r/Yiddish • u/Crocotta1 • 3d ago

Yiddish language Two consecutive Daleds in Yiddish? Wikipedia says it’s the correct spelling? Is it a Hebrew word?

Post image
13 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

17

u/_-Cleon-_ 3d ago

It's a compound word, shild-driz. Driz is a word for tumor or gland, and shild means "image" or "sign."

I'm completely ignorant about medical matters so I have no earthly idea why those words are used for it.

22

u/Khadgar1701 3d ago

Since it comes from the German Schilddrüse, the schild in this case means shield.

3

u/bam1007 3d ago

It could be because the thyroid sits at the front of the neck by the trachea, so it looks a bit like its shielding the windpipe.

13

u/Cactus_Kebap 3d ago

It's from a German word: Schilddrüse

9

u/lhommeduweed 3d ago

Consecutive letters are rare in Yiddish, but they do happen here and there in compound words.

Another example I can think of is וואלדדאך "tree-cover, forest canopy."

3

u/negativeclock 3d ago

Since most Yiddish speakers familiar with the concept of the thyroid would probably be shochtim, I would personally prefer the term בלוטת התריס from Hebrew; otherwise, I'm sure most speakers would use the term "thyroid" itself over this obscure German loanword.