Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Cohen, Izzy" <Izzy_Cohen AT bmc.com>]

>> The Hebrew word for bear is DoV.
>> Hence, DoVen-ing.

Hi, Shoshana

> Except that the word is DAVen
> And I think it is Yiddish

You are right, twice. The usual English transliteration 
is "daven". In "The Joys of Yiddish" Leo Rosten says: 
  Pronounced DAH-ven, to rhyme with "robin".

But in American Yiddish dialects, it may sound more
like "doven", to rhyme with "oven"... and Random House 
does give "doven" as an alternative spelling in English 
with the derivation "< Yiddish davnen, dovnen".

> You knew that, you were just teasing us...
> Shoshanna

Yes, but Rosten also says:
  The origin of daven is unknown; it may be descended 
  (remotely) from the French: l'office divin, "divine 
  service". The word daven, incidentally, is used only 
  by east European Jews, and those descended from them.

And izzy (that's me) says:
The Yiddish word for bear is BeR, but the Hebrew word 
DoV = bear is well-known to Yiddish speakers. It was a 
not-uncommon Yiddish first name with the meaning "bear".

BTW, I cannot *disprove* any of the etymological 
suggestions that were made in the Doven-ing post 
that I sent to the list earlier.

ciao,

Israel Cohen 
izzy_cohen AT bmc.com