Shibboleth - Definition


Shibboleth - Definition

The Hebrew word Shibboleth literally means "ear of wheat". In the Bible, pronunciation of this word was used to distinguish members of a group whose dialect lacked a "sh" sound from members of a group whose dialect included such a sound. The consequences of getting it wrong were fatal:

And the Gileadites seized the passages of the Jordan before the Ephraimites; and it was so, that when those Ephraimites who had escaped said, "Let me go over," that the men of Gilead said unto him, "Art thou an Ephraimite?" If he said, "Nay," then said they unto him, "Say now 'Shibboleth.'" And he said "Sibboleth," for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him and slew him at the passages of the Jordan; and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand. (Judges 12:5-6, King James Version of the Bible)

Today, "shibboleth" refers to words and phrases that can be used in a similar way—to distinguish members of a group from outsiders. The word is also sometimes used in a broader sense to mean specialized jargon, the proper use of which reveals speakers as members of a particular group or subculture. For example, people who regularly use words like "stfnal," "grok," "filk," and "gafiate" in conversation are likely members of science fiction fandom. Shibboleths can also be customs or practices, such as male circumcision.

Cultural touchstones and shared experience can also be shibboleths of a sort. For example, people about the same age tend to have the same memories of popular songs, television shows, and events from their formative years. Much the same is true of alumni of a particular school, to veterans of military service, and to other groups. Discussing such memories is a common way of bonding.

Some shibboleths

Scheveningen: Dutch people pronounce this word beginning with separate "s" [s] and "ch" [x]; a German would pronounce sch as [ʃ] = SAMPA [S]. The Dutch Resistance used this to ferret out Nazi spies during World War II.
Ripley/ripply: If any distinction is made between the two words by a native speaker (rip-lee vs. rip-ul-ee), one will almost certainly not be made by a native speaker of Japanese. Either pronunciation would be very difficult to say properly as the English distinction between the R and L sounds is not present in Japanese.
Leghorn: Allegedly, this word was used as a shibboleth during a war between the Chinese and Japanese, since the Japanese pronounced it as 'reghorn' (not being able to pronounce l), and the Chinese as 'legholn' (not being able to say English r). In fact, both Japanese and Chinese only have one phoneme /r/ (and no /l/ phoneme), with different allophones.
H�yryjyr�: Finnish soldiers in World War II would use this as a password, as none but a true Finnish native speaker could properly say this word, which contains a combination of Finnish �, Y, and � vowels in combination with the Finnish rolled R, or something that is unpronouncable to Russians — in IPA [høyryjyræ]. There is also a story about the Whites using "yksi" as a shibboleth in the Finnish Civil War. Communists were made to stand in line, and each one was asked to say "yksi". If the prisoner pronounced "juksi", he was a Russian foreign fighter and was shot.
R�dgr�d med fl�de: This is the standard Danish shibboleth, which exposes the speaker's skill of pronouncing the Danish throat sounds.
Fish and chips: Australians and New Zealanders sometimes tease each other on its pronunciation, usually as a joke. To Aussies, it sounds like Kiwis pronounce it "fush and chups", while Kiwis hear Aussies say "feesh and cheeps".
The Spanish word perejil (parsley) was used as a shibboleth by Dominican Republic strongman Trujillo. See [1] (http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Fall_2003/ling001/shibboleth.html).
Scilt ende vriend: On May 18, 1302, the people of Bruges killed the French occupants during a nocturnal surprise attack. They asked every suspicious person to say "scilt ende vriend" (shield and friend). The Flemings pronounced "sk", the French "sh". That way they could easily find the French. This day is known as the Brugse Metten.
H: in Northern Ireland pronounced 'aitch' by Protestants, 'haitch' by Catholics.
Chuchich�schtli with three ch [x] in Swiss German language.
In World War II, shared cultural knowledge (such as who won the last World Series) was used to detect infiltrators into U.S. forces.
Z: Canadians pronounce this as 'zed', Americans as 'zee'.

Humorous and fictional shibboleths

Unionized: Isaac Asimov introduced this shibboleth that distinguishes chemists from non-chemists. When reading this word aloud with no context, a chemist will pronounce it "un-ionized", whereas a non-chemist will pronounce it "union-ized".
Coax: Information technology professionals often pronounce this as "co-ax", short for "coaxial cable", instead of as the English word "coax".
In his essay The Shibboleth of F�anor, Tolkien describes how the Noldor elves change the sound th (SAMPA T) to s in the Quenya language. Strife occurs when the king's second wife adopts the name Indis (with an s) to emphasize her acceptance of Noldorin culture; however, king's son F�anor considered this change to be an insult to his dead mother Therind� who had refused to be called Serind�.

Some shibboleths

Humorous and fictional shibboleths

See also