Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 1 no. 81
October 8, 1991
 
1) Daven (Rick Turkel)
2) Kreplach (Tom Shannon)
3) Kreplach (Larry Horn)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 91 10:42:33 -0400
From: rmt51@cas.bitnet (Rick Turkel)
Subject: Daven

The Yiddish 'daven' is most likely from the Old French
'diviner.'  Similarly, Yiddish 'bentsh' (to recite the
grace after meals) comes from the Latin 'benedictere' via
Old French.  It may be that 'parve' is of the same origin,
but my Latin and Old French are too weak to hazard a guess
as to specifics.
 
                Rick Turkel

2)----------------------------------------------------
(Cross-posted by permission from Linguist List:  Vol-2-616.)

Date: Tue, 1 Oct 91 20:46:34 -0700
From: tshannon@garnet.berkeley.edu
Subject: Kreplach
 
Usually I ignore my urge to reply to linguistic trivia
questions and let the mavens handle them, but on the
Yiddish diminutive plurals I just couldn't resist!  Some
time ago the question intried me and I decided to look into
it, figuring, as one of our colleagues mused, that it was
either Slavic or Hebrew.  Friends told me it couldn't be
Hebrew, and it didn't look that Slavic either,
unfortunately.
 
Finally, I came up with what appears to be the right
answer, although right now I can't come up with a more
authoritative source than what I give here.  The plural
...l-ech seems to be from Germanic!  Krahe/ Meid
(Germanische Sprachwissenschaft, vol. 3), p. 194, note
about the IE collective suffix *-ahja- that it survives in
Gmc. as *-aha: cf. OGH eihhahi "Eichengehoelz", widahi
"Weidicht" rorahi "Roehricht", etc. They go on to note that
in MHG & NHG dialects (East Franconian) -(l)ech serves as a
plural suffix: MHG ermelech (< ermel) "Aermel", knehtelech
"Knechte"; and NHG dial. zaehnlich, oerhlich.  I thought I
had a more decisive reference to prove conclusively that
this was the source of the Yiddish dimunitive plural, but
that's the best I can do right now. It certainly looks
pretty good, however, faute de mieux!
 
tom shannon, uc berkeley german department
tshannon@garnet.berkeley.edu
 
3)----------------------------------------------------
(Cross-posted by permission from Linguist List:  Vol-2-616.)

Date:         Thu, 03 Oct 91 00:32:12 EDT
From: Larry Horn <LHORN@YALEVM.BITNET>
Subject:      On Kreplach and UD
 
For those of you especially interested in the multicultural
dimensions of the kreplach/wonton/dumpling/ravioli issue, I
recommend the lead article in today's (actually Wednesday,
October 2's) New York Times Living Section, "The Universal
Dumpling", by Molly O'Neill (the only food writer whose
brother is a major league outfielder).  O'Neill quotes deli
owner Joseph Ben-Moha, organizer of last week's dumpling
derby, as asking rhetorically, "What makes a wonton not a
kreplach, a kreplach not a pirogi, a pirogi not a wonton?"
While kosher caterer Dan Lenchner (whose repertoire
includes a wonton stuffed with Mexican fried beef and
chili) speculates that "small, wrapped food is a universal
concept, and while chefs Janny Leung and Tony Yep--who
describe them- selves as dumpling makers--are reported to
have "waved aside the semantics", the constraints on UD
(Universal Dumpling, of course) remain to be elucidated.
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End of Mendele Vol 1.81