Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 5.120
September 22, 1995

1) A phonetic shayle (Leybl Goldberg)
2) A phonetic shayle (Khayem Bochner)
3) Yidishe visnshaft (Shloyme-Khaim Cohen)
4) Ksive v'khsime toyve (Noyekh Miller)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 95 00:56:00 -0400
From: lee.goldberg@neteast.com
Subject: IFshteyn AF der nakht

I can confirm Noyekh's Ukrainian Yiddish pronunciation of what the
standardized spelling represents as the preposition "oyf" (on) as AF and
the verbal prefix "oyf" ([stand/get] up) as IF.  My family's Yiddish
stems from Kiev and Dymer (Kiev District).  I also say "AFn pripetshik,"
"AF a shpatsir," etc. but "IFshteyn-IFgeshtanen" (not "geshtOnen," since
I don't speak "tOte-mOme loshn"), IFefenen-IFgeefnt, and so on.

As I understand it, in Litvish it's AF-UF (UFshteyn AF der nakht), in
Poylish it's OF-OF (or is that OUF-OF?): "OFshtayn OF deyr nakht", and in
our Ukrainer Mameloshn-Vi-Se-Badarf-Tsu-Zayn ;) it's "IFshteyn AF de(y)r
nakht".

(Dem emes gezogt, it seems like a big chunk of the Ukraine also says "OF"
for both.  For instance, the Barry Sisters [who I find very precise and
consistent in their accent] sing "Vus ken veynen in nit OFhern?" and "OF
a gasnbank".)

In writing transliteration, I write "AF-UF".  This way, speakers of
Litvish (Lithuanian & Byelorussian Yiddish, for the uninitiated) have it
all in front of them, and Noyekh's and my rusishe landslayt and students
trying to learn the Southern accent can follow the rule "a 'U' is
pronounced 'I' unless told otherwise".

By the way, OYF-OYF in speech marks a person as bookish or worse (even
Uriel Weinreich recommended AF-UF or AF-UF in "College Yiddish" and his
brother Gavriel pronounced AF-UF like a bona fide Litvak at the Max
Weinreich conference last winter).  I would propose to my fellow
Mendelyaner that we follow the AF-UF model in transliteration (I would
also argue for BA instead of BAY and a few other compromises with the
orthography, but _dos iz shen [sic] an ander mayse_).

Leybl Goldberg

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 95 09:16:55 -0400
From: bochner@das.harvard.edu
Subject: A phonetic shayle

Noyekh Miller fregt vegn "af/if" in Podolye. Kh'vel probirn dos makhn
bekitser:

Dos vos me shraybt "oyf" hot tsvey bazundere funktsyes oyf yidish: s'iz a
prepozitsye ("oyf der vant"), un oykh a 'konverb' ("separable prefix" oyf
English), azoy vi in "oyfshteyn".

Nu, me shraybt in beyde faln "oyf", ober dos nemt zikh fun geshikhte,
nisht fun der geredter shprakh. Oyf (kimat) ale dialektn hot men beemes
tsvey verter, vos me redt zey aroys andersh.

Oyf litvish yidish "af der vant", ober "ufshteyn". Azoy shraybt men afile
in sovetish yidish.

Oyf dorem-mizrekh yidish "af der vant", ober "ifshteyn", azoy vi Noyekh
redt.

Oyf poylish yidish "of der vant", ober "oufshtayn", azoy vi mayn
tate-mame redn.

Un "oyf"? In farglaykh mit di dialektn, iz dos epes vos heyst oyf english
a "spelling pronunciation". Ober in di ale shules vu me hot gelernt di
kinder 'klal-shprakh', hot men zey gelernt zogn "oyf". Un derfar take
zogn haynt tsu tog a sakh mentshn "oyf".

Ikh hof az dos iz klor, un ikh vintsh alemen a ksive toyve!

Khayem Bochner

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 10:22:44 -0400
From: scohen@rutchem.rutgers.edu
Subject: Yidishe visnshaft/Yiddish science

Tayere fraynt,

Shoyn etlekhe khodoshim vi ikh greyt tsu a vokabular liste fun khemye
terminen oyf Yidish. Ikh bin a khemiker un ken a bisl Yidish; itst bin
ikh a bazukh forsh-visnshaftler fun fizisher-khemye in der Rutgers
Universitet. Ikh hob zikh bazirt oyf Yidish verter vos gefinen zikh bay
Vaynraykhn, un hob oykh geshept fun tsvey bikher oyf Yidish: "Khemye: Tsu
Lezen un tsu Lernen", fun Sol Faynstoun (Arbeter Ring, Nyu York, 1920),
un "Khemye", fun Sh. Brokhes (Tsentraler Felker-Farlag fun F.S.S.R.,
Moskve, 1931).

Ikh hob oykh bakumen a sakh hilf fun Leybl Botvinik, a kompyuter
visnshaftler un Yidisher shrayber. Er hot amol gelernt khemye un fizik.
Ober dos iz nit genug. Kh hob tsuzamengeshtelt a reshime fun 2000(?)
verter. A teyl verter hobn etlekhe meglekhkeytn, un s'iz undz shver tsu
bashtimen vos iz beser. Far a teyl verter hobn mir klal nit keyn tshuve.

Es volt geven gevuntshn, ven tsvishn undzere mendele-khaveyrim zoln zikh
gefinin Yidish keners, un Yidish-farsteyendike visnshaftler (inzhinyers,
khemikers, fizikers, aaz"v) vos zoln veln helfn mit der vikhtiker arbet.
Zayt azoy gut, shtelt zikh mit mir in farbindung, ongebndik protim fun
ayere kentshaftn, un mit vos ir kent helfn.

Ot zaynen etlekhe bayshpiln (W = Vaynraych, B = Brokhes, L = Leybl, * =
mayn oysklayb]:

Absolute temperature    der absoluter temperatur(n)*
Absorb                  arayntsien[F = Faynstoun; L]; absorbirn[L];
                        farshlingen[B]
Accuracy                genoykeyt[L]; pinktlekhkeyt[L]
Anion                   anion[L]
Anode                   der anod[B]*; der anode[F,L]; di anode?[L]
Antibonding orbital     anti-farbindn orbital[L]
Band theory             di band teorye(s)*
Benzene                 benzol[F,B]*; benzin?[L]
Brownian motion         di braun-bavegung*
Carbon dioxide          der koylnzoyer-gaz[B]*; di koyln-zoyere[F]; dos
                        koyln-zayers[W]
Close packing           ?
Demagnetize (v.i.)      vern oysmagnitizirt[B]*

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Dear friends,

For some months I have been preparing a vocabulary list of chemistry
terms in Yiddish. I am a chemist and know a little Yiddish; now I am a
postdoctoral fellow in physical chemistry at Rutgers University. I have
based the list on Yiddish words found in Weinreich, and also have drawn
on two Yiddish books: "Chemistry: To Read and to Learn" by Sol Feinstone
(Workmen's Circle, New York, 1920), and Chemistry" by Sh. Brokhes
(Central People's Publisher of the USSR, Moscow, 1931).

I have also received much help from Leybl Botwinik, a computer scientist
and Yiddish writer. He did study chemistry and physics a while ago. But
this is not enough. I have put together a list of 2000(?) words. Some
words have several possible translations, and it is hard to decide which
is best. For some words we have no answer at all.

We hope that among our mendele-friends there are Yiddish speakers and
Yiddish-understanding scientists (engineers, chemists, physicists, etc.)
who can help with this important task. Please contact me, giving details
about your knowledge and how you can help.

Here [above] are some examples (W = Weinreich, B = Brokhes, F =
Feinstone; L = Leybl, * = my choice):

[see above]

A sheynem dank/ Many thanks,

Shloyme-Khaim Cohen

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 95
From: nmiller@shakti.trincoll.edu
Subject: Ksive v'khsime toyve

Mendele will be at rest until September 27.

In the name of every Mendelyaner I extend to every Mendelyaner as well
as to their near and dear ones hearfelt wishes for the coming year.
Zol undz ale zayn a zis un an oysgebentsht yor.

Noyekh Miller

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End of Mendele Vol. 5.120