Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2010 June 25

= June 25 =

Mensch from German or Yiddish?
How can you know whether the word "mensch" had migrated from Yiddish or German? The Wikipedia article linked above claims it was from Yiddish, however, the original word in Yiddish is "Mentsch" a little bit farther apart than the German word "Mensch."--Quest09 (talk) 16:50, 25 June 2010 (UTC)


 * People putting together dictionaries take a look at the first recorded usages of words in the English language. For example, the OED gives the first recorded usage of "mensch" in English as a 1930's quote: "Dot mensch certainly knew his bissness..and look at all the Yehudim here too!" From context, we can see that it was Yiddish speakers, rather than people taking it from German, who initially introduced "mensch" into English. (Note that the Yiddish "mentsch" is itself derived from the Middle High German "mensch".) -- 140.142.20.229 (talk) 17:19, 25 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Another clue is that the usual meaning of this word in English—a decent, ethical person—is a meaning specific to Yiddish. In German, the word just means "person".  I don't ever hear it used in English in that generic sense.  Marco polo (talk) 17:36, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I would translate "Mensch" with "human". If I have to say "person" in German, then I would just say "Person". Rimush (talk) 19:35, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
 * You would translate Wie viele Menschen erkranken in Deutschland jährlich an Krebs? as "How many humans get cancer each year in Germany?"? I wouldn't. I'd say "people", which functions as the plural of "person". I suppose the German could have said Wie viele Leute erkranken... but that sounds less formal somehow. +Angr 19:52, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
 * There's no "one-word-fits-all-cases" when translating. "Humans" doesn't work in that specific case when translating into English (it works in other languages), but that doesn't mean it's not the right meaning of the word. That being said, I should let everybody know that I'm neither a (pro-)translator nor a linguist. Rimush (talk) 19:57, 25 June 2010 (UTC)