case, one would think, and here it is written that there really is no more to it: knish is a food word which means literally just knish. But according to the OED, Ukrainian Yiddish (the verb “to crease”) is involved somehow. That would be קנייטשן kneytshn I suppose, but still I wonder how it relates to the Slavic/Jewish foodstuff, etymologically. Is the Yiddish verb a derivation from the Slavic noun, or vice versa, or no relation at all? -- 77.13.158.99 ( talk) 21:11, 14 November 2020 (UTC) reply

The knish article in the Ukrainian Wikipedia makes no reference to a Jewish background; in fact, it presents it as a preparation for Christian holidays like Christmas Eve (mysteriously placed in the Lent) and the Annunciation. One would expect the Yiddish verb קנייטשן to come from some German dialect; could it be a variant of קנעטן knetn (a cognate of German kneten and English knead)? The term kneytshn occurs as a plural noun in the article Dreydlekh, apparently of the singular kneytsh; there is a German noun Knete, but I have the impression this is relatively young, meaning something like "playdough".  -- Lambiam 23:25, 14 November 2020 (UTC) reply
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Language desk
< November 13 << Oct | November | Dec >> November 15 >
Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.


November 14 Information

knish and kneytshn

According to most every source including Wiktionary the Yiddish knish derives from the Slavic word for cake: Polish knysz, Ukrainian книш knyš or somesuch, which settles the case, one would think, and here it is written that there really is no more to it: knish is a food word which means literally just knish. But according to the OED, Ukrainian Yiddish (the verb “to crease”) is involved somehow. That would be קנייטשן kneytshn I suppose, but still I wonder how it relates to the Slavic/Jewish foodstuff, etymologically. Is the Yiddish verb a derivation from the Slavic noun, or vice versa, or no relation at all? -- 77.13.158.99 ( talk) 21:11, 14 November 2020 (UTC) reply

The knish article in the Ukrainian Wikipedia makes no reference to a Jewish background; in fact, it presents it as a preparation for Christian holidays like Christmas Eve (mysteriously placed in the Lent) and the Annunciation. One would expect the Yiddish verb קנייטשן to come from some German dialect; could it be a variant of קנעטן knetn (a cognate of German kneten and English knead)? The term kneytshn occurs as a plural noun in the article Dreydlekh, apparently of the singular kneytsh; there is a German noun Knete, but I have the impression this is relatively young, meaning something like "playdough".  -- Lambiam 23:25, 14 November 2020 (UTC) reply

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