Today’s morning name was Zimbalist, which came to me at 4:10 am to the accompaniment of the delicious, very French, piano music of Erik Satie (to which it has no associations I can think of). I understood the name to refer to Stephanie Zimbalist, most famously (with Pierce Brosnan and Doris Roberts) a star of the American tv show Remington Steele. But then the topic branched wildly in many directions, in a way I couldn’t imagine organizing into a single posting. So, today, just one piece of that network of topics, the surname Zimbalist.
Zimbalist looks like zimbal + ist, an association surname, possibly an association to an occupation, and so it is: it’s a Slavic Jewish surname meaning ‘cimbalom / cimbal player’ (so it’s parallel to the common nouns pianist, violinist, accordionist, trombonist, clarinetist, etc.).
(The initial letter c of cimbalom represents a voiceless dental affricate [ts], spelled with a c in Russian, a z in German; because of the spelling with c, the name cimbalom is pronounced in English with an [s], and because of the spelling with Z, the name Zimbalist is pronounced in English with a [z] — yes, this is a multilingual, multiorthographic mess, but don’t blame me, I’m just the reporter.)
Now, briefly, to the instrument.
The sound of Hungary. Very briefly, from NOAD:
noun cimbalom: a large Hungarian [hammer(ed)] dulcimer (musical instrument).
Then in more detail, from Wikipedia:
The (concert) cimbalom [aka cimbal] is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in Budapest, based on his modifications to the existing hammered dulcimer instruments which were already present in Central and Eastern Europe
… The cimbalom is typically played by striking two sticks, often with cotton-wound tips, against the strings which are on the top of the instrument
To view: Hungarian gypsy street musicians performing in Copenhagen on YouTube here. And Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, played by Erzsébet Gódo, on YouTube here.
For the future: more on the family of musical instruments that embraces the cimbalom / the hammer(ed) dulcimer, the zither, and the Appalachian / mountain dulcimer.
And of course more on three generations of talented Zimbalists, on their religious affiliations, and on Zimbalistic tv shows.
Bonus: notes on occupation surnames. I was impressed by Zimbalist ‘cimbalom-player ‘ as a family name. Why aren’t there families named Linguist (or maybe Lingvist, to look more European)? That would be cool. Attached though I am to Zwicky as a surname, because of its national and ethnic associations, people find it weird and troublesome; it could be both entertaining and informative to be known as Arnold Linguist — or even better, with my snappier alternative personal name, as Alex Linguist.
Hi! Alex Linguist is my name, and morphosyntax is my game!
In fact , there are — surprise! — people with the surnames Linguist and Lingvist. Not a whole lot of them, but some. Alas, these names seem to be (simplified) variants of the Swedish surname Lindquist (meaning ‘linden twig’). Fond as I am of linden trees, I don’t think that would work for me.
May 11, 2025 at 7:02 pm |
I’m intrigued that I couldn’t find a reference on IMDb for a relationship between Stephanie Zimbalist and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (of “The F.B.I.” fame). I seem to recall they’re father and daughter.
May 11, 2025 at 7:16 pm |
That’s coming, but yes, she’s his daughter. The three generations start out in Russia and (via Philadelphia) end up in Los Angeles. Also drop their Judaism for (various styles of) Christianity. There’s really too much to write about. And I haven’t mentioned the musical instruments.
May 11, 2025 at 10:51 pm |
Phew, I’ve been utterly confounded that Satie’s music and the name Zimbalist would evoke not Efrem but Stephanie.
May 11, 2025 at 11:00 pm |
And Ephraim Jr rather than Sr.
May 12, 2025 at 4:21 am |
Patience, please; they’re all coming. And I promised you in the posting that they would come. But as for the workings of my unconscious mind, they are as they are, and I try to report on them, honestly; I’m often surprised at the associations that come to me, and *say so*. If you think my associations are somehow wrong, not the ones I should have had, then you can go to hell.
May 12, 2025 at 12:15 pm |
It would have been improbably felicitous if the name Zimbalist had been accompanied by the music of Debussy (or Fauré), specifically Pelléas et Mélisande, the libretto of which is based on a play by the symbolist Stéphane Mallarmé.