Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.156 December 6, 1993 1) Introduction (Dia Winograd) 2) Word order (Jason Berman) 3) Word order (Hershl Berman) 4) L'koved yontef (Noyekh Miller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun Dec 5 02:10:33 1993 From: Dia Winograd <72674.3235@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Introduction If you think my computer expertise is bad, wait till you hear my Yiddish. However if enthusiasm counts, I'll be a member of the first water. I heard Yiddish as a child, but I spoke for the first time when I went to Russia in May of this year. For much of my three weeks there I spoke nothing else by necessity. I even appeared on T.V. speaking in Yiddish and having it translated into Russian. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Liba Yenta Winograd 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun Dec 5 04:17:49 1993 From: BERMAN Subject: Yiddish word order (my last contribution) I want to assure Mr. Bochner, and any one else that is still reading these entries, that I (that is ME as opposed to others named Berman) never claimed that my knowledge of Yiddish, or Yiddish grammar, came from any particular source, especially Weireich. However, I would still argue (well, maybe argue is too strong a word - can any of the linguists help me out?) that by far the dominant tendency in Yiddish is to place the verb as I described. The examples given by Mr. Bochner are unarguably there in the book as he promised but they occcur as part of a story, and are thus in a literary context. As he even pointed out, the sentenses in isolation do sound strange and, I would add, incorrect. It is true that in Yiddish, as in any language, one will sometimes intentionally use an alternative structure to draw attention to the sentence or a particular point it is making. This does not diminish the fact that the constuction was not grammatically correct, but rather enhances it. It is precicely BECAUSE the sentense is ungrammatical that it attracts the desired attention, just as my unusual use of upper case letters was used to emphasise a word in a medium that does not allow bold face or italics. For fluent speakers who have mastered a language, such departures from the grammatical norm are considered creative forms of expression and can well be appreciated by the readers or listeners who experience them. For those who are in the process of learning the language, such departures are usually mistakes, and should still be corrected until such time as they are made intentionally. For those of you who read Mendele to help you learn Yiddish, please put the verb in second position except when using the imperative tense (then put the verb first). i promise you all that, no matter how much abuse I receive in the future, I will let this letter stand as my last contribution to this particular subject. A gutn tog eich alle (gasp! no verb at all!) Jason Berman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun Dec 5 16:07:00 1993 From: Hal Berman Subject: Khaim Bochner's Word order comments It is getting quite tiresome to keep being told that I am wrong, especially when the evidence to support such a statement proves that I am correct. In sentences such as the one in question in Weinreich: "hobn es di tsvey brider gekoyft." Mr. Bochner himself admits that the sentence, out of context, is meaningless. That is because of another aspect of Yiddish which every good grammatical scholar learns: the implied word. The sentence is translated to: "So the two brothers bought it." "So" is "To" (Tes, komets alef). The word "to" is omitted in the sentence yet it is implied. Instead of "to" as the first sentence unit, the previous sentence becomes the first sentence unit. This is different from starting off a new idea with a verb. In fact, I can not even think of a situation in correctly spoken (non-poetic license) Yiddish where I would do it, even incorrectly. Note that this does not apply to imperatives. Hershl Berman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat Dec 4 18:11:01 1993 From: norman miller Subject: L'koved yontef A week or so ago Andrew Cassel asked for a synopsis of Sholem Aleichem's "Vos iz Khanuke". Since there were no volunteers and since I'm the one who mentioned it in the first place, here is my version. The story, written in 1901, begins with an invitation (in Russian) to celebrate Chanukah at the house of Platon Pantalonovitch Lokshentopoff, an alrightnik sh'b'alrightnikes. No need to describe to Mendelnikes what the guests were like. Needless to say, there's no sign of Chanukah anywhere: everyone is busy playing cards. The narrator strikes up a conversation with a young man named Yontevzohn who not only doesn't know what Chanukah is all about but is willing to bet 25 rubles that no one else in the roomful of Jews knows either. The two wander around from group to group with predictable results. Finally: "Grishko! Grishko!" tseshrayt zikh Yontevzohn un shtelt op a spritne yungele fun a yor nayn oder tsen, mit brenendike shvartse oyglekh, vos loyft forbay unz. "Grishko! Grishko! Kum nor aher, neshome mayne, ikh vil dikh epes freygn". Grishko geyt tsu tsu Yontevzohnen, vi tsu a gutn bakantn, un hoybt oyf tsu im di shvartse brenendike oyglekh. "Zog nor, Grishko, neshome mayne, Idish lernst du?" "A kak zhe?" makht Grishko. "Alef, Beys, Gimel, Reysh.." "Bravo! Molodyets!" makht tsu im Yontevsohn mit a knip in bekl. "Zog nor, Grishko, do veyst, az s'iz faran aza yomtov vos me ruft dos 'Khanuke'?" "A kak zhe?" makht Grishko. "Zogt zhe mir, mayn tayerer, vos iz dos Khanuke? "Khanuke?" makht Grishko un zayne shvartse brenendike oyglekh loyfen arum hin un tsurik, aroyf un arop, vi di mayzlekh. "Khanuke? "Khanuke? Saytchos!.. Der papashe..di mamashe.. der papashe est..vi azoy heyst dos?..matze mit shalokhmones..un di mamashe dreyt a vayse hun ot azoy... i kushayut Yevreyski kreplyeki (un me est Idishe kreplekh). Grishko vayst mit di hentlekh oyfn kop vi azoy di mame zayne shlogt kapores, un balekt zikh fun di Idishe kreplekh... ***** This is the version in the Forverts Oysgabe (N.Y. 1944) as well as in the Sholem Aleychem Folksfund Oysgabe (N.Y. 1925). But somewhere a long time ago I read a version with the action taking place on Fifth Avenue, the invitation is in English, etc. Could someone steer me to the book in question? A dank aykh. Un a freylikhn yontif. Noyekh ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.156 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a Subject: line. 2. Sign your article. Send submissions/responses to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Other business: nmiller@starbase.trincoll.edu Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files