Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.317 April 15, 1994 1) Dana (Holger Nath) 2) Dona, dona (Bob Rothstein) 3) Feygele (Rafoel ben Yehuda Eliezer) 4) Petsha redux(Bob Rothstein) 5) Fregn fregt men (Yude Rozof) 6) Ton/tin and verbal repetition (Rick Gildemeister) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Apr 14 21:45:25 1994 From: hn6@columbia.edu Subject: re: dana I don't really know the meaning of the word "Dana" (Yiddish song books, published in Germany, generally explained it as an abbreviation of "Adonay", but I don't find it convincing.) However, I can give you some information about the origin of the song (Khane Mlotek pointed this out to me a few years ago): It was written by Aaron Zeitlin, music by Sholom Secunda. It was originally part of the play: Esterke un Kazimir der groyser. Zeitlin published the play in the journal *Globus* (Warsaw, 1932). In 1940, the play premiered in New York in a revised version by Zeitlin. The words to "Dana" have frequently been attributed to Yitskhok Katsenelson, but this has proven to be untrue. BTW, YIVO has the program of a performance of "Esterke un Kazimir der groyser" with a reference to and the words of "Dana" in its archives. Holger Nath 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri Apr 15 00:44:47 1994 From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: Dona, dona In response to Daniella HarPaz's inquiry about the song "Dona, dona": The song is included in Khane (Eleanor Gordon) and Yosl (Joseph) Mlotek's collection, _Pearls of Yiddish Song/Perl fun yidishn lid_, published by the Arbeter Ring in New York in 1988. In their introduction to the song, which was written by Aaron Zeitlin (1889- 1973) with music by Sholom Secunda (1894-1974), they point out that it was originally entitled "Dana, dana, dana" and was written for Zeitlin's play _Esterke_, which Maurice Schwartz produced in 1940-41. The word _dana_ is a joyful exclamation used in Polish and other Slavic folk songs, often in formulas like _oy, dana, dana_. Bob Rothstein 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Apr 14 23:39:54 1994 From: rafoelg@aol.com Subject: Feygele I remember the expression "toom-tam" being used "by mir in der heim", I never heard "feygele" until I came to the USA. A gutten Shabbos Rafoel ben Yehuda Eliezer 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri Apr 15 00:36:13 1994 From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: Petsha redux Devorah Sperling, who is not currently on the net, asks about the etymology of the gastronomic term _petsha/petshe/petsa_. The dish itself was the subject of various opinions pro and con some time ago on Mendele. Incidentally, Stutchkoff (in his _Oytser fun der yidisher shprakh_) gives many synonyms (or regional variants): fus, fis, geshtelte/fargliverte fis, krazlfus, grayshlfus, fusnoge, fusnohe, drilye/drelye [perhaps from Ukrainian _drahli_], galyer(te), ishkes, kholodets, shtuding, zhele, geliverts, gegliverekhts, kvashene. Bob Rothstein 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri Apr 15 01:56:52 1994 From: jrosof@sas.upenn.edu Subject: fregn fregt men A hartsikn dank aykh Froy Noe far ayere meynungn legabe "me tut fregn." Ir zent mistome gerekht az s'nemt zikh fun di dialektn fun bayern, estraykh, un shveytsarye. Ikh hob dem "ton" gefunen bederekh klal nor in alte dokumentn vos af zey hot mayrev yidish mashpie geven. Inem hayntikn yidish vos iz dokh bazirt afn mizrekh loshn gefint men dem dozikn banits fun "ton" zeyer zeltn (gornisht?). Me nutst yo an ander banits fun "ton" vos nemt zikh fun slavishe shprakhn: gib a kuk/er hot a kuk geton. Ir fregt vegn dem fartopltn verbn in yidish. Ot vi ikh farshtey dos: Heysn heysn ikh varshavski nor kumen kum ikh fun vilne. Do fartoplt men dem verb bikhdey tsu farshtarkern a kontrast: khotsh mayn nomen hot dem batayt az ikh bin a varshever, dem emes gezogt bin ikh take a vilner yid. Dos nitsn dem fartoplform kdey tsu farshtarkn nemt zikh ikh meyn fun loshn-koydesh. Oyb ikh hob nisht keyn toes hot ha kadoysh borkhu gezogt tsu odm ha-rishn un khave ha-rishoyne in ganeydn az zey torn fun dem boym fun visn nisht esn "ki mot tamut" - vayl af yenem tog vet ir bashtimt umkumen. Do nitst dos loshn koydesh mot tamut mitn batayt ir vet BASHTIMT SHTARBN. Dos fartopln dem verb farshtarkt dem batayt. Fun loshn koydesh iz dos ariber in mame-loshn. Yude Rozof 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri Apr 15 09:23:05 1994 From: EEGLC%CUNYVM.bitnet@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu Subject: Ton/tin and verbal repetition Kathleen Rose Noe brings up an interesting aspect of verbal construction in Yiddish. In Yiddish as opposed to German, I think the main divergence is in the purpose of ton/tin used with the verb, and that has to do with aspect. It's a hard thing for English speakers to grasp; compare it to French or Spanish, where there is a distinction between perfect and imperfect. Example: Ikh hob gelernt; Ikh hob oysgelernt. Ikh kuk; ikh tu a kuk. German lacks this entirely. "Zingen zingt er" doesn't exist in German. This repetition of the verb requires that the stems be phonetically the same, which is why you get "Izn iz er". And now, I'll say what Kathleen said, Someone please correct me if I'm wrong or have missed something. Rick Gildemeister ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.317 A Table of Contents is now available via anonymous ftp, along with weekly updates. Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files Archives available via gopher on: gopher.cic.net Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line. 2. Sign your article. To subscribe, send SUB MENDELE FIRSTNAME LASTNAME to: LISTSERV@YALEVM.YCC.YALE.EDU Send submissions/responses to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Other business: nmiller@starbase.trincoll.edu