Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 2 no. 137 January 16, 1993 1) Golodranetz (Matvey Palchuk) 2) Holedrantses (Bob Rothstein) 3) Yiddish computer programs (Dvosye Bilik) 4) Landlorikhe (Alice Nakhimovsky) 5) "Lendlord" and consonantal shift (Ellen Prince) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 14 Jan 1993 11:53:03 -0400 (EDT) From: Matvey Palchuk Subject: "golodranetz" Robert D Hoberman says: > but there are a few puzzles left. Can anyone help with the > following? We can guess, but does anyone know? > "holedrantses": Some sort of insulting term; 'hooligans', > 'good-for-nothings'? Comes from Russian "golodranetz" (singular, male). Now, the meaning is a little tricky given my tiny knowledge of English. It is an insulting term for a poor person (golyi - the first part of the word - means naked or very poorly dressed). Applies with disrespect to a poor persom acting improperly. [Cf. "golegornisht" (Podolia) --nm] > kleytl: 'bar, barroom'. It's a room within an inn or > tavern. Sounds to me like Russian "kletka" - a cell, or a literary description of an extremely small room, like a prison or monastery cell. > What's the feminine of the good Amero-Yiddish word > "lendlord"? Sholem Aleykhem uses "lendlorikhe" -- what's > that -khe suffix? I seem to remember some discussion of it > in Mendele last year, but can't recall the details. I think you are right, "kha" suffix is used in some cases to designate a feminine form of a word (usually the original word does not a feminine form, and sticking "kha" is not grammatically correct, it is used in a spoken language only. I hope this helps. Ask if you have any other questions. Matvey Palchuk Franklin & Marshall College m_palchuk@fandm.edu 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 14 Jan 1993 22:49:52 -0500 (EST) From: ROBERT A ROTHSTEIN Subject: Holedrantses The word _holedrantses_ that Berl Hoberman asked about is presumably from Ukrainian _holodrAnets'_, plural _holodrAntsi_ 'ragamuffin; beggar; poor person'. Bob Rothstein 3)--------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 Jan 93 12:56 EST From: Dorothy_BILIK@umail.umd.edu Subject: Yiddish computer programs To Jane Peppler and other mendelnikes about Yiddish computer programs.Dorothy Wasserman has two Yiddish programs for Macs and IBMs.Her address is 225 Central Park West,Phone 212 724 7756. Oykh hob ikh an onheyb far mayn tayerer dovidn ober khvell es nit citirn ingantsn,nor dermonen der vunderlikhn oneyb fun Yud Yud Zinger's Brider Ashkenazi. This is akin to telling just the punchline or the number of the song for a musician-- If you know it you know exactly what I mean, oyb nisht, leynt es. A gut yor tsu ale Mendlnikes, Dvosye Bilik. 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 Jan 93 15:28:02 EST From: alice@cs.colgate.edu Subject: Landlorikhe It seems to me that the "ikhe" suffix was probably Russian "ikha" which makes masculine professional titles feminine. For examples, try "kupchikha," an old word meaning merchant's wife (masculine "kupets," merchant), or "vrachikha" "doctor's wife" (old style), "woman doctor" (newer and usually perjorative). I'm wondering whether the landlorikhe in the play was the landler's wife or the landler herself. Not that it makes any difference... Best of luck to the translators. Alice Nakhimovsky 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 Jan 93 17:03:08 EST From: "Ellen F. Prince" Subject: "Lendlord" and consonantal shift >From: Robert D Hoberman >What's the feminine of the good Amero-Yiddish word >"lendlord"? Sholem Aleykhem uses "lendlorikhe" -- what's >that -khe suffix? just a parenthetical note: i think the usual 'amero-yiddish' word for the masculine is _lendler_. ---------------------------------------------------------- >From: STU_RWLANTZ%JMUVAX.bitnet@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu >Subject: consonantal shift > >Is it just coincidence that there is a sound shift in >Sephardic/ Ashkenaz which appears to parallel one in >Indogermanic? I think of emet/emes and das/dat, for >example. historical linguists, please correct me if i'm wrong, but my understanding is that the hebrew had a /th/ at the time of the change. yiddish speakers could not pronounce /th/ and substituted /s/ (just as german speakers still do). so the hebrew-yiddish sound change wouldn't be /t/ > /s/ but /th/ > /s/. the germanic das/dat shift is, i believe, from indo-european *d, which went to t in germanic (grimm's law) and then to ts or s (depending on position, i think) in german (and, therefore, in yiddish). cf latin duo, english two, yiddish tsvey; latin videre ('see'), english wit (old english witan 'know'), yiddish visn. so--yes, i think it's just a coincidence. ellen prince ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 2.137