Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.191 January 4, 1994 1) Yiddish kiddy lit (Barbara Sicherman) 2) Taytshn, etc. (Mikhl Herzog) 3) Rhymes (Tom Leverett) 4) Introduction (Robyn Sassen) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat Jan 1 12:35:40 1994 From: Barbara Sicherman Subject: Yiddish kiddy lit Was there a children's lit in Yiddish, ca. 1900, in US or Russia? I assume there was a fairy tale lit and a folk tale lit, which may or may not have been written down. But was there a juvenile lit in the sense that Little Women etc were written for young folk? Query is prompted by a passage from an imigrant who says she discovered the lit of childhood in America. It may have been metaphorical, but I became curious. Barbara 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Jan 3 07:50:05 1994 From: ZOGUR@CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU Subject: Taytshn, etc. 1. Shleyme Axelrod: "i'berzetsn--ikh zets iber" is not daytshmerish. On the other hand, "iberze'tsn--ikh iberze'ts" is. Difference in nuance? "taytshn" is certainly more usual in the "Jewish" context although it can also be used more generally too. "Men zetst iber fun frantseyzish af yidish" but "men taytsht dem khumesh" probably meaning 'to explain' as much as or more than 'to translate'. I'm trying to puzzle out the following myself and any help would be appreciated: MHG glosses the entry "diuten, tiuten" as 'bedeuten, erzaehlen, uebersetzen'; cf. Yiddish "bataytn". An entry "tiuten" is also glossed 'schallen' and 'blasen'. Yiddish knows this usage from as early as the 15th century in connection with 'blozn shoyfer', first in the forms "tutshn" or "tuetshn", later as "tetshn". Are these cognate with English "toot" and Yiddish "tut" 'paper bag' (in the shape of a cornet)? Do Germanists consider "tiuten" 'to translate' and 'to blow (a horn)' to be a case of homonymy or polysemy? MHG also glosses the entry "diutisch, diutsch, tiutisch, tiutsch" as 'adj. deutsch', and the entry "diutschen, tiutschen" as 'auf deutsch sagen' and 'erklaeren'. Is there a clear connection between "diuten, tiuten" and "diutschen, tiutschen"? The sources I've been consulting leave me with a feeling of uncertainty. 2. Perets Mett: The feeling that Litvish Yiddish grammar is closer to German is a common one. It's illusory, nevertheless. Why the impression prevails, I don't know, but a closer examination of the facts doesn't bear it out. One need only look at the "case and gender systems" as an example of how "deviant" Litvish is. Too much to deal with here. 3. Ellen: Your "pishy-tushy" analogy is a nice one. The only Yiddish childhood reference to the male organ that I recall is, strangely enough, "pipikl". Am I alone in this? While we're on the subject though, here's one I owe to Khone Shmeruk: "Yidish iz a modne shprakh: me shmekt fin a pishkele (i.e. a tabak-pushkele), in me pisht fin a shmekele". 4. Reyzl, Reyzl. Fun ergern zikh azoy ken keyn gezunt nit tsukumen, nit dir un nit undz. Zol shoyn di yeshue kumen funem rebn. Tsum nayem yor, let`s move on to other things. Mikhl 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Jan 3 16:55:32 1994 From: Tom Leverett Subject: Rhymes Here's a rhyme that we use while pounding a fist on the bottom of baby's foot: Shmid shmid shmid Nemden hamer mit Ven du vilst das ferd bashovn (bashlagn?) Musten hamer mitchik tragn Shmid shmid shmid Please excuse & correct the transliteration; I'd appreciate the corrected version. Tom Leverett leverett @ ukanvm.cc.ukans.edu 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jan 4 06:55:39 1994 From: Robyn Sassen <023CYRIL@witsvma.wits.ac.za> Subject: Introduction I am a Fine Arts graduate from the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, South Africa and I am currently poised on reading for a Masters degree (I plan to register in the first quarter of this year). My masters will focus on the question of the social phenomena of the Holocaust museums, in relation to the work of a (diasporic) artist, Mark Podwal, who deals with Jewish liturgy in relation to contemporary (Holocaustic) issues. Being a third generation Holocaust survivior, who "lost out" as it were, on the history of my grandfather's generation because of social erasure and imposed self-hatred, I am very keen to pursue what may still be there to learn - in other words, I wish to learn and recapture the essence of Yiddish. I also believe that should I gain a working knowledge of the language, it will enable me to enrich my research into my degree as well as my understanding of the questions which I raise about being a Jew in the Diaspora, and what this means, by implication, for me as a Jewess and as an artist. At the same time, I am a printmaker and an aspirant bookmaker. I am working on a letterpress which has been converted to function as an intaglio press, but am keen to start printing my own texts. I am trying to get hold of or find ways in which I can make type, both Hebrew and English, which may enable me to do this. So, that's me in a nutshell. I look forward to an interesting and fruitful relationship with this discussion group - what I have seen so far is really delightful and inspiring. A grouse dank. Robyn Sassen ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.191 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a Subject: line. 2. Sign your article. 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