Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.075 July 31, 1994 1) Introduction (Alice Faber) 2) Introduction (Alexis Manaster Ramer) 3) Yiddish poetry (Avrom Yitzkhok Blair) 4) Translation service (Stanley Werbow) 5) "Comparative" Linguistics (Zellig Bach) 6) YIVO (Jeremy Rosof) 7) Diminutive plurals (Alexis Manaster Ramer) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 30 Jul 1994 15:55:53 -0400 From: faber@haskins.yale.edu Subject: Introduction I'm interested in the (linguistic) history of Yiddish. I have published a few articles on the subject, but my current research interest is more generally in the phonetics of dialects and of language change. People have told me that I should be on Mendele, and after much procrastination, here I am! Alice Faber 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 31 Jul 94 11:03:03 EDT From: amr@zeus.cs.wayne.edu Subject: Introduction I am a professor of computer science as well as member of the linguistics program and of the center for peace and conflict studies at Wayne St. U. I have a Ph. D. in linguistics from Chicago. I barely speak and more or less read Yiddish. My interest is primarily in the history of the language and as part of that in learning more about Western Yiddish. At the moment I am pursuing some ideas about the history of final devoicing in Yiddish and about the origins of the -x plural as well as the -s plural in words of non-Hebrew/Aramaic origin (such as feders). Alexis Manaster Ramer 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 29 Jul 94 17:50:24 EDT From: ablair@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Subject: Yiddish poetry book (1.) I recently received in the mail from the author, Walter Artzt, a lovely book of his poetry - in Yiddish with English translation. Perhaps I have a certain affinity for him, as his name, Artzt, means "doctor" auf Deutch. Anyway, it would be a nice addition to a Yiddish library. My only comment is that the spirit of the poems seems a little morose. It's worth looking at: The Foundation for Future Generations; 393 West End Ave.; suite 4D; New York, N.Y. 10024. (2.) To Ali Lemer: Don't worry about what your Yiddish sounds like, or your grammer. All of us who are not native speakers have the same tzoris - and we go around correcting each other (nu, es iz der Yiddishn veg!) Stay with us! (3.) Yiddishe Fedder-Fraynt: Our list is growing, but slowly. Let me hear from some of you Mendelnikeh-shraybers out there. We are especially interested in shraybers from outside the United States. (I'll be back - tzu dreyen a kop fun dir alleh) Avrom Yitzkhok (Allan) Blair 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 30 Jul 1994 10:39:17 +0800 From: s.werbow@mail.utexas.edu Subject: Translation service For the member who wanted help with reading and translating his/her grandfather's letter, I call attentiion to the advertisement in the latest issue of the Book Peddler announcing Yiddish Translation Services by Dr. Khane-Feygl Turtletaub at 708/675-3335. Stanley Werbow 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 30 Jul 94 18:27:39 EDT From: Zellig@aol.com Subject: "Comparative" Linguistics I read recently that in some parts of Japan a person who is steaming mad is referred to as kan-kan which to Japanese ears is the sound of a boiling kettle. This reminded me of the picturesque Yiddish idiom in which a utensil for boiling water also plays a part. It is the expression "to hak a tschaynik"--literally to beat or bang a teapot. While it carries a different meaning than the Japanese "kan-kan," to "hak (or hakn) a tschaynik" refers to talking nonsense, to bend the listener's ears, to complain endlessly, and generally to make for no real reason a "tararam" (a hullabaloo about nothing). I might loosely translate into American English the popular expression "don't hak a tschaynik" as "don't make with the drums," an allusion to the use of drums by American Indians, albeit without any clear or substantive message. Zellig Bach 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 30 Jul 1994 10:29:47 +0500 From: jrosof@sas.upenn.edu Subject: YIVO Thank you to YIVO Chief Librarian Zachary Baker for the updates on the situation in Buenos Aires. The most recent posting noted that YIVO's catalogue was destroyed. It sounds like chaos reigns in the Argentina branch: when will they ever regain order? What has the New York YIVO done to guard its collections against a similar catastrophe: are there copies of the card catalogue, are the most valuable and rare parts of the collection microfilmed and or held in duplicate elsewhere? Have any of the major Jewish organizations pledged in the wake of the Buenos Aires disaster to be more forthcoming ($) in aiding the American YIVO or Argentine YIVO to avoid further mass loss of the heritage of Ashkenazic Jewry? The YIVO has long been a primary scholarly resource in the field of Jewish history literature and music, its collections unrivaled in the field of E. European Jewish studies. The organization has continously bitten off more than one would think it could chew out of a deep sense of scholarly responsibility. As a past worker in YIVO's collection and a researcher who has dipped into it's holdings first hand, I am a witness to its wealth (in holdings) and to the dedication of its staff. At the same time I have seen its poverty, and its financial struggle to keep pace with its enormous responsibilities. My question: what has been learned from the Argentine disaster: who will help our North American YIVO to avoid a repeat of the Argentine tragedy and to focus on its mission of helping us all? Jeremy Rosof 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 31 Jul 94 07:37:41 EDT From: amr@zeus.cs.wayne.edu Subject: Diminutive plurals I have some ideas about the origin of the diminutive plurals such as bixlex, tishlex, but have not found much literature on this. I would appreciate any references to ideas on the origin of the -(e)x plural. Please send those directly to me. If anything emerges, I will post a summary of the responses on the list. Alexis Manaster Ramer ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.075 A Table of Contents is now available via anonymous ftp, along with weekly updates. 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