mah nishtana

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Pronunciations

mah nishtana (mah nish-tah-NAH) listen

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Definitions

Example Sentences

  • "I'm the youngest, so I want to say Ma Nishtana!" (Glinert)

    Listen to recordings of this sentence: ( Recording 1)

  • "Michael, you're so early to services for once! Mah nishtana?"

    Listen to recordings of this sentence: ( Recording 1)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH מה נשתנה ma nishtana 'what distinguishes (this night from all other nights)' > Y מה־נשתּנה ma-nishtane

      • Who Uses This

      • Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa
      • Australia / New Zealand

      Dictionaries

      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).

      Alternative Spellings

      ma nishtana, mah nishtanah, ma nishtana, ma nishtane, mah nishtane

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