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Elon Gilad Profile picture
@elongilad
Aug 6 • 7 tweets • 1 min read • Read on X
🧵 THREAD: The Hebrew word for chrysanthemum is chartzit. And hidden inside is one of the most beautiful linguistic journeys in history. 🌼 1/7
The ancient Greeks called this flower chrysanthemon — from chrysos (gold) and anthemon (flower). The golden flower. 2/7
Now here’s the thing: chrysos wasn’t originally Greek. It was borrowed from a Semitic language — probably Phoenician — where gold was called kharutz. 3/7
That same word appears in the Hebrew Bible: “Acquire wisdom; how much better than kharutz!” Kharutz — Gold. 4/7
So in 1913, when the Hebrew Language Committee coined chartzit for the chrysanthemum, they weren’t just translating from Greek. 5/7
They were bringing a Hebrew word home. 6/7
From ancient Hebrew kharutz to Greek chrysos to modern Hebrew chartzit. A 3,000-year linguistic circle. Closed. 7/7

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More from @elongilad

Elon Gilad Profile picture
Aug 4
🧵 THREAD: Buy flowers in Israel today, and you'll get a zer - a bouquet. But for most of Hebrew history, zer had nothing to do with flowers. 🌸 1/13
In the Torah, zer is the golden rim around sacred objects: "You shall make a golden zer around it." 2/13
It meant a border, a crown-like edge—something holy. And after the Bible? The word nearly vanished. 3/13
Read 13 tweets
Elon Gilad Profile picture
Aug 3
🧵 THREAD: Superman’s biggest secret isn’t his identity. It’s that he’s Jewish. 🦸‍♂️ 1/12
Everyone knows Superman has a secret identity. But here’s the one nobody talks about: Superman is Jewish. 2/12
1938.Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster—two Jewish kids from Cleveland whose families fled Eastern Europe—create Superman. 3/12
Read 12 tweets
Elon Gilad Profile picture
Jul 30
1/8 🧵 Great question! What was the real pronunciation in the biblical "shibboleth" test? TD;LR It probably wasn't about "SH" vs "S" at all.
2/8 The traditional story: Ephraimites couldn't say "shibboleth" and said "sibboleth" instead. But linguistically, this makes no sense. No Semitic language shows SH merging with S, and S-speakers usually don't struggle with SH.
3/8 Here's what likely happened: The test word was שִׂבֹּלֶת with LEFT-dotted shin - that rare third sound from the original thread. It meant "flood/stream" (Psalm 69:3), not the grain we usually think of.
Read 8 tweets
Elon Gilad Profile picture
Jul 30
1/15 🧵 This Hebrew letter ש represents two sounds today: "sh" and "s." But here's a 2,000-year-old mystery that just got solved: it used to represent THREE completely different sounds.
2/15 Today we distinguish them with dots - right side for "sh," left side for "s." But why would ancient scribes create one letter for three sounds? The answer reveals secrets about how Hebrew really sounded 3,000 years ago.
3/15 Sound #1: "SH" like in shalom. This is the original sound that survived unchanged for millennia. It's the most stable of the three, appearing in Hebrew's oldest words.
Read 15 tweets
Elon Gilad Profile picture
Jul 13
🧵 THREAD: Atzabani might be Hebrew's most overloaded word. Not because it's misused — but because Hebrew speakers use it for literally every negative emotion imaginable. Here's why that's a problem. 1/8
2/ When someone says a person is atzabani, what do they mean? Nervous? Angry? Jumpy? Irritable? Tense? Bitter? Furious? The answer is: yes, all of those. One word trying to cover seven different emotional states.
3/ Modern Hebrew throws atzabani at anyone who's anxious and worried, tense or edgy, quick to snap, in a bad mood, sulking or bitter, irritable, or even completely furious. It's become the catch-all for negative emotions.
Read 8 tweets
Elon Gilad Profile picture
Jul 11
🧵 THREAD: Hebrew didn't borrow the English suffix "-able." It accidentally invented its own version — and the story shows how languages can solve the same problem in completely different ways. 1/9
2/ English has "readable," "drinkable," "breakable." Hebrew now has qari, shati, shavir. Same function, totally different system. But Hebrew had to build this from scratch.
3/ Here's why: Semitic languages work differently from English. Meanings come from root letters plugged into patterns — not suffixes. Ancient Hebrew had the qatil pattern, but it meant random things: amir ("treetop"), khalil ("flute"). No "-able" equivalent.
Read 9 tweets

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