Respectful adaptation of existing Yiddish word(s)

eldergrantaire

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My WIP is a historical fantasy set in an alternate version of 1905 London. I usually post about it in the Historical forum but I think this is more of a fantasy question than a historical one.

My world is based on a very prevalent trope in fanfiction, the soulmate AU. I go into more detail explaining the rules of the universe in this thread, but for the purpose of this post, the main thing you need to know is that in this universe, people have cosmically pre-determined soulmates.

My question is: is it okay to use an existing Hebrew word as a word used within my universe by Jewish people to mean someone's soulmate? And if so, is it okay to slightly alter the usage?

The word I want to use is chosan. Its real-world meaning is 'bridegroom or fiance', but in my world I would like it to also mean 'soulmate of either gender'. My reasons for this are a) I would prefer there to be one word rather than different ones for male and female soulmates, b) it's quite common historically for nominally male-gendered words to also be used as the general catch-all term, and c) I like the way it sounds.

Is this disrespectful? Should I find a different word that's actually gender-neutral in its original meaning? I am Jewish but I was raised very secular and have only started to learn more about my background quite recently. I would have posted this in the Jewish forum but nobody's posted there for a year. If anyone knows of any active Jewish writing forums, that would also be an immense help.
 
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Lakey

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When I read your intro I thought the word you were going to say was "beshert," which is a Yiddish word that does mean soulmate and is used for soulmates of either sex.

I'm not a fantasy writer or reader, so my opinion on the subject might not be worth much. But would there be some explanation of how your society came to use a Yiddish (not Hebrew) word like "chosn"? It doesn't seem any more generally offensive than a non-Jew in our world using Yiddish words like "shmuck" or "gesundheit" - but there's a reason why such words came to be borrowed into English. Why would a Yiddish word have entered the language in England in 1905?
 

cornflake

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Seconding why you're not using beshert -- though to your question, I wouldn't change the meaning of an existing word, no. That's just weird?

It's like, oh, my characters speak English, but they call chairs chipmunks. Like, why? Why not invent a word?
 

relletyrots

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I'm a native Hebrew speaker, but I do not speak Yiddish.

The word chosan (which is Yiddish, not Hebrew) is not a good match in my opinion, because it simply doesn't mean soulmate. If someone wanted to say "I found my soulmate," they wouldn't say "I found my fiancé."

The equivalent to soulmate in Hebrew would probably be the phrase nefesh teoma, which literally translates to twin soul. It is commonly used in the same sense as soulmate, or to indicate a perfect match between people.

But . . . you probably need Yiddish words, not modern Hebrew, so my abilities to help you are limited. Truly, I have no clue what dialect Jewish Londoners spoke in 1905.

Best of luck!

EDIT: I forgot to note that nefesh teoma can refer to both genders. Of course, it has to be in relation to another person (her nefesh teoma/his nefesh teoma) just like soulmate.
 
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eldergrantaire

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Thanks guys, this is really helpful. This is for use specifically within a Jewish community, not in the general population. Sorry if I didn't make that clear!

I hadn't heard the words beshert or nefesh teoma but I will use one of them instead. Thanks!

Oh and sorry that I got the language wrong for chosan: I found it in a glossary in Children of the Ghetto by Israel Zangwill, which lists it as a Hebrew word.
 
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Is this disrespectful? Should I find a different word that's actually gender-neutral in its original meaning? I am Jewish but I was raised very secular and have only started to learn more about my background quite recently. I would have posted this in the Jewish forum but nobody's posted there for a year. If anyone knows of any active Jewish writing forums, that would also be an immense help.

It's disrespectful to take a known word and change its meaning. Beshert is the word I've heard to refer to a soulmate (it's root meaning is more like "fate" or "destiny"). You'll see it used on matchmaking sites, for instance, to mean "soulmate."

https://www.thejc.com/judaism/jewish-words/beshert-1.5788
 

Lakey

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Thanks guys, this is really helpful. This is for use specifically within a Jewish community, not in the general population. Sorry if I didn't make that clear!

You did say it was used "by Jewish people" in your universe; that was my fault, sorry.

"Beshert" is a perfectly fine word that would be used by Jews of Ashkenazi (eastern European) origin in your context. For Jews of Sefardic origin (of which London would have had a good share; see George Eliot's Daniel Deronda for a neat portrayal of that community) you're probably safer with the Hebrew phrase; there's likely an analogous Ladino word for "beshert" but I've unfortunately no idea what it is (my Sefardic grandfather spoke French and Arabic, not Ladino!).
 

eldergrantaire

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The character is a second-generation Polish Jewish immigrant, so I think he'd be Ashkenazi. Does that mean they definitely wouldn't use Hebrew words like nefesh teoma?
 

relletyrots

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Oh and sorry that I got the language wrong for chosan: I found it in a glossary in Children of the Ghetto by Israel Zangwill, which lists it as a Hebrew word.
No problem, and perhaps its simply an older version of Hebrew (although chosan is basically identical to the Yiddish word, which makes me think it's Yiddish). In modern Hebrew, that word would be chatan (literally bridegroom.)

I'm glad I could help.
 
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The character is a second-generation Polish Jewish immigrant, so I think he'd be Ashkenazi. Does that mean they definitely wouldn't use Hebrew words like nefesh teoma?

No; it means that his knowledge of Yiddish will be greater than a Shephardic Jew; during the migration eras the Sephardics ended up in on the Iberian peninsuan, mostly, and developed their own "home" language, Ladino. See this FAQ.
 

relletyrots

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The character is a second-generation Polish Jewish immigrant, so I think he'd be Ashkenazi. Does that mean they definitely wouldn't use Hebrew words like nefesh teoma?

The question is whether that phrase was in use back then, or could it have been in use back then (since your work is part-fiction.)

I made slight research online (couldn't find a whole lot). First of all, there is the phrase neshama teoma, which basically means the same as nefesh teoma (both mean "twin soul"). Both are in use (although I have heard the latter more). However, it seems (and really you shouldn't trust my minute research) that the former has its root in the Kabbalah (which certainly precedes your story).

You decide which to use. I hope you find more information than I did.
 

relletyrots

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Just to clarify: both phrases could have existed back then (the sources of the individual words far precede 1905). So, it wouldn't be a huge leap to use them in your story. The amount of research and historical accuracy is up to you, though.
 

Lakey

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Fwiw, that's German rather than Yiddish.

Ah. I thought it entered English via Yiddish, not directly from German, but evidently I was mistaken.