Re: German "Stein"

[Harlan Messinger]

ekkilu@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

> The article offers another possible explanation: it could have come
> from Yiddish:
>
> "Ich wolt gewolt ajnshtejn" / "Ich'l ajnshteijn"
> = "Ich möchte mich hier niederlassen"
> = "I would like to establish myself here"

The conjecture that someone's surname is a verb meaning "establish" 
doesn't seem compelling to me. Anyway, this is equivalent to the German 
prefix "ein-" + "stehen". (The transcription you found seems odd, using 
"sh" as though for English speakers but "j" as though for, say, Polish 
readers.)