Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
______________________________________________________
Contents of Vol. 4.092
August 21, 1994

1) Introduction (Harry Stillman)
2) Koyf/cheap (Rick Gildemeister)
3) Der bingl/bingel (Ellen Prince)
4) Der bingl/bingel (Chaim Rosmarin)
5) Yiddish in the U.S. (Arn Abramson)
6) Sources for Yiddish use today (Dovid Braun)
7) Peretz'es speech (Neyekh Zide)
8) Oyneg Yiddish: a proposal (Zellig Bach)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 1994 16:31:03 -800 (PDT)
From: durian@coyote.csusm.edu
Subject: Introduction

We are a triad. The first is Charles Eisenberg,who is completely
trilingual in English,Yiddish and Hebrew.He taught many languages in the
New York City school system. He also taught languages in Israel and
China. The second is Libby Taylor who spoke only Yiddish and some Hebrew
until she was 18 years of age.She left Poland just before WWII. Her
entire family was wiped oput by Hitler and she dedicated her life to
perpetuate their memory and of the "shtetel"by teaching the Yiddish
language.They are a national Jewish treasure. The last,and least,is
myself whose love of the language , Jewish History and computer literacy
makes me the spokesperson.

Harry Stillman

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 1994 11:36:33 EDT
From: EEGLC%CUNYVM.bitnet@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu
Subject: koyf/cheap

To: Kenneth Kaminsky

While not a linguist (though sometimes I'll say I'm a philologist), I
happen to know that the cognate of koyf is cheap.

One used to say "good cheap" to say cheap. This seems to be related to
the French expression for cheap:"bon marche'". English is a fusion
language the way Yiddish is, and French (Old Norman French) and
Anglo-Saxon-Jute are the primary components. One might say that the
Germanic component of English is "Old Plattdeutsch," which is my family's
ancestral language.

Rick Gildemeister

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 1994 17:07:20 EDT
From: ellen@central.cis.upenn.edu
subject: der bingl/bingel

re the phrase 'der bingl/bingel' in the andrews sisters' rendition of
'rum and coca cola', the plot thickens. accg to my husband, bing crosby
was referred to jokingly as 'der bingel' by bob hope in at least some of
the old road movies. it was intended as (comic) german, not yiddish, tho
of course it might have been a jewish screenwriter's attempt at german,
with interference from yiddish.

ellen prince

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 94 08:54:19 -0700
From: astroj@astro.washington.edu
Subject: der bingl

Enough already! Anyone who knows anything about american popular music
knows that Bing Crosby's nickname has been "der bingl" for the last 60
years.

Chaim Rosemarin

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 94 23:04:50 EDT
From: ABRAMSON@UConnVM.UConn.Edu
Subject: Yiddish in the U.S.

Mary Bucholz, a new member, has asked for sources on Yiddish in the
United States. She should look at the writings of Joshua Fishman, a
well-known sociologist of language with a particular interest in Yiddish.
He has worked on language loyalty among speakers of immigrant languages,
a relevant topic here.

I have at hand a rather new book of his: Fishman, J.A. (1991). Yiddish:
Turning to Life. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Arn Abramson

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 20 Aug 1994 09:34:56 EDT
From: dovid@MIT.EDU
Subject: Sources for Yiddish use today

To Mary Bucholz:

Present-day Yiddish use is discussed in depth and reliably in the works
of Joshua A. Fishman.  Most recent works, which include statistics and
general sociological treatment, are a volume _Yiddish:  Turning to Life_
and _Reversing Language Shift_.  The latter has a chapter on efforts to
maintain Yiddish and the failures/successes associated with the endeavor.
The former is a collection of Fishman's writings on the sociology of
Yiddish spanning the past 25 years or so.

Fishman has a regular Yiddish column in the quarterly _Afn shvel_, in
which many contemporary topics of the sociology of Yiddish are addressed.
Every once in a while these include (reports on) statistical reports and
other hard facts, in addition to analysis.  The name of the column is
"Ume-veloshn".

I'd be surprised if the UCBerkeley library doesn't have all of these
titles, but if they don't, I can get you more information (publisher,
year). The two books are rather recent -- early 1990s.

Dovid Braun

7)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 94 23:07:08 CDT
From: n-zide@uchicago.edu
Subject: Peretz'es speech

In the discussion of (standard literary) dialects it was noted that
Peretz spoke a 'Southern' dialect (like the Ukrainian of Sholem
Aleichem). Did he ?

Are there recordings of Peretz, or memories of those who heard him (or,
less tellingly, his children) ? What (Mikhl) was the Zamosc dialect like,
and would he have spoken it (in what contexts? on what occasions ? -
along with some 'standard' dialect ?) in, say, Warsaw ? What was he like
as a speaker ?

Miscellaneous bits. Crosby was jocularly referred to frequently at one
period as 'der Bingl'. I don't know where the label came from.

There was a distortion - canonized briefly - of Bei mir bistu sheyn (the
English version) which began 'My dear Mr. Shane.'

As to unanswered questions, my inquiry about A. Reyzen went over like a
lead balloon. Is anyone working on his prose or verse - translating ?
critically studying ? Using it, e.g. 'In Amerike' (there's a lot of it)
in writing the  cultural history of Jewish New York in the first third of
this century ?

Neyekh/ Norman Zide

8)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 20 Aug 94 22:51:15 EDT
From: Zellig@aol.com
Subject: Oyneg Yiddish: a proposal

Allan Blair alerted Mendele readers (in 4.048, 8) to the Second Inter-
national Conference of Yiddish Clubs, organized by the Committee for
Yiddish of the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto.  It will take place
in Toronto, Canada, October 7-- October 9, 1994.  Fishl Kutner published
(in 4.064, 1) details of the forthcoming Conference program--outstanding
speakers on a variety of fascinating topics.

This is a suggestion:  I respectfully submit the following proposal to be
placed on the Conference agenda:   To name all Yiddish Clubs by the
collective name Oyneg Yiddish.

In the United States, and in countries all over the world, there are many
informal Jewish clubs whose aim it is to speak Yiddish or, at least, to
hear a Yiddish word.  In a true sense it is a folks movement to keep
Yiddish, to some degree, alive.  Although there are occasional attempts
in these groups to learn Yiddish, it is basically a nostalgic fellowship
for the old, warm, heymishe sounds of parent-spoken words, a thin thread,
amomg others,  to one's Jewish past.  In North America alone, according
to Fishl Kutner's count, there are well over 90 Yiddish Clubs.

These Clubs call themselves by different names:  Yiddish Groups, Friends
of Yiddish, Yiddish Vinklen (corners), Mame Loshn, Yiddish Khaveyrim,
Yiddish Leyenkrayzn (reading circles), Kum Shmuesn (let's` get together
and chat), and so on.

After WW I there was in the U.S. a Yiddish group that called itself by
the unbelievable name "Di Shnorers" (the beggars).  It is difficult to
understand the reason for such a self-mocking name.  (A Jewish student
group in California published some time ago a newsletter by the
self-deprecating name "shmate" (rag).

I know of two groups in New Jersey who similarly call themselves by what
to my mind are inappropriate names:  One, in Princeton, calls itself
"khelemer khakhomim" (the khelemer wise men...);  the other, in Toms
River, calls itself "honorable mentshn" (a word play on honorable
mention).  When I pointed out to the organizers of the last group that
this is a kind of honorary title, a secular "aliye" so to speak, reserved
for others to call you, but not to call oneself, my reasoning fell on
deaf ears.

Considering the great variety of names of Yiddish clubs, I propose
herewith a collective name for all Yiddish groups: Oyneg Yiddish,
analogous to Oyneg Shabes.  It is in the tradition of many Yiddish
phrases, combining a Yiddish and Hebrew word (mame loshn).

I am fully aware that changing the name of a group organization will most
likely encounter a marked level of psychological resistance. However, it
would lend a sense of linkage to many self-contained, isolated groups,
and thus strengthen the awareness of purpose and common goals.

Zellig Bach

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