Change the /t/ for a /d/ and you heard it correctly. The etymological root is /zyn/ (the same as the seventh letter of the alphabet). This word, in Israeli slang, means "penis" - in Archaic Biblical Hebrew it meant "sword", but the word dropped out of use for the longest time. /lehizdayen/ is just the hithpa'el infinitive, where the /t/ changes to a /d/ because of the nature of the sibilant. Effectively, you are simply telling someone to be 'penised', but I'm sure you can use your imagination in regards to exactly what the import of the expression is.
As for the word /štok/, it's funny that you say that. I always remembered the imperatives in the same way: put the word into 'future tense' (although in Classical Hebrew we use the imperfective aspect instead; tense is not directly indicated) and then drop the prefix. Easy. The only problem is it doesn't always work. The bests examples of it not working are in situations like this where we are using a hithpa'el. In those instances, a /h/ appears at the beginning of the word, so you'd be wanting to use /hištagel/ instead of just /štagel/. Your word sounds better, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is the way in which Israelis form a hithpa'el imperative. Sounds almost cockney, that dropping of the /h/ at the beginning, doesn't it?
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Ah, swearing in Hebrew...
Date: 2006-09-29 01:27 am (UTC)As for the word /štok/, it's funny that you say that. I always remembered the imperatives in the same way: put the word into 'future tense' (although in Classical Hebrew we use the imperfective aspect instead; tense is not directly indicated) and then drop the prefix. Easy. The only problem is it doesn't always work. The bests examples of it not working are in situations like this where we are using a hithpa'el. In those instances, a /h/ appears at the beginning of the word, so you'd be wanting to use /hištagel/ instead of just /štagel/. Your word sounds better, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is the way in which Israelis form a hithpa'el imperative. Sounds almost cockney, that dropping of the /h/ at the beginning, doesn't it?