Worms makhzer couplet

גוּט טַק | אִים בְּטַגְֿא | שְ | וַיר | דִּיש מַחֲזֹור | אִין

בֵּיתֿ הַכְּנֶסֶתֿ | טְרַגְֿא

gūṭ ṭaq | ’īm bəṭaḡə’ | s̀ə | wayr | dīs̀ maḥăzōr | ’īn

bēṯ hakkənɛsɛṯ | ṭəraḡə’

Gut tak im betage / swær dis maxzor in bes hakneses trage.

‘Let a good day dawn for him / whoever would carry this prayer book to the synagogue.’

‘Dobry dzień temu niech zaświta, / ktokolwiek ten modlitewnik do synagogi by nosił.’

• gut גוּט ‘good | dobry’ = MHG guot, adjective, endingless nom. sg. masc. strong declension of MHG guot ‘good | dobry’ (cf ModGerm gut, ModYid gut גוט)

• tak טַק ‘day | dzień’ = MHG tac, masculine strong noun, nom. sg. of MHG tac, -ges ‘day | dzień’ (cf ModGerm Tag, ModYid tog טאָג)

• im אִים ‘for him | jemu’ = MHG im ~ ime ‘him, to him, for him | jemu, mu, dla niego’, 3^rd person masculine pronoun, dat. sg. of MHG ër ‘he | on’ (cf ModGerm er – ihm, ModYid er ער – im / em אים)

• betage בְּטַגְֿא ‘let dawn, may dawn | niech zaświta, oby zaświtał’ = MHG betage, weak verb, 3^rd sg. conj. pres. of MHG betagen ‘to dawn, to break (of day / dawn) | świtać, dnieć, wstawać (o dniu)’ (cf ModGerm tagen, ModYid togn טאָגן, oystogn אױסטאָגן, oyftogn / uftogn אױפֿטאָגן)

• swær שְ וַיר ‘whoever | ktokolwiek’ = MHG swër, indefinite pronoun, nom. sg. masc. of MHG swër (< sô wër) ‘whoever, anyone who | ktokolwiek, kto tylko, każdy kto’ (cf ModGerm wer, ModYid ver װער)

• dis דִּיש ‘this | ten’ = MHG diȥ ~ diz ~ ditze, demonstrative pronoun, acc. sg. neut. of MHG diser ~ dirre ‘this | ten’ (cf ModGerm dies, ModYid —)

• maxzor מַחֲזֹור ‘prayer book for the festivals | modlitewnik na dni świąteczne’ = Hebrew maḥăzọr מַחֲזֹור masc. ‘lit. cycle | dosł. cykl’ (cf ModHebr maḥazór מַחֲזוֹר, ModYid makhzer מחזור)

• in אִין ‘to | do’ = MHG in ~ en preposition ‘in, into, to | w, do’ (cf ModGerm in, ModYid in אין)

• bes hakneses בֵּיתֿ הַכְּנֶסֶתֿ ‘synagogue | synagoga, bóżnica’ = Hebrew bẹṯ hakkneseṯ בֵּית הַכְּנֶסֶת masc. ‘lit. house of assembly | dosł. dom zgromadzenia’ (cf ModHebr beyt-kenéset בֵּית־כְּנֶסֶת, ModYid beysakneses בית־הכּנסת)

• trage טְרַגְֿא ‘would carry | nosiłby’ = MHG trage, strong verb, 3^rd sg. conj. pres. of MHG tragen ~ trân ‘to carry, to take, to bring | nieść, nosić, brać ze sobą, zanosić, przynosić’ (cf ModGerm tragen, ModYid trogn טראָגן)

Short bibliography

• מאַקס װײַנרײַך, אַ ייִדישער זאַץ פֿון פֿאַר זיבן הונדערט יאָר. אַנאַליז פֿון גאָר אַ װיכטיקן שפּראַכיקן געפֿינס — ייִדישע שפּראַך, 1963, באַנד 23, נומ. 3, ז. 87‒93

• מאַקס װײַנרײַך, אױסבעסערונג צום אַרטיקל: „אַ ייִדישער זאַץ פֿון פֿאַר זיבן הונדערט יאָר“ — ייִדישע שפּראַך, 1964, באַנד 24, נומ. 2, ז. 61‒62

• Walter Röll, Das älteste datierte jüdisch-deutsche Sprachdenkmal: Ein Verspaar im Wormser Machsor von 1272/73 — Zeitschrift für Mundartforschung, 1966, 33. Jahrg., H. 2, S. 127‒138

• Solomon A. Birnbaum, Yiddish: A survey and a grammar, Manchester 1979: Manchester University Press / Toronto – Buffalo – London 2016: University of Toronto Press, pp 149‒151

• Chone Shmeruk, The versified Old Yiddish blessing in the Worms Mahzor — Malachi Beit-Arié (ed.), Worms Mahzor: MS. Jewish National and University Library Heb. 4° 781/1, Introductory volume, Vaduz 1985: Cyelar Establishment, pp 100‒103

• Jerold C. Frakes, Early Yiddish texts 1100‒1750, Oxford 2004 / 2008: Oxford University Press, pp 3‒4

• Mahzor Worms (The National Library of Israel)