Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.049 July 7, 1994 1) Introduction (Michel Konstantyn) 2) Jewess (Michael Shimshoni) 3) Jewess (Bob Werman) 4) -ess (Ellen Prince) 5) German Dialects and Yiddish (Brian Zumhagen) 6) Int'l Conf Yiddish Clubs Toronto (Jay Brodbar) 7) "To record" (Kalmen Weiser) 8) Information sought (Leah Zazulyer) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Jul 94 15:19:31 -0500 From: mk@usia.gov Subject: Introduction My name is Michel Konstantyn, son of Yosl (Jozef) Konstantyn (Przemysl) and Fajga Brucha Janowska (Lodz). I was born in Paris in 1952 and have been a librarian with the American Embassy in Israel for the past 15 years. My spoken Yiddish is good, I write and read pretty well (but not enough -- to my utter shame), and, as Baruch Leib Gale put it (4.042), the world of Yiddish that is no more fascinates me, it is an essential part of me and I cannot, as a child of Shoa survivors, disconnect myself from it. My old Zionist education (Hashomer Hatzair) is only partly matched with the thinking ways in Israel, so that the "Diaspora" (galuti) aspect of Yiddish in Israel and its speakers still tickles one in society, although mentalities change and we can hope for this somewhat unforeseen revival of the mame-loshen here. My father used to write fiction (and other materials?) in Yiddish magazines in Poland before the war, but, here again, the famous intergenerational "Holocaust Silence" reigned and I have no idea about those. My uncle, David Stettner, now writing editorials on foreign affairs in UNZER SHTIME, Paris, used to be the editor of DER FRAYER GEDANK, published in Paris in the 50's and 60's. To everyone his/her own brand of Yiddish and culture that survived as a twig in a plurality, a vivid presence of this burning, intimate past that mirrors today's reality in an acute, sensitive fashion. I shall be glad to enrich my learning from such bright participants in MENDELE, some of whom I know, and perhaps, in my own way, I shall be able to contribute. One remark: for other recipients' enlightenment, could references to postings in previous issues be clearly stated (ex. : 4.044), so that they can easily be retrieved? Yisher koyekh un a gute hatzlohe! Michel Konstantyn 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 06 Jul 94 09:56:07 +0300 From: MASH@WEIZMANN.WEIZMANN.AC.IL Subject: Jewess Fishl Kutner gave two descriptions for his daughters: >JEWESS and PRINCESS are both beautiful words for beautiful people. Thank >G-d we can afford to spoil our daughters--they deserve it! He forgot an equally fitting third one: GODDESS. Michael Shimshoni 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Jul 94 12:03 +0300 From:RWERMAN@vms.huji.ac.il Subject: "Jewess" Two thoughts about the use of "Jewess." I am perhaps the last person in the world to query about intended anti-semitism in the use of the word, "Jewess," although my insensitivity to intended antisemitism in speech probably helps make me a good Israeli. Furthermore, I thoroughly enjoyed Scott's heroine, [lovely] Rebecca the Jewess, and found her much more full blooded than her goyish counterpart, Rowena. The Jewess, in Scott, as in Shakespeare, is conceived as more positive than her male counterpart; she is beautiful for one and is not irretrievably "lost." She can still be rescued by the goyim and thus "saved." On the other hand have you ever tried calling a poet of what was once the fair sex -- and may now well be the unfairest sex -- "poetess," a perfectly legitimate word in the English language? I would not try it unless your armor is made of heavy chain mail. Can we extrapolate from that? Is the pejorative association that is read into "poetess," someone who is less than a poet, to be understood in "Jewess," too? Less than a Jew? Reminds me of my days teaching at Indiana University, the mid- 60's. My colleagues were put out and even very upset when they had to confront a large poster in bold black letters I had printed and placed on the wall behind my chair. It read: IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO BE JEWISH! __Bob Werman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 06 Jul 1994 11:34:30 EDT From: ellen@central.cis.upenn.edu Subject: -ess To: arnie kuzmack > Moreover, the ending '-ess' is generally used to denote >the female of non-human animals, such as 'lioness', 'tigress', etc. To >me at least as a native speaker of English, it carries an implication >that Jews are not quite human. The only similar usage I can think of is >'Negress', which carries similar overtones. uh, how about actress, waitress, heiress, princess, duchess...? the first two (or three?) are definitely not p.c. today but they were never (consciously or intentionally) derogatory and never evoked 'not quite human', so far as i know. (i'm giggling over the thought of whether a feminist lady di would balk at 'princess' or 'duchess'.) i think an interesting issue is the one fishl kutner raises of what to call a female jew in yiddish, where 'yidene' is derogatory, 'yidishke' doesn't seem to exist outside of weinreich's dictionary, and 'yidishe tokhter' is conceptually un-p.c. question to dave sherman and others raising kids speaking yiddish: what have you opted for and why? ellen prince (no jokes, please. :) ) thanks to all those who explained lfk (lfq). 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 04 Jul 94 02:08:43 EDT From: Cheeseman9@aol.com Subject: German Dialects and Yiddish From my experiences in Germany, and my limited knowledge of Yiddish, I have observed the following, as a response to Yude Rosof at Penn: Badisch, a dialect which is spoken in the Black Forest and along the Southwestern border between Germany and France, has many ties to Middle High German and thus also to Yiddish. Like Yiddish, it has the past tense form of the verb to be "gewe(n)," and the word "mir" for "we," rather than the high German "wir." Words like "Deutsch" and "teuer" become "deitsch" and "deier," as would be the case with that vowel sound in Yiddish. The Rheinland has "nit" for "nicht" and "keen" for "kein," as in Yiddish, and Berlinerisch, of course, also has the "ee" vowel form as a substitute for "ei," as in "kleen" for "klein." as "nischt" where other Germans would use "nichts." I have also heard it said that , in the city of Muenster, locals use the words "jofel" and "schofel" as synonyms for, loosely, "cool" and "uncool" respectively. These are supposedly Yiddish forms. I am not sure whether this is true or simply a Westphalian urban myth, but there you have it. As for why Germans don't seem to want to talk much about Yiddish... Beyond the immediate issue of historical trauma, there is another related problem. I have noticed that most Germans my age (I am 25) don't know what Yiddish is. As Americans, we are very keyed into the experience of Eastern European Jews, who spoke Yiddish, whereas the Germans, particularly young Germans, think of Jews in abstract historical terms, and, in spite of the historical reality that primarily Eastern European Jews were the victims of the Shoah, Germans usually are usually thinking of German Jews, who, with the exception of 20th century immigrants from the East, did not speak Yiddish. Anyway, I have found that I usually have to explain to young Germans what Yiddish is. But once they know that and I begin to tell them of the impact of Yiddish on American English, they are always fascinated. Brian Zumhagen 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Jul 1994 07:59:00 -0400 (EDT) From: brodbar@epas.utoronto.ca Subject: Int'l Conf Yiddish Clubs Toronto The Friends of Yiddish in Toronto, in cooperation with the Committee for Yiddish of the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto, as well as a number of other organizations, are sponsoring the Second International Conference of Yiddish Clubs on FRIDAY OCTOBER 7 TO MONDAY OCTOBER 10 1994. The conference includes numerous workshops, special lectures and a gala concert. For further information, contact: Bess Shockett 303 Joicey Blvd Toronto, Ontario M5M 2V8 (416) 787-0526 Fax: 631-5718 Jay Brodbar 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Jul 1994 11:01:50 -0400 (EDT) From: kiw2@columbia.edu Subject: "to record" Ikh volt gevolt visn vi mentshn in farsheydene lender oysdrikn dos englishe verb "to record" un dos vort "tape recorder." Ikh ken di verter "rekordinke," "rekordmashin," un "magnetofon" ober s'iz mir shver tsu gleybn az yidn vos voynen nisht in english-redendike svives banitsn dos verb "rekordirn." A dank in faroys, Kalmen Weiser 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 06 Jul 1994 11:54:14 -0500 (EST) From: WATSON@UNO.CC.GENESEO.EDU Subject: Information sought I am seeking all types of information about the Warsaw Literary Circle and the Tlomatka-House of the Jewish Writers' Union. Have some, want more. Would appreciate personal knowledge and/or references, etc. Thanks! Leah Zazuyler. ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.049 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. 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