[ANON POST] Endearments in Modern Hebrew

[orange_fell]

I'm looking for endearments an Israeli woman living in the US might use for (1) children, both male and female, in her care and (2) her much younger, but now grown, sister. (She still thinks of her sister as being about twelve, so it's okay if it's something you would mostly use for children.) My problem is that none of the stuff I can find is

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[umlautless]

I asked a friend of mine who lived in Israel for many years, and her response was: "Is the character Sephardi/Mizrachi or Ashkenazi?"

(I haven't paid so much attention in the past, can anon OPs respond to questions?)

[umlautless]

OP here. She's Ashkenazi. Her family is mostly English.

[umlautless]

Cool. I passed the info back, but Shabbat has started, so I won't hear back until tomorrow night at the earliest.

[umlautless]

In case you're tracking this post, my friend sort of forgot my email until just now, but adds:

Most crusty old Ashkenazi women in Israel with whom I am acquainted call people "motek." I have heard a variety of animal names used (pilpelonet--little female elephant--being my favorite), but only by affectionate people. I am not great on what crusty old Yiddish-speakers call people, though that might make sense in context. Otherwise, I might suggest using the diminutive or possessive form of each person's name--Racheli, Hananeli, maybe adding -chik to the end of something if it doesn't sound too weird

[antongarou]

Israeli here:
Where is the character from? This is pretty important. Also worth noting that even the gruffest Israelis will default to "motek(neutral form)/matok(male form)/metuka(female form)" when starting with the endearments to children: there is a reason that native Israelis were usually called Sabra, after all(thorns on the outside, sweet inside). Another factor is her age - the younger generation, like me, won't be using anything like "yakiri" which is, to us, both grandmotherish and patronizing.

[antongarou]

She was born and grew up in Jerusalem, but her parents were English. She's Ashkenazi. She was born around the late nineties, but this is set in the future, so she's middle-aged.

[antongarou]

Hmm,if her parents are first generation English Immigrants than this might complicate the picture a little: I know enough about the Jerusalem English-Speaking immigrant population to know that they tend to be distinct from your run of the mill J-m Ashkenazi, but not enough to know speech patterns. At the drop of a hat you might want to look into Yiddish terms of endearment as well, but I'm not really sure - will consult tomorrow with someone who is more familiar with the specific community.

[eumelia]

Israeli here!

"Motek" is a pretty common term of endearment that cuts across generations and ethnic differences. Most terms of endearments in Hebrew are of the "sweet" vein. "Chomed" with a hard sound like at the end of "loch" as opposed to the beginning of "chocolate" is pretty much the equivalent of darling, but depending on tone can be pretty condescending (like most terms of endearment if we're being honest).

[orange_fell]

I found this in the hebrew tag of this comm, the comments might be useful to you: http://little-details.livejournal.com/2896355.html