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During the Jewish high holidays it is a tradition for married Jewish males to don white garments and a small white hat called הייבל [heibl]. It is a somewhat larger skullcap than a kippah/yarmulke. What could be the (probably dialectal) German origins of this word? The consonants of the word doesn't seem to have any connection with the possible Hebrew triliteral roots, but the -bl diminutive suffix suggests a Germanic origin. I've tried to look it up in Yiddish and German dictionaries (Grimm usw.), but I couldn't find anything.

Heibl

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  • Most probably you couldn't find it in German dictionaries, because it is not a German word, no?
    – bakunin
    Commented Oct 11 at 13:11
  • I vote to close this question, since it is off-topic here. Possible sources, according to this link: yivo.org/cimages/yivo_institute_-_yiddish_dictionaries.pdf , include: "English-Yiddish encyclopedic dictionary" (Paul Abelson, New York, 1915) and "Groyser verterbukh fun der Yidisher shprakh" (New York, 1961)
    – bakunin
    Commented Oct 11 at 13:26
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    Please edit your question and make clear what exactly you tried to look up in Yiddish and German dictionaries. "heibl"? Links to details and pictures of the "small white hat" ... "somewhat larger skullcap than a kippah" might also help to find out if a German word for this might be related to the hebrew word. I found a German text mentioning "Strejml" as a larger cap with fox fur, which is worn by Hasidic jews on Shabbat or marriages. gra.ch/bildung/glossar/…
    – Bodo
    Commented Oct 11 at 13:46
  • @bakunin I'm interested in the German source of this word. See edit why it's reasonable to assume German origin.
    – Kazi bácsi
    Commented Oct 11 at 14:23
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    I would reckon it originates in German Haube ("hood", "cap", "bonnet"), with possible German diminutives Häubchen, Häublein, Häubl (in the Swabian region), of which the latter would harmonize with Yiddish heibl very well. It would also fit semantically. I have no clue about the development of Yiddish language, the word just reminded me of how German Bügel is related to Yiddish bejgel (and thus English bagel). As I don't have the time right now to look for reliable sources, I just make this a comment as a hypothesis for someone else to pick up.
    – Jonathan Herrera ♦
    Commented Oct 11 at 14:54

1 Answer 1

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  • die Haube — lid, cap
  • das Häubchen, das Häublein — cute cap
  • 's Häuble — southwestern variant of Häublein
  • heible — Latinized Yiddish transcription of äu in lieu of umlauts in Yiddish
  • heibl — loss of the end-e, very common in Yiddish
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  • This is an ad-hoc theory, not an answer. In the east-most german dialects the diminutive doesn't get an umlaut, e.g. Burgenland (south-east Austria): "haubal". The High German word "Haube" would become more like "Haum" in dialect, because the syllable "-ben" is often shortened to "-bm" but the "b" is barely pronounced (e.g. "weben"->"we:m")
    – bakunin
    Commented Oct 11 at 21:32
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    Yiddish is from the southwest though.
    – Janka
    Commented Oct 11 at 21:49
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    As has already been mentioned in the comments on the question, a reference is cs.uky.edu/~raphael/yiddish/….
    – David Vogt
    Commented Oct 12 at 12:01
  • You mean the "southwest" like Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Hungary, etc., where Yiddish was spoken mostly in Europe? You mean that southwest?
    – bakunin
    Commented Oct 12 at 16:10
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    [haibl] instead of "Häubl" is delabialization or unrounding. This is also common in Bavarian dialects. Examples: Häuschen/Häuslein -> [haizl] or Leute -> [lait]
    – Bodo
    Commented Oct 14 at 14:24

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