Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.121 January 26, 1999 1) geografishe adyektivn (Mordkhe Schaechter) 2) geografishe adyektivn (Feygl Infeld Glezer) 3) Shtetl house (Lawrence A. Coben) 4) nitl (A Manaster Ramer) 5) new movie (Yale Strom) 6) Naye redkolegye fun Di Tsukunft (Shaya Mitelman) 7) pamelekh (Rose Robbins) 8) "A Meal for the Poor" (Avrum Yitzkhok Blair/Moishe Mermelstein) 9) treyf, sreyfe, etc. (Bill Weigel) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 22:34:44 -0500 (EST) From: MSchaecht@aol.com Subject: geografishe adyektivn Khaverte Safadi hot Shekhtern falsh tsitirt un bemeyle farkokht a kashe. Ikh hob nisht gezogt in Yidish tsvey stam azoy, az geografishe adyektivn beygt men. Varshever - in nominativ, dativ, akuzativ - nisht geboygn. Amerikaner blaybt amerikaner oykh in dativ un akuzativ. (Nor in Raysn/Vaysrusland vert fun amerikaner in dativ-akuzativ -- dem amerikanem, ober dos iz in literarishn yidish kemat vi nishto.) Nor ven der geografisher adyektiv hot oder dem sufiks -(i)sh, oder dem sufiks -(d)ik, vert der adyektiv geboygn: der amerikanisher, dem amerikanishn; di amerikanishe (loshn-nekeyve un loshn-rabim), der amerikanisher (dativ fun loshn-nekeyve). In dem prat iz der geografisher adyektiv nisht andersh fun ale andere adyektivn af -(i)sh un -(d)ik. Vi me zogt American woman? Oder amerikaner froy (-aner vert dokh nisht flektirt), oder amerikanishe froy (a geografisher adyektiv af -ish vert dokh yo flektirt). Al dos guts, Mordkhe Schaechter/Shekhter 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 23:14:29 -0500 (EST) From: Feigl I Glaser Subject: geografishe adyektivn u.a. Di mendlyanerke Mikhaele Safadi hot zikh nokhgefregt vegn dem sufiks fun geografishe adyektivn. Ikh volt ibergezetst azoy vi Weinreikh un Katz: 1) the American man -- Der Amerikaner man; 2) the American woman -- Di Amerikaner froy, 3) the American land -- Dos Amerikaner land oder Di Amerikaner erd. Ikh bin a froy fun Lodzh -- A Lodzher froy; Di kinder oyf der lodzher gas hobn nit geredt azoy vi mir "Tsisho"- shiler. Di Lodzher kinder hobn nit geredt kayn literarishn klal-Yidish vi mir. Mir, di Lodzer, Tsisho shiler hobn geredt mit a lodzer dyalekt, ober in literarishn klal-Yidish. Vi ir zet, hot men nit geboygn di geografishe adyektivn (ober eyntsol - der Atlantisher okean) un (mertsol - di Atlantishe lender), un "der Isroeldiker man, di Isroeldike prese, dos Isroeldike lebn. Fun dem iz gedrungen as nor ven men git tsu tsum geografishn adyektiv dem sufiks "dik" vert der geografisher adyektiv geboygn. Moyshe Felner hot gebetn m'zol im tsushteln Yidishe idyomatishe oysdrukn far buttering up someone. Ikh volt gezogt: "Unterlekn zikh", "kushn yenem dem hintn", "shmirn", "az me shmirt, fort men ", (khotsh dos meyn untertsukoyfn mit gelt), khanfenen zikh, unterkhanfenen, ad"gl. Itsik Goldenberg fregt vegn "Tumbalalaylke". Yo, mir hobn gezungen: Shteyt a bokher, trakht un er trakh, Trakht un trakht a gantse nakht - Vemen tsu nemen un nit farshemen=20 Efsher a tsveyter vet zikh gor klemen. Tumbala, tumbala, tum-balalayke(2), Tum-balalayke, shpil balalayke, Shpil balalayke, Freylekh zol zayn! Meydl, meydl, kh'vil bay dir fregn - Vos ken vaksn, vaksn on regn? Vos ken brenen un nisht oyfhern? Vos ken benken, veynen on trern? Narisher bokher, vos darfstu fregn? A shteyn ken vaksn, vaksn on regn; Libe ken brenen un nisht oyfhern; A harts ken benken, veynen on trern. (Veynik bakanter teyl fun Tumbalalayke-retenishn: generally unknown in the USA): Vos iz hekher fun a hoyz? Vos iz flinker fun a moyz? Vos iz tifer fun a kval Un vos iz biterer fun gal? A koymen iz hekher fun a hoyz. A kats iz flinker fun a moyz. Dos lebn iz tifer fun a kval. Der toyt iz biterer fun gal. Vos far a milner iz on a mil? Vos far a lefl iz on a shtil? Vos far a meylekh iz on a land Un vos far a vaser iz on zamd? An opgebrenter milner iz on a mil. A tsebrokhener lefl iz on a shtil. Der meylekh fun kortn iz on a land. Dos vaser fun oyg iz on a zamd. flinker - faster kval - spring, well gal - gall, bile, gall-bladder milner - miller shtil - shaft, handle meylekh - king zamd - sand opgebrent - burned down Mit khaverishe grusn, Feygl Infeld Glezer 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 22:37:30 -0500 (EST) From: "Lawrence A. Coben" Subject: Shtetl house Alla Sokolova (08.105) asks about the words "Zol' - a kind of a sitting room," and "Uz - a stable." From Mikhl Herzog's helpful posting (08.108), we learn that the word zol, in standard form is zal, and that the word uz, in standard form, is hoyz. These two words, zal and hoyz, were discussed during my interviews with a woman who was born in Ukraine in 1905 and lived in her shtetl until 1919. Although she lived in the neighboring Kiev province, not in eastern Podolia, her experience may be of interest to Ms. Sokolova. She defined a zal in her shtetl as a formal living room; in other words, a parlor, a room in which visitors are received and entertained. Her poor family lived in a duplex house, in two rooms-a bedroom and a combined kitchen and dining area-without a zal, but her grandmother lived in a larger house that had a zal. [For the word zal, Weinreich's dictionary gives hall, auditorium, and parlor (Weinreich, Schocken, 1977). Harkavy gives saloon, hall, and parlor (Harkavy,1928)] The word hoyz had two meanings in her shtetl, as we also learn from Mikhl Herzog. One was the whole house, but she called that a shtibl. The other meaning was the entry chamber attached to the outside of the house-the vestibule or foyer. The foyer was a large, almost barn-like structure attached to the house, usually but not always on the long side nearest the street. It served not only as the chamber to be entered before opening the door to the interior of the house proper, but also as a storage area, as the place of entry for both the cellar and the attic, as a place to keep animals, and, in the houses of some craftsmen such as shoemakers and tailors, as a work area. The floor had the shape of a long rectangle whose short side was wide enough to allow a peasant to drive his wagon, pulled by one or two horses, completely inside. To allow the wagon to enter, the foyer had a large doorway, a toyer in Yiddish, consisting of a pair of large doors, wide and tall like barn doors, opening outward into the yard. In contrast, a person would usually enter the foyer through a smaller single door, which in some foyers was separate, but in others was an inset in one of the larger doors. The foyer, having no ceiling, was in open communication with the attic of the one-story house. She clearly stated that people in her shtetl called the foyer a hoyz. She suggested that a logical word for it would have been forhoyz (because it was entered first), but nobody ever called it that. This agrees with Mikhl Herzog's information that the foyer was called hoyz in some areas but forhoyz in others. [Weinreich, for foyer, gives forhoyz, and for forhoyz gives hall, lobby, antechamber; he does not list vestibule. Harkavy, for vestibule, gives forhoyz, and for forhoyz gives lobby, hall; he does not list foyer.] Some coachmen kept their horses in a large stable at the center of town, while others had stables at their houses. One prosperous coachman's house was much longer than most houses, and attached to it was a stable sheltering several horses and coaches. She did not specifically say that his stable was the hoyz, so it may not have been the hoyz, but instead an extra attachment to the house, i.e., the stable may have been attached to the back of the house, while the hoyz was at the front. No mention was made of a hoyz used as a stable, and unfortunately for the present question, I did not ask whether any hoyz served as a stable for horses. On the other hand, a hoyz was so large that it probably could have been used as a horse stable. People commonly kept small animals in the hoyz. Her grandmother kept six goats in her hoyz. Although dictionaries differ, one meaning of the word stable is a building for lodging and feeding domestic animals, which would include goats. By that definition, her grandmother's hoyz, with its six goats, was a stable. Thus,it might not be surprising to hear that in some other shtetl, the word hoyz was used to mean a stable, although apparently in her shtetl it was not. Lawrence A. Coben 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 16:25:38 -0500 (EST) From: manaster@umich.edu Subject: nitl It seems to me that nitl cannot be directly derived from a Romance (Latin, Italian) source because the first vowel would then have 'a' in Yiddish. Wexler's proposal, as reported by Mikhl Herzog, that there was a contamination with Hebrew nitla seems to me a sensible idea. So the Yiddish word should be viewed as having two sources, one Romance, the other Hebrew--probably. A Manaster Ramer 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 22:45:29 -0500 (EST) From: Yitztyco@aol.com Subject: new movie Dear Mendelanyers, Many of you know me as a klezmer, documentary filmmaker who has done a lot of research in Eastern Europe among the remnant Jewish communities and their Rom neighbors. Recently I have begun directing my first fiction feature film...a coming - of - age story about a subway busker who becomes a student of the "king of the buskers" - our second lead actor. This actor (James Earl Jones) plays jazz, classical, and klezmer music. The klezmer music will be music from the Bukowina region. Bukowina of course being the oblast where much discussion has taken place here about the 90th anniversary of the Czernowitz Yiddish conference. Look for the film ("Q.T.") sometime later this year. ale mentchen bleibn ruik..... Yale Strom 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 23:12:11 -0500 (EST) From: Serge Mitelman Subject: Naye redkolegye fun Di Tsukunft. Mir viln miteyln, az fun numer 103 (oygust-september 1998) se zenen forgekumen enderungen in der redaktsye-kolegye fun Di Tsukunft - a literarisher zhurnal, vos vert aroysgegebn funem alveltlekhn yidishn kongres. Vayzt zikh aroys, az se zenen geshtorbn tsvey mitglider fun der redaktsye-kolegye - Khunen Kiel un Avrom Vilk - un makhmes perzenlekhe sibes hot zikh fun der redaktsye tsurikgetsoygn der dikhter Mates Olitski. Derfar hot men tsu di farblibene tsvey mitredaktorn (Yosl Mlotek un Yoni Fayn) yetst tsugetsoygn tsvey naye redaktsye-kolegn - dem shrayber un literatur-forsher Khaim Beyder, velkher iz mit etlekhe yor krik gekumen fun Moskeve, vu er iz geven a redkolegye mitglid fun Di yidishe gas (un frier oykh Sovetish heymland) un iz a shtendiker mitarbeter fun Forverts, un dem in Amerike geboyrenem yungn yidishn shrayber un mitarbeter fun YIVO, Hershl Gleyzer, velkher iz biz yetst geven der sekretar un korektor fun ot dem zhurnal. Mir bagrisn di naye mitredaktorn un hofn, az der eltster yidisher zhurnal Di Tsukunft, vos iz arayn in dem 106tn yor fun zayn ekzistents (gegrindet in 1892), vet nokh hobn a lange un sheferishe tsukunft! Adres fun redaktsye un farvaltung: ZUKUNFT 25 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010 Telefon (212) 505-8040 Shaya Mitelman 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 22:58:12 -0500 (EST) From: Rose Robbins Subject: pamelekh I would like to comment that my parents used both words, pavolye and pamelekh to mean slow, gentle and that I have not heard the word shtat ever used by them. Rose Robbins 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 13:19:18 -0500 (EST) From: ALLANBLAIR@aol.com Subject: "A Meal for the Poor" There is a short story which appears Irving Howe and Eliezar Greenberg's book, A Treasury of Yiddish Stories, A Meal for the Poor by Mordechai Spector. I need some information about this story: - The name of this story in Yiddish (the name is different from the name that the translator gave it. - The book that has the original story written in Yiddish. - Where can I buy, or at least search for this book? Avrum Yitzkhok Blair/Moishe Mermelstein 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 23:56:13 -0500 (EST) From: weigelw@socrates.berkeley.edu Subject: treyf, sreyfe, etc. Perhaps someone can help with an etymological puzzle. I am collecting words that lost their final vowel in the transition from Hebrew to Yiddish. For example, 'treyf' and 'sreyfe' are derived from Hebrew words that are identical except for the first consonant, but 'treyf' lost its final qometz, while in 'sreyfe' the vowel was merely reduced. Does anyone know why? I think the female given name 'Hadass' is another example. (I haven't been able to find anything about this question in M. Weinreich or elsewhere.) Also, if you know of any more such Hebrew words that lost their final vowel in Yiddish, I'd like to hear about it. Thanks. Bill Weigel Berkeley, CA ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.121 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu Mendele on the Web: http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele http://metalab.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html