Shibboleth facts for kids
A shibboleth is a special word, phrase, or even a way of speaking that helps tell one group of people apart from another. Think of it like a secret handshake, but with words! Throughout history, people have used shibboleths like passwords. They show who belongs to a group and who doesn't.
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What is a Shibboleth?
A shibboleth is any custom or tradition that sets one group of people apart. It can be a word, a phrase, or even how someone pronounces something. These special identifiers help people show their loyalty to a group. They also help identify outsiders.
Where Does the Word "Shibboleth" Come From?
The word "shibboleth" comes from the Hebrew language. The original Hebrew word shibbólet (שִׁבֹּלֶת) means a part of a plant. It refers to the head of a stalk of grain, like wheat or rye.
The Ancient Story of Shibboleth
The modern meaning of shibboleth comes from an old story in the Hebrew Bible. This story is found in the Book of Judges, chapter 12. It tells how a word's pronunciation was used to tell friends from enemies.
Around 1370–1070 BC, the people of Gilead won a battle against the tribe of Ephraim. The Ephraimites were trying to escape by crossing the Jordan River. But the Gileadites guarded the river crossings.
To find and stop the Ephraimites, the Gileadites asked everyone trying to cross to say the word shibboleth. The Ephraimites had a different way of speaking. They pronounced the word more like sibboleth. This small difference in pronunciation helped the Gileadites identify them.
The King James Bible describes this event:
And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.
This story shows how a simple word became a test of identity.
Shibboleths Today
The idea of a shibboleth is still important today. It can be any word, phrase, or way of speaking that shows someone belongs to a specific group. For example, people in certain jobs might use special jargon that only others in that job understand. Or, people from different regions might pronounce words differently. These differences can act as modern-day shibboleths.
Images for kids
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A New Orleans resident challenges out-of-towners who had come to protest against the 2017 removal of the Robert E. Lee Monument. The out-of-towners' inability to pronounce "Tchoupitoulas Street" according to the local fashion would be a shibboleth marking them as outsiders.
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Doris Salcedo's artwork Shibboleth, at Tate Modern, London
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See also
In Spanish: Shibboleth para niños
