É. Apor , I. Ormos (ed.): Goldziher Memorial Conference, June 21–22, 2000, Budapest.

ORMOS, István: Goldziher's Mother Tongue: A Contribution to the Study of the Language Situation in Hungary in the Nineteenth Century

GOLDZIHER'S MOTHER TONGUE This somewhat pejorative expression, taken from the Jewish-coloured Gentian (Jüdisch-Deutsch) diminutive of the name Moses [Mausche

; dim. Mauschel], has been in common usage in German since the seventeenth century.

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1 Goldziher no doubt uses it here to describe (Eastern) Yiddish. Goldziher's knowledge of Standard German As a boy, Goldziher went to the local Jewish elementary school (which was to be named after him in 1925), where the language of instruction in those days was Gentian. Even if we assume that instruction was carried on partly in Jewish-coloured German, there can be no doubt that partly at least it must also have been in Standard German, and that pupils were taught the elements of German grammar. Furthermore, it is certain that Goldziher's parents also knew German: the entries on "Wittus" and "Ignatz" in the family Bible are in Hebrew and Gentian.'

5 In 1862, at the age of twelve, Goldziher published his first book, written in German.

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1 It seems that Goldziher also gave his bar-mitzvah-sermon in German.

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4 His fluency in German may also have been facilitated by the fact that a part of the population of his native town used German in everyday life. Consequently Goldziher must have acquired a sound knowledge of Standard German very early in life. This is apparently contradicted by a passage in a letter to Nöldeke, which goes as follows: "Die erste deutsche Gewöhnung geht bei mir natürlich auf die österreichische Unmittelbarkeit zurück, durch die ich in das Deutsche (zuerst im 12. Lebensjahr) eingeführt worden bin... " [Of course, in my case the first familiarity with German is based on the immediate contact with Austria, through which I have been introduced to the German language (at the age of twelve for the first time)].

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5 In view of the facts 15

1 See Jacob Grimm - Wilhelm Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, Leipzig 1854-1954, vol. VI, 1819-1820 (s.v. Mauschel, Mauschelbruder, Mauschelei, mauscheln

); Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen. Ed. Wolfgang Pfeifer, Berlin 1989, vol. II, 1079 (s.v. mauscheln). Cf. also, e.g., Muret-Sanders enzyklopädisches englisch-deutsches und deutsch-englisches Wörterbuch. Hand- und Schulausgabe, Teil II. Deutsch-Englisch. Ed. H. Baumann, Berlin-Schöneberg 1908, 687a (s.v. Mauschel): Gerhard Wahrig, Deutsches Wörterbuch, Gütersloh 1968, col. 2387 (s.v. mauscheln). 15

2 See above. 15

1 Sichat-Jiczchak. Abhandlung über Ursprung, Eintheilung und Zeit der Gebete. Von Ignaz Goldziher, Gymnasialschüler in Stuhlweißenburg, Pest 1862. 15

4 The manuscript (autograph?), which is in German, was discovered by Shlomo Shunami in the library of the Jewish Community in Vienna and published by Mosheh CarmillyWeinberger. Mosheh Camiilly-Weinberger, 'Yitzhaq Yehudah Goldziher - Derashat habar-mitzwah', in: Joshua Finkel Festschrift. Ed. Sidney B. Hoenig, Leon D. Stitskin, New York 1974, 185-199 (Hebrew section). 15

5 Simon, Ignác Goldziher..., 277. 235