Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.296 March 22, 1994 1) Canadian Yiddish dialectology (Zachary Baker) 2) Introduction (Russ Andaloro) 3) Se miglt azh! (Dovid Braun) 4) The comprehensive Yiddish dictionary project (Steve Jacobson) 5) Dudu Fischer (Meyer David) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun Mar 20 13:20:08 1994 From: Subject: Canadian Yiddish dialectology To Mark Flumerfelt's question -- "Why is it that Jews in Toronto use the pronunciation Bubbi and Zedi, while Jews in Montreal use the pronunciation Baubi and Zeda[?]" -- I recall an observation made a number of years back by Prof. Eugene Orenstein (of the Jewish Studies program at McGill University) that the core population of Jewish immigrants to Toronto came from certain districts of pre-1914 Congress Poland (specifically, Radom and I believe Kielce gubernii), while Jewish immigrants to Montreal tended to come from the Pale of Settlement proper (Belarus and Ukraine, from Podolia eastward) and Romania. As a non-linguist, I do not propose that this explains the specific variant pronun- ciations (Mikhl Herzog, as a native Torontonian, might be able to help in this regard), but the more general principle of migratory patterns does, I think, apply. And naturally, in 1920 there were a fair number of Polish Jews in Montreal and "Russian" Jews in Toronto -- the patterns were not uniform, obviously. And now a question to Mark Flumerfelt: In light of the large-scale influx of Jewish immigrants to Toronto from Quebec, are Jews in Toronto more inclined than previously to say "Baubi" and "Zeda," are the ex-Montrealers now saying "Bubbi" and "Zedi," or are these two language communities retaining their specificity? Zachary Baker 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Mar 21 11:40:55 1994 From: Subject: Introduction I am a program specialist at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona. I have a Ph.D an M.A. and two B.A.s from the University of Arizona. I was born in Wilkes Barre, Pa. and have lived most of my life in Tucson. I am fond of tradition and culture: therefore my subscription. I look forward to many monents of pleasure as I communicate on MENDELE. Thank You. Russ 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Mar 21 18:37:05 1994 From: dovid@MIT.EDU Subject: se miglt azh! ken tsayt tsu shmuesn hob ikh nit, nor ikh vil poshet dermonen, az dos vos DU host nit gehert a gevis vort af yidish heyst nit, az dos vort iz a zeltnkayt ("obscure" hot imetser gezogt vegn vort _migl(dik)_ -- shoyn eyn mol "an obscure word"!) oder gor ken vort nisht. ay, DAYN bobe, DAYN tate hot es nit genutst (oder khotsh nit genutst far dir), iz meyle. yenems bobe hot es ober YO genutst, yener shrayber hot es ober YO geshribn. ikh farnem zikh mit yidish genug lang un genug intensiv tsu farstheyn, az s'iz nito ken shir tsu dem vifl me ken nokh lernen un af vifl impresyonistishe aroyszogn zaynen nit akurat. halt in zinen: "loy _shomati_ eyno rayo". vos shayekh dem shtam _migl_ hobn mir i an adyektiv _migldik_ 'disgusting', i a substantiv _migl_ 'disgust', i a verb _miglen_ 'to disgust, to nauseate'. ober mayne beyze reyd zaynen khal nit nor af di vos hobn nit gehert _migl_, farshteyt zikh. in der hakdome tsu yudl marks _gramatik fun der yidisher klal-shprakh_ shraybt der mekhaber: "arbet zikh arayn in ir un arbet zikh arayn in ir vayl alts iz in ir" (fartaytshndik dem zog in peyrek vegn toyre-lernen: hafokh bo vehafokh dekulo bo), meynendik yidish. aderabe, lomir (un nit makhn puste aroyszogn)! se miglt fun dem. dovid braun 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Mar 21 19:36:01 1994 From: Subject: The comprehensive Yiddish dictionary project Someone asked about the present status of the comprehensive Yiddish-in-Yiddish dictionary project. I'd very much like to find out more about it too. I do have a little information. A July 2, 1993 Yiddish Forwards article one the recent death of one Saul Ferdman said that he had worked on the dictionary in question in Jerusalem from 1980 to 1989 preparing two and a half further volumes (after the first four volumes which have already been published and which go through alef). The two and a half additional volumes go through gimel, dalet, and hey. Since this is approximately one third of the way through the Yiddish lexicon (as judged by the amount these letters take up in Harkavy and in Weinreich) one can see that the original projection of twelve volumes total is pretty much on target. The article goes on to say that the project was halted for financial reasons -- which must be why the fourth and fifth volume haven't been published. The article does not say whether anyone has continued to work on the project, nor what form the work is in -- old fashioned card files still, computerized or what, nor what plans if any there are to complete it. I would like to hear more about this if anyone knows. The article I'm referring to starts on page 20 of the July 2, 1993 issue, if anyone wants to look it up, and it is signed by a Dr. Yosef Guri. Steve Jacobson 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Mar 21 22:13:18 1994 From: mhd@world.std.com Subject: Dudu Fischer David (Dudu) Fischer's tapes are available at the Workmen's Cirle Bookstore, 1-800-WC-CALL-Us. Meyer David ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.296 To subscribe, send SUB MENDELE FIRSTNAME LASTNAME to: LISTSERV@YALEVM.YCC.YALE.EDU Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a Subject: line. 2. Sign your article. 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