2 ms·
One interesting annecdote: combinatory logic uses single letter names for all its combinators (S, K, I, etc). Those names are all in german, despite being inven
by ufo 2y ago
One interesting annecdote: combinatory logic uses single letter names for all its combinators (S, K, I, etc). Those names are all in german, despite being invented by a Russian jew (Moses Shoenfinkel) and further developed by an american (Haskell Curry). Both worked at Göttingen at the time.
- thaumasiotes 2y ago> despite being invented by a Russian jew (Moses Shoenfinkel) Interestingly, that name doesn't look particularly Russian. German Jews often possess incredibly Slavic names like "Moskowitz", suggesting an unclear boundary between being "German" vs "Russian".
- arrosenberg 2y agoIt’s most likely because Russian and Steppe jews arrived from the Rhine area after the black plague.
- thaumasiotes 2y agoSo, "German Jews" come from Russia, but "Russian Jews" come from Germany? Moskowitz in particular is the German spelling of a Russian patronymic identifying the man's father as having a Yiddish name. That's several cycles of transferring between Russia and Germany.
- arrosenberg 2y agoYes, in fact! Ashkenazi Jews were diaspora’d to the Rhine by the Romans and to Poland by middle age German polities for “causing the black plague”. The Russians conquered the areas of the Steppe they settled. There was an exodus of Russian Jews to the west during the pogroms of the early 1900s, with many (including my great grandparents) settling in Austria and Germany.