About

Q

What did you say, a freylicher?

A

Yes, that's me.  A Freylicher from the Yiddish א פרייליכער means "a cheerful one", at least that's what my father told me. The last name Freylicher is similar to Freylich, alternatively spelled in English as Froehlich, Frohlich, Freilich, Freilikh, Frailich, Freylach, Freylikh, Freylach, etc., from Yiddish פרייליך -- cheerful, happy, joyous, merry (cf. Dutch vrolijk, German fröhlich - also spelled as froehlich, English frolic, frolicker).

Q

Is your site really freylicher than other sites?

A

I am sure you will find it the freylichest of all sites, but in Yiddish (and German for that matter) freylicher does not necessarily mean happier. In other words it is not necessarily a grammatical form expressing an intermediate degree of comparison of adjectives. More often than not it is a form of an adjective freylich, used with the nouns of the masculine gender in nominative case (if you know what I mean -- since there is no corresponding concept in English).

We say, for example, a freylicher mentch -- א פרייליכער מענטש, which means "a cheerful man" - ein froehlicher Mensch in German, because Mensch is a noun of masculine gender in singular form and nominative case.

We wish, however, a freyliche Chanukah -- א פרייליכע חנוכה -- die froehliche Chanukka, because Chanukka here is a noun of feminine gender in singular form and accusative case.

Possible forms include froehlicher, froehliche, froehlichem, froehliches, froehlichen, froehlichst, etc. Here is the full inflection chart.

Q

Is there any connotation with German word freylich, means "certainly, of course, sure enough, naturally" and is spelled freilich in modern German? It is more commonly used in the Bavarian area of Germany.

A

No, I am not aware of any such connotations. Here is what I found out with the help of German language experts in www.leo.org forum:

The Etymological "Duden" (which lays some claim to authority in these matters) says for 'freilich' (modern spelling of freylich): Middle High German 'vriliche' meaning "unimpeded, unconcerned", also acquired the additional meaning of "uncovered, obvious" in the 15th century and then the reinforcing meaning of "certainly"' as well as "however".

Neither it is related to freylich that means "freedman" and derived from the Middle High German word 'vrlich' - free. The first occurrence of that name is Johann Freylich, 1432, Zittau according to Hans Bahlow, Deutsches Namenslexikon. But no, not related.

Q

My great grandfather was a chief rabbi in a shtetl and I know for a fact that "happy" in Yiddish is pronounced fry-lish and rhymes with try dish ... ?

A

In the spirit of our best tradition I shall answer your question with a question.
How do you say שלום עליכם? Is it shal`om , sh`olom , or maybe sh`ulem?

In German fröhlich is usually pronounced as , but there are also German dialects which pronounce fröhlich similar to freilich . That's how your great grandfather probably pronounced it. And in written sources from the 16th, 17th century you might also find similar spellings.

In Eastern Europe it is commonly pronounced fry-likh with kh as in khan or Chanukah or, especially in Russia, fray-likh which rhymes with gray lick, but ends with kh sound, not with ck.

Q

Are there any other freylicher web sites?

A

I am not sure about freylicher, but froehlich, freylakh, freilich, and even freilicher sites they are. Check the above link and judge for yourself.

Hopefully you will find this site not only very freylicher but also useful and professional.