# חבר'ה



## talmid

171207                                                1745

G'Day!

Could someone please explain why חבר'ה 
is  spelt with an apostrophe before the      ה      ?

Thanks


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## amikama

(1) Because it's a Yiddish word (compare with the affection suffix ל'ה- which is also Yiddish: דניל'ה חמודי, תן נשיקה לאימאל'ה)
(2) To distinguish it from חֶבְרָה (society/company) and חֲבֵרָה (female friend/girlfriend).


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## tFighterPilot

It's a Yiddish word? I had no idea. It must be the only Yiddish word that turned into slang.


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## amikama

tFighterPilot said:


> It's a Yiddish word? I had no idea.


Well, not exactly a Yiddish word. חבר'ה is in fact the Hebrew word חברה (company) with Yiddish pronunciation. Modern Hebrew borrowed it back from Yiddish, but maintained its Yiddish pronunciation.

Similar word is תכל'ס, which is תכלית in Yiddish pronunciation (final ת changes to ס). Note also that this word bares an apostrophe, like חבר'ה. 



> It must be the *only* Yiddish word that turned into slang.


Why the only? There are many words of Yiddish origin in the Hebrew slang: בלוף, צוציק, קלפטע, etc. etc.


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## cfu507

amikama said:


> Well, not exactly a Yiddish word. חבר'ה is in fact the Hebrew word חברה (company) with Yiddish pronunciation. Modern Hebrew borrowed it back from Yiddish, but maintained its Yiddish pronunciation.
> 
> Similar word is תכל'ס, which is תכלית in Yiddish pronunciation (final ת changes to ס). Note also that this word bares an apostrophe, like חבר'ה.
> 
> 
> Why the only? There are many words of Yiddish origin in the Hebrew slang: בלוף, צוציק, קלפטע, etc. etc.


 
*EDIT*: Indeed all these words in Yiddish. 

I thought it is חבר'ה as a shortened form of the Hebrew word חברייה (chevraya), but it was only an assumption, and probably wrong.

Any way, in the dictionary chevre is without the apostrophe.


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## talmid

211207                                         0128

Great!!

Thanks again for this interesting and helpful exchange of thoughts


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## scriptum

amikama said:


> Why the only? There are many words of Yiddish origin in the Hebrew slang: בלוף, צוציק, קלפטע, etc. etc.


 
1. Is בלוף really a Yiddish word (I thought it was English)?
2. Historically, קלפטע is an Aramaic word (כלבתא). IMHO, we had better stick to the original spelling.
3. Apologies for my pedantry.


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## amikama

scriptum said:


> 1. Is בלוף really a Yiddish word (I thought it was English)?
> 2. Historically, קלפטע is an Aramaic word (כלבתא). IMHO, we had better stick to the original spelling.
> 3. Apologies for my pedantry.


0. By "of Yiddish origin" I meant those words were borrowed directly from Yiddish. This doesn't mean that Yiddish itself didn't borrow them from other languages. 
1. "Bluff" exists in both English and Yiddish, but I think בלוף entered into Hebrew long before English began to influence on the Hebrew slang.
2. כלבתא (klavta) and קלפטע (klafte) are pronounced differently. If you pronounce it klafte, there's no point to stick to the original spelling. 
3. Your pedantry is understood. Sometimes I'm pedant too


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## Vodka

There are No word at Hebrew: חבר'ה 

You must be mean חברה?

חברה = Guys\Girl Friend


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