# "leshonen" - repeat?



## emmelimelo

I'm translating an interview (from French to English), in which someone says:

_"The verb 'to repeat' in Hebrew is 'leshonen', the root of which, 'shone', means 'change.' "_

I don't speak Hebrew, but I was doing some googling to try to confirm these words as part of my translation and it seems perhaps the person quoted may have been wrong? But I'm not sure.

Would anyone be able to help me out with this? Does it seem like an accurate statement? What is the verb "to repeat" in Hebrew? And does its root (or some part of it) mean "change"? 

Thank you!


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## slus

I think you're cofusing two unrelated verbs -

To repeat, in the sense of learning textagain and again until yippy know it by heart = leshanen

To change = leshanot.


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## emmelimelo

slus said:


> I think you're cofusing two unrelated verbs -
> 
> To repeat, in the sense of learning textagain and again until yippy know it by heart = leshanen
> 
> To change = leshanot.



It's actually not me confusing the two (if it were, it would be easy to rectify!), it's the person quoted in the interview I'm translating... sorry if that's confusing!

The point she was making was about the connection between repetition and change, the idea that repetition leads to change. And she was making this point by suggesting that the *root* of the verb "leshanen" (she spelled it "leshonen") was "shoné," which she said meant "change."

So in the course of my translation (into English, from the original French), I was researching these words, and I thought she might have erred in her statement. So now I'm in a weird position of having to translate what the original person said, but also not wanting to transmit an error if I can help it.

Basically, if I could nudge my translation towards a more accurate statement while staying true to her point, that would be good!

Would you (or anyone) be able to give me any insight into the etymological relationship between "repeat" (the verb) and "change" (the noun, perhaps?)


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## slus

Well, it's true that both leshanen and leshanot stem from the root שנה - but they originate from two different Aramaic roots. If you ignore the latter, I guess one can assume that are related.

As for leshonen instead of leshanen - maybe she's a Yiddish speaker? They trend to pronounce Hebrew "a" as "o".


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## Drink

slus said:


> As for leshonen instead of leshanen - maybe she's a Yiddish speaker? They trend to pronounce Hebrew "a" as "o".



Not in this word.


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## emmelimelo

slus said:


> Well, it's true that both leshanen and leshanot stem from the root שנה - but they originate from two different Aramaic roots. If you ignore the latter, I guess one can assume that are related.
> 
> As for leshonen instead of leshanen - maybe she's a Yiddish speaker? They trend to pronounce Hebrew "a" as "o".


Would you say that "shone" is a passable transliteration of שנה?


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## Drink

emmelimelo said:


> Would you say that "shone" is a passable transliteration of שנה?



Shone = שונה

Sometimes people refer to the present tense of a verb when they refer to the verb.


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## utopia

emmelimelo said:


> I'm translating an interview (from French to English), in which someone says:
> 
> _"The verb 'to repeat' in Hebrew is 'leshonen', the root of which, 'shone', means 'change.' "_
> 
> I don't speak Hebrew, but I was doing some googling to try to confirm these words as part of my translation and it seems perhaps the person quoted may have been wrong? But I'm not sure.
> 
> Would anyone be able to help me out with this? Does it seem like an accurate statement? What is the verb "to repeat" in Hebrew? And does its root (or some part of it) mean "change"?
> 
> Thank you!


Could there be a typo in the original text?


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## Ali Smith

slus said:


> I think you're cofusing two unrelated verbs -
> 
> To repeat, in the sense of learning textagain and again until yippy know it by heart = leshanen
> 
> To change = leshanot.


So, if someone were losing his patience and wanted to exclaim angrily, "Why do I have to keep repeating myself?" would he say _lama ani mukhrakh leshanen et atsmi?_ ? Is this idiomatic?


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