how to say “stock exchange” in Hebrew
בּוּרְסָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בורסה-1.mp3″ /]
The Hebrew word for stock exchange, בּוּרְסָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בורסה-1.mp3″ /], originates in Ancient Greek, as it does for the same word in other languages as varied as German, Farsi and Italian.
In Ancient Greek, the word refers to a pouch made of leather, which evolved into what we call today a purse. The word bursa came to mean stock exchange after the Van Der Buerse (of various spellings) family in 13th-century Belgium made the the entrance of their home a meeting place for business people. On the door, they hung a sign displaying three leather pouches.
בורסה in Hebrew is a generic term that can apply to the stock exchange, or to the diamond exchange located in Ramat Gan, so that we have:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בורסה-2.mp3″ /]אֲנִי יוֹרֵד בְּתַחֲנַת אַרְלוֹזוֹרוֹב, לְיַד הַבּוּרְסָה.
I’m getting off (the bus) at the Arlozorov station, by the (diamond) exchange.
Officially, the בורסה when referring to the stock exchange is called הַבּוּרְסָה לִנְיָרוֹת עֵרֶךְ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בורסה-3.mp3″ /] – the exchange for stocks/securities (literally, papers of value).
