Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.019 June 10, 1994 1) Pro-drop as mentioned in Yiddish grammars (Dovid Braun) 2) Kibosh per Leo Rosten (Yale J. Reisner) 3) Tax farmer (Yale J. Reisner) 4) On "(to work) nights" (Zev Bar-Lev) 5) Vi zogt men "hold" (noun)? (Odem Vaytman) 6) The Singer brothers (Dan Leeson) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Jun 8 14:20:24 1994 From: dovid@MIT.EDU Subject: Pro-drop as mentioned in Yiddish grammars Ellen, Thumbing through Dovid Katz's grammar I noticed the following (you might find other references in the book -- I wasn't looking specifically for pro-drop): p. 196 "Questions may be formed by inversion of subject and predicate. The predicate consists of the inflected verb. Thus, "du kumst morgn" 'You are coming tomorrow?' --> kumstu morgn? 'Are you coming tomorrow?' When inversion results in the sequence of second person familiar verb ending -st + pronoun du, the two are obligatorily conflated to ending -stu (or, less formally, to -st) which is suffixed to the verb." p. 166 "Imperative use of zoln frequently has a softer tone than the grammatical imperative, implying friendly advice rather than a command. Familiar second person pronoun du is usually omitted and zolst used on its own. When du is retained the resulting mood is one of scolding or warning (as harsh or harsher than the grammatical imperative)." Dovid Braun 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Jun 9 10:30:26 1994 From: REISNER%PLEARN.bitnet@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu Subject: Kibosh per Leo Rosten Sheldon Benjamin asks (4.015) what evidence Leo Rosten brings for a Yiddish etymology for "Kibosh." The answer is virtually none, leaving him stumped. He cites entry after entry from various dictionaries, all of them (with one bizarre exception) either NOT suggesting Yiddish etymology or suggesting it without corroboration. the exception is an assertion by Alfred H. Holt in _Phrase and Word Origins_ citing a "Mr. Loewe" as claiming the word is an acronym of four consonants "representing eighteen pence." Rosten, puzzled, guesses at an acronym of "khai 18 britishe shekolim," but complains that he'd expect "kibRosh" in that case. His only other (unsubstantiated) association is with a Hungarian\Romanian card game called kalabriasz "mispronounced Klabiotch by Jews." That's all he writes. Regards, Sheldon, to Idie. Yale J. Reisner 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Jun 9 10:30:42 1994 From: REISNER%PLEARN.bitnet@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu Subject: Tax farmer Howard Kaplan asks (4.017) that I explain "in English" what a tax farmer is. The American Heritage Dictionary explains as follows: "2. _Archaic_. One who has paid for and holds a concession on the rights of collecting and retaining taxes." This was a common Jewish occupation in Eastern Europe. I guess the use of farmer is in the sense of one who "reaps" the rewards or benefits. As a student of East European Jewish history, the term was so familiar to me that I forgot to "translate" it for the general public. Sorry. In any event, I was just quoting Beider, who makes the statement without "perush" (commentary). Yale J. Reisner 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Jun 9 17:13:48 1994 From: zbarlev@zeus.sdsu.edu Subject: reply on "(to work) nights" sorry- i was unforgivably shorthanded in my explanation of "(to work) nights". obviously "work nights" is a plural in modern english -- but it is apparently a reanalysis of an older from of different status. that is, the historical linguists have traced (presumably in texts) that it comes from an old genitive form -- much as in gm. where "nachts" is an obvious genitive, the plural being something else altogether, perhaps "Nachten". (the genitive may be special too, but that's a still nother question.) Zev bar-Lev 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Jun 9 18:40:27 1994 From: 74031.775@CompuServe.COM Subject: Vi zogt men "hold" (noun) ???? Leynendik a bukh veygn aeroplanen tsu mayn tokhter, hot mir gefelt dos vort far "hold" (dos ort vu men shtelt avek fracht af an aeroplan oder a shif). Ikh hob es nit gekent gefinen in Stutshkov oder Vaynraykh. Der rusish-yidish verterbukh hot gehat dos vort "tyum" - dos zelbe vort vi af rusish. Af daytsh iz dos "Laderaum". Fran emetser tsvishn undz vos veyst vi men volt es gerufn af yidish? Odem Vaytman 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Jun 9 18:53:17 1994 From: leeson@aspen.fhda.edu Subject: On both Yiddish writers, the Singer brothers Zachary Baker in giving us the benefit of information about a new Polish book about Yiddish quotes a sentence in which the writer, J. B. Singer's work is referenced. Zachary's quote is like this: "...J. [sic] B. Singer ..." the "[sic]" having been put in by him and is not in the original text. Perhaps I misunderstand, but was there not a brother of the late Isaac B. Singer whose name was J. B. Singer? And if I am correct, then Zachary may not know of this man and thus the "[sic]." Now it is not that I am making a tzimmis over the use or misuse of "sic." That is not the point. But if I remember correctly, J. B. Singer's few books (he died young) were considered by Isaac B. Singer as far superior to anything he did. I remember reading (in English) a remarkable book by J. B. Singer about a Yeshiva student who comes to the home of his new rabbi-teacher and procedes to seduce the rebbitzen. Frankly, the chutzpadik of the plot overwhelmed me and the writing style (even in translation) was hot as a poker. This was a major Yiddish tragedy with both parties coming to no good end as a result of the seduction. But the title eludes me and if I could read Yiddish, I would go out and read it in the original now that Zachary reminds me of it. And while I am woolgathering on the subject of Yiddish fiction, I remember having had The Agunah read to me in Yiddish and that damn near killed me it was so remarkable. It is also available in English and is, I believe by Chaim Grade. It is no pussy foot Tevye the Milkman story about happy, happy Jews in good old Russia. It is a killer tragedy somewhere around the level of happiness of King Lear and Titus Andronicus. What is the name of the J. B. Singer book about the seduction of the rebbitzin? And what ever happened to Sholem Asch who was so very popular in the 50s? Dan Leeson ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.019 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. Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu