שִׁהֵק

The word "שִׁהֵק" (shihek) is an interesting example of the process of word innovation in Modern Hebrew. The word first appeared in the "Pocket Dictionary" published by Yehuda Grozovsky (Gur) and Yosef Klausner in 1903. The dictionary entry שַׁהֵק was defined using Russian and German verbs for hiccuping, with an asterisk indicating that the word was originally taken from rabbinic literature. However, in fact, the word is not documented in rabbinic literature. It appears that Grozovsky relied on Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, who believed he had found the verb in a story about a donkey that appeared in Avot de-Rabbi Nathan (8): "When he was on the road, he was playing (mesachek) and came until he reached the doorway of R. Hanina ben Dosa, and began to bray." Ben-Yehuda thought that the word "mesachek" (playing) was not appropriate in this context and determined that it was a corruption of "meshahek." He based this on the Arabic verb sh-h-q, whose meanings include "to make the sound of a donkey" as well as "to hiccup." Since Hebrew already had a verb used for the meaning of making a donkey sound - na'ar, Ben-Yehuda dedicated the verb shihek to the meaning of diaphragm contraction.