Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 1 no. 78
October 4, 1991
 
1) Galician and Lithuanian makholim (Ruvn-Mendl Turkel)
2) Food: more bibliographic references
3) The dropped post-vocalic /r/, cont. (Mikhl Herzog)
4) Food terms (Mikhl Herzog)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Oct 91 11:59:19 -0400
From: rmt51@cas.bitnet (Rick Turkel)
Subject: Poor-folks foods

My wife's aunt, a Galitzyanerke, also used to make nunt.
It seemed to me like tayglach, but with nuts instead of
balls of dough.
 
The litvak part of the family makes retach un shmaltz,
sliced red (or better, diced black) radish, diced onion and
chicken fat, salted and peppered to taste and eaten with
challah as forshpeis for shabbos lunch.  We generally
referred to it as 'instant heartburn.'  It does wonders for
the coronary arteries!  Talk about poor-folks food!
 
The correlation of geography with dialects and cooking
style allows a convenient shorthand.  Lokshen kugel is
seasoned with salt and pepper, and is best made with added
sauteed onions;  the stuff made with sugar and raisins is
kigel.
 
                Rick (Ruvn-Mendl) Turkel

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Oct 91 15:44:02 -0400
From: ROBERT.ROTHSTEIN@SLAVIC.umass.edu
Subject: Two more foodways references

Two basic sources on Yiddish food terminology  are M.
Kosover, "Yidishe makholim:  a shtudye in kulturgeshikhte
un shprakhforshung" (NY, 1958), reprinted from the "Yuda A.
Yofe-bukh," ed. Y. Mark (NY, 1958), pp. 1-145, and Y.
Elzet, "Yidishe makholim" (Warsaw, 1920) = his
"Vunder-oytser fun der yidisher shprakh", part 3.

                Bob Rothstein

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Oct 91  00:39 EDT
From: ZOGUR@CUVMB.BITNET
Subject: RE: Mendele Vol 1.75

There is considerable dropping of postvocalic  and
word-final "r" in Yiddish, usually leaving its traces in
the coloring of the remaining vowel. Speaker who retain the
"r" often have difficulty interpreting the consequence
(which are perfectly clear to the "r"-dropper who
distinguishes the articles "der" from "di" in terms of
variant wor-final shwas. The "r" dropper continues to
distinguish "de kretshme" (the innkeeper) from "di (read
upside-down "e") kretshme" (inn) though others may fail to
perceive the difference. There is   a lso an area
(Transylvania? further West?) where preconsonantal "r" is
dropped WITHOUT a trace in such word as "shvats" 'black',
"dot" 'there'. To round out the "r"-picture, there are
areas in which preconsonantal "r" merges with "x".
"hartsik" = "axtsik"; "(h)art"="axt", "hert" 'hear' =
"hext" 'pike (the fish)'. See Maps in "The Language and
Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry". Volume 1: Historical
and Theoretical Foundations. Forthcoming, 1992. Regional
mergers of dative/accusative (as in the mir/mix, dir/dix
pairs) MAY be a grammatical consequence of this
phonological development.

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Oct 91  00:18 EDT
From: ZOGUR@CUVMB.BITNET
Subject: RE: Mendele Vol 1.76

For "obvious (?)" reasons, holeptses, etc., are called
"taybelekh" in some towns in Western Poland. Nont(lekh) are
known: distribution hasn't beren mapped yet. "ptsha",
"galerite", also known as "fis".

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End of Mendele Vol 1.78