Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ------------------------------------------------------- Contents of Vol. 1 no. 4 May 27, 1991 1) English in Yiddish (Ellen Prince) 2) Proverbia Judaeorum Erotica et Turpia (Yossi Galron) 1)------------------------------------------------------ Date: May 26, 1991 From: Ellen Prince (IN%ellen@central.cis.upenn.EDU) Subj: English in Yiddish anyone looking closely at yiddish is struck by the ease with which it borrowed words and phrases from the languages with which its speakers were in contact: hebrew and aramaic, plus the coterritorial languages of eastern europe. of course, this is not peculiar to yiddish; the vocabularly of english, for example, is estimated at being at least 40% french in origin (from the period of the norman conquest, beginning in 1066), and modern english has words borrowed from scores of languages. nevertheless, yiddish is special in that its speakers continue to be bilingual or multilingual, thus triggering continuous borrowing. the classified ads in the forverts are a wonderful source of data for current borrowing, since they are written by the 'man in the street', without concern for what is 'right' or 'elegant'. i have copied and tranliterated a number of them, enclosed below. what is interesting from a linguistic point of view is that the borrowed items are all 'open class' words--nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs. the grammar and the 'closed class'items-- prepositions, conjunctions, articles--are strictly yiddish. the borrowings are in caps and a gloss follows. (i did this for a linguistics class; that's why i glossed it.) enjoy, vi men zogt! 1.groyser yerlekher kosher SPESHL. kashrus unter shtrenger oyfzikht. shul oyfn plats. EYR-KONDISHOND RUMS. private BATH [with an h!]. teglekhe "MEYD" SOYRVIS. mitn tog SNEKS. yidishe SHOUS. BINGO. MUVIS. yerlekher bazis. (3/8/85, p. 28) 2.rezervirt itst far MARTSH un pesakh. KITSHEN unter oyfzikht fun... (p. 27) 3.MEYD SOYRVIS. ENTERTEYNMENT. (p. 27) 4.ale RUMS ym-aroyskuk mit KOLIR TI-VI un REFRIDZSHEREYTOR, gentslikh EYR KONDISHOND. kashrus shtreng opgehit. muzik. ENTERTEYNMENT. SOSHL programen. GALAS. PUL. fraye SHEYZES. individuele dietes. rabonisher oyfzikht. mashgikh am plats. shul. fraye AYZ KRIM servirt teglikh baym PUL. simkhe RUM SOYRVIS tsvey mol teglikh. (p. 27) 5.alts nay! EYR-KONDISHOND DAYNING RUM. LABI. kolirte TELEVIZSHON. tey-RUM. BOL RUM. FRONT mit BEY VINDOUS. GRAUND FLOR HOLIVOUD tsimern. naye MOTEL RUMS. DE-LUKS EYR KONDISHOND RUMS mit TELEVIZSHON... oykh SPESHL DAYETS un SNEKS. gute ENTERTEYNMENT. (p. 26) 6.EKSTRA SPESHL far 10 teg. STRIKTLI kosher lpesakh. nokh a SPESHL: fraye KOFIun KEYK baytog un baynakht. gants yom-tov. SPESHL niderike REYTS far SINIOR- CITIZEN grupes far pesakh, SPRING un gantsn zumer. nayer NAYT KLOB in dem MEYN-BILDING far der bakvemlekhkayt fun undzere gest. tog un nakht ENTERTEYNMENT un muzik. groysartike STAR SHOUS. zalts fraye un tsuker fraye DAYETS streng opgehit. (p. 26) 7.geshmake makholim STRIKTLI kosher lpesakh. mashgikh am plats. fule program fun ENTERTEYNMENT un SPORTS. nayer INDOR PUL. fraye tey RUM SOYRVIS. (p. 26) 8.rezervirt glaykh far pesakh! khazn avrom dubov vet onfirn mit di sederim un davnen mit dem avrom geydel simfonishn khor. faynste koshere moltsaytn. INDOR PUL un HELTH [with an h!] KLUB. fraye GOLF am plats. INDOR ayz SKEYTING RINK. SUPER INDOR tenis. tenis KOURTS far ale vetern. INDOR MINIATUR GOLF. greste STARS. LEYT SHOUS. GALA ovnt ENTERTEYNMENT. SUPERVAYZD kinder DEY KEMP. planirte programen far TIEN-EYDZSHERS. ELEVEYTOR SOYRVIS. der NAYT KLUB un DE-LUKS akomadatsies zaynen farbunden mitn MEYN-BILDING durkh farmakhte koridorn. 9. PEYNTER--ineveynik, oysnveynik, PLASTERING, fraye ESTIMEYTS, RUM $45, fentster $5. george painting cont. 932-1412. (3/22/85, p. 41) 10. TEKS RETOYRNS tsugegreyt durkh SERTIFAYD POBLIK AKAUNTENT, perzenlekhe un konfidentsiele barigung, mesiker prayz. david jacobs, cpa. (3/22/85; p. 41) 11. spring vali. bay kenedi DRAYV, groyse moderne eyn un tsvey BEDRUM APARTMENTS, mit EYR-KONDISHON, BALKONI. (914) 352-5252. (3/22/85, p. 41) 12. groyse FOYRNISHD RUM mit KITSHEN, LIVING RUM, PORTSH privilegies, YUTILITIS. (718)816-5169. (3/22/85, p. 41) 13. BIZNESMAN zukht FOYRNISHD RUM, manhetn oder kvins, beste REFERENSES. call after 6 p.m. wa8-4863. (3/22/85) 14. EKSPIRIENSD PRESER oyf "FREYMS". knit modes, 253 36th st. bklyn. 718 499-8617. (3/22/85) 15. [rubric:] KLASIFAYD EDS. 16. heri neyberg END SON. etablirt far 85 yor. LAYSENSD ONDERTEYKER. midwood memorial chapel. 1625 coney island ave. bklyn. (3/22/85; p.40) 17. dzshek yablokov LAYSENSD FYUNERAL DIREKTOR. (3/22/85; p. 40) 18. ratner's DEYRI restoran. barimt far di beste heymishe gebeksn. mir KEYTERN oykh tsu alerley simkhes un andere. private BOLRUMS. plats far 80 biz 800 mentshn. (2/6/87; p. 26) 19. di balebatim MR. un MRS. avrom apel, hartsike mentshn, pasn oyf ir zolt zikh filn gliklekh yede minut. sheyne RUMS, private BATHS, naye LABI, sheyne shul tsum davenen. sheyner DAYNING RUM, vu bloyz di beste STRIKTLI koshere makholim vern servirt. SPESHL DAYETS. ENTERTEYNMENT. un dos ales bloyz far a RIZONEYBL prayz. kumt un ibertseygt zikh. ruft glaykh: (516) ge2-9000. (Palace Hotel, 2/6/87, p. 26) 20. a monat $550. [$550 to left of 'a monat'] tsvey in a RUM oyf dingopmakh. shlist ayn: 3 moltsaytn teglekh. MEYD SOYRVIS. ENTERTEYNMENT. (An-nell Hotel, 2/6/87, p. 24) 21. rezervirt glaykh farn sezon. 3 shtreng koshere moltsaytn teglekh. KITSHEN unter oyfzikht fun MRS. d. hendel. mesike REYTS. shul am plats. (Astor Hotel, 2/6/87, p. 24) 22. ale RUMS yam-aroyskuk mit kolir TI-VI un REFRIDZSHEREYTOR. gentslekh EYR KONDISHOND. kashrus shtreng opgehit. ENTERTEYNMENT, muzik. SOSHL programen. GALAS. PUL. fraye TSHEYZES. individuele dietes. rabonisher oyfzikht. meshgikh am plats. shul. fraye ayz KRIM servirt teglekh baym PUL. the RUM SOYRVIS 2 mol teglekh. 2 fule moltsaytn teglekh (3 shabosim un yontoyvim). rezervirt itst far pesakh. mesike REYTS. (Tarleton, 2/6/87, p. 23) 23. 3 shtreng koshere moltsaytn teglekh. kashrus unter shtrenger oyfzikht. shul am plats. EYR KONDISHOND RUMS. private BATHS. teglekhe MEYD SOYRVIS. REFRIDZSHEREYTOR in yeder RUM. idishe SHOUS. BINGO. MOVIS. TI-VI. sezon SPESHL itst bizn 1tn merts. $230 teyln RUM a vokh. $360 private RUM a vokh. vekhentlekh. monatlekh. yerlekhe REYTS tsu bakumen. (Kenmore, 2/6/87, p. 23) 24. rivke rozental fun der maks rozental rayze biuro lozt visn az mir hobn itst zeyer bilike rayzes kayn yisroel. rayzes aleyn vi oykh mit PEKEDZSH TURS. eroplan TURS kayn miami, kalifornie un gants amerike tsu di mesikste prayzn. TSHARTER rayzes iber der ganser velt. far ale vos forn zikh bazetsn in yisroel vert farkoyft un geshikt elektrishe APLAYENSES tsu di bilikste prayzn. ale unter der perzenlekher oyfzikht fun rivke rozental un STEF. kumt, shraybt, oder telefonirt. (Max Rosenthal, 2/6/87, p. 13) 2)----------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, May 27, 1991 12:15:08 EDT From: Joseph Galron Subject: Proverbia judaeorum erotica et turpia I found in my late father's library a book that might interest someone on this list. The book *PROVERBIA JUDAEORUM EROTICA ET TURPIA* was published 1918 in Vienna and Berlin by R. Loewit. In the foreword to this volume it is stated that the book is a supplement to Ignaz Bernstein and B.W. Segel's *Juedische Sprichwoerterbuch* published 1908 in Frankfurt am Main. This book was published in a limited edition of 300 copies and the copy in hand is no. 262. " Wie asoi trefft a Blinder zum Weib in Bett arein? - Der Kleiner Fuehrt ehm. " --