# Yiddish : vet nit zain kain zeicher



## elianecanspeak

Hello all -

I am trying to find a good translation of this phrase from a Yiddish song of resistance:

"vet nit zain kain zeycher"

I have only this transliteration, not the original Yiddish.

The translation scribbled on my music says "not even a trace remains"

I am trying to find an interlinear translation that accords as much as possible with the Yiddish word for word, and I am grappling with the grammar of “vet nit zain kain”.

Does "nit kain zain" express the concept of "absolutely nothing"?  With the "vet" does it mean "you know that there is absolutely no trace"

I would greatly appreciate any help you could give me.

--Many thanks


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## Forero

_Vet_ ([There] will) _nit_ (not) _zayn_ (be) _keyn_ (any [at all]) _zeykher_ (trace, vestige).

But shouldn't it be "Es vet nit keyn zeykher zayn" with the _zayn_ at the end, or is that just German and Dutch word order?


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## elianecanspeak

Thanks Foreo -- it was the word order that was confusing me.


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## Brioche

Forero said:


> _Vet_ ([There] will) _nit_ (not) _zayn_ (be) _keyn_ (any [at all]) _zeykher_ (trace, vestige).
> 
> But shouldn't it be "Es vet nit keyn zeykher zayn" with the _zayn_ at the end, or is that just German and Dutch word order?



I'm no expert, I have seen many Yiddish sentences with word-order  different from German - particularly with respect to the past participle.

Compare the Yiddish:
Yeder mentsh vert geboyrn fray un glaykh in koved un rekht. Yeder  vert bashonkn mit farshtand un gevisn; yeder zol zikh firn mit a  tsveytn in a gemit fun brudershaft.
and the German
Alle Menschen sind frei und gleich an Würde und Rechten geboren.  Sie sind mit Vernunft und Gewissen begabt und sollen einander im Geist  der Brüderlichkeit begegnen.
and the Dutch
Alle mensen worden vrij en gelijk in waardigheid en rechten geboren.  Zij zijn begiftigd met verstand en geweten, en behoren zich jegens elkander  in een geest van broederschap te gedragen


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## berndf

Forero said:


> _Vet_ ([There] will) _nit_ (not) _zayn_ (be)* keyn (any [at all])* _zeykher_ (trace, vestige).


Close, _keyn_ means_ no _in the sense of _not any_. The whole thing is a (reinforcing) double-negation:
_Will not be no trace._


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## gevenamolalandaziseafaine

It's perfectly normal literary Yiddish language you'd see in the books and the news.
Pronouns _can_be dropped and _not _using _double _negation would be grammatically wrong, much like it is in Modern French.
"There will be no trace" is the perfect translation.


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## berndf

gevenamolalandaziseafaine said:


> It's perfectly normal literary Yiddish language you'd see in the books and the news. Pronouns _can_be dropped and _not _using _double _negation would be grammatically wrong, much like it is in Modern French. "There will be no trace" is the perfect translation.


Nobody said anything to the contrary. My comment was about the syntactic analysis Forero provided and not about the the appropriate translation.


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