Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.410 May 5, 1995 1) Moyshe Rabeynu's ki'ele (Harvey Spiro) 2) Moyshe Rabeynu's ki'ele/meshiekhl (Dovid Braun) 3) Russian-yiddish dictionary (Gaston L. Schmir) 4) Etl betl (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 5) Name tags for Mameloshn 95 (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu May 4 15:21:44 1995 From: hjs@nrc.gov Subject: Moyshe Rabeynu's ki'ele Zelig Bach notes: >> A ladybug is called in Yiddish "meishe Rabeynu's ki'ele" -- the little >> cow of Moses our Teacher ... Not that this explains the Yiddish etymology, but the Hebrew term for ladybug is a direct translation: "parat moshe rabenu." Although I don't know, I'd bet that the Yiddish expression came first. Does anyone know? Harvey Spiro 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 05 May 1995 01:17:02 EDT From: dovid@mit.edu Subject: Moyshe Rabeynu's ki'ele/meshiekhl From my family (also 'of the backwoods of Grodner gubernye' but from a town which has a name -- and its own name, Sukhovolye), I know the form _moyshe rabeynus kiele_ ([kiali], of course). I noticed _meshiekhl_ in U. Weinreich's dictionary (alongside _m. r. kiele_) and always wondered where it came from until i recently read a piece by Miryem Shmulevitsh Hofman (Miriam Hoffman) in the Forverts (Forward). (I'm almost certain it was her and it was there.) She, a speaker of Central ("Polish") Yiddish, wrote of local children inspecting the ladybug and counting up its spots, for the number of spots was indictive of how many years it would take for moshiekh to come. Thence the name. (I hope I'm not misremembering -- creating a folk explanation that I would *want* to exist. Someone would do well to check with a native speaker of poylish yidish.) Dovid Braun 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 5 May 1995 09:59:50 -0400 (EDT) From: glschm@minerva.cis.yale.edu Subject: Russian-yiddish dictionary There exists a Russian-yiddish dictionary: M. Shapiro, E. Spivak, and M. Shulman, Moscow: "Ruski Yazik", 1989. 720 p. Gaston L. Schmir 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 5 May 1995 10:24:54 -0400 From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: Etl betl olympics Ver volt zikh gekent forshteln az 40 yor nokh der khasene, lern ikh meyn man vi tzu shpiln etl betl, un mir hobn an etl betl olympics iber frishtik? Mikhl Herzog's name shpigl for one of the configurations rings a bell somewhere in the recesses, and wasn't one called a sher or a sherele? Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 5 May 1995 13:23:11 -0400 From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: Name tages ready to go So that Mendelniks can readily identify each other. To be ready for Mameloshn '95 in New York at the end of May, Ashkenaz in Toronto in July, or meetings, lectures and conferences where Yiddish is the keynote, we have devised a nametag: a simple, black and white, computer-enhanced likeness of Mendele poring over a book, under which is printed "Ikh heys________." We have copied them onto Avery adhesive labels. Just peel and paste. We offer them to anyone on the list who will snailmail to us an SASE (self- addressed stamped envelope): Marj and Bob Hirshan 4643 Sextant Circle Boynton Beach, Fl 33436-1546 We are happy to donate the nametag in fraynd\frayndine-shaft (is there a word like meshpokheshaft?) for all the hours of warmth and pleasure (and the insights) received from being a part of Mendele. Look for the nametags next year at the Third International Yiddish Conference in Miami, March 1-4, 1996 at the De Lido Beachfront Hotel. Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan [A hartsikn dank fun undz ale. nm] ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.410 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) 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 Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listserv@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele nomail b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail c. To subscribe: sub mendele first_name last_name d. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu