brifka

English

Etymology

Yiddish בריווקע (brivke, “little letter”), a diminutive of Yiddish בריוו (briv), meaning a (postal) letter. Brifka is thus a "little letter". In turn derived from Old High German briaf, which is borrowed from Latin breve, a neuter form of Latin brevis (“short”). Cognates include Middle Dutch, Middle High German brief, and Dutch brief, Old Norse bréf, Old Saxon brēf (all of them borrowed from Latin) and English brief.

Noun

brifka (countable and uncountable, plural brifkas)

1. a small folding envelope used for keeping diamonds or other gemstones in
   • 2014, Echo Freer, Diamond Geezers:

     With a pair of tweezers, he removed a dazzling rose-coloured crystal from the brifka

2. by extension a gem envelope including its contents

Kashubian

Alternative forms

• brifkôcz

Etymology

Borrowed from German Briefträger -ka.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbrif.ka/
• Rhymes: -ifka
• Syllabification: brif‧ka

Noun

brifka f

1. postman

   Synonyms: lëstowi, lëstownik

Further reading

• Jan Trepczyk (1994) “listonosz”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “listonosz”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[1]
• “brifka”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022