Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.125 September 29, 1995 1) Mendelyaner vs. Mendelnik (Zellig Bach) 2) Rosh Khavruse (Zellig Bach) 3) Sukkes song query (Shulamith Berger) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 17:15:36 -0400 From: zellig@aol.com Subject: Mendelyaner vs. Mendelnik Naming is an important and significant human function. What we name and call ourselves is equally important and significant. In a recent post (5.112,5) Morrie Feller asked whether members on our list are called Mendelyaners or "is it Mendelniks?" The answer is: Mendelyaners. _Rationale for this preference_: "Mendelnik" sounds as if the pseudonym of the writer whose name we honor was not _Mendele [Moykher Sforim]_ (Mendele the book seller), but Mendel, without the final /e/ and with an added -nik suffix. To refer to him this way is an inadvertent disrespect. Shortly after I joined Mendele, and seeing the name "Mendelnik" or "Mendelniks," it occurred to me to submit a short post with the subject title "In Defense of the Final /e/ in Mendele." However, the name "Mendelenik" or "Mendeleniks," with all three /e's/ included -- a four-syllable word with the accent still on the first syllable -- did not sound right. I therefore coined the name "Mendelyaner" and started using it in my posts. I am happy to say that it gained a goodly measure of acceptance, as evidenced in a number of carefully crafted posts in our volumes. Shleyme Axelrod, my good friend and khaver Mendelyaner, already touched upon this problem in his post "vi heysn mir" [what do we call ourselves] many months ago (3.030,4). He too remarked that if we call ourselves "Mendelniks", the final /e/ in the writer's name is missing. _The name Mendl_: The Yiddish diminutive of a name, as well as of other words, is usually formed by the addition of a final lamed /l/, for example Avreml, Dovidl, Khayiml. But when the name ends with a nun /n/, it is formed by the addition of daled _and_ lamed /dl/, for example Sheyndl, Zalmendl, Zundl. The name Mendl (in the old spelling Mendel) is the diminutive of _man_ [male, husband], and serves two functions: as the name of a person and, to a much lesser extent, as the description for a short man. Mendl also means hook, and hook and eye (a small metal hook and loop for fastening a dress) are called in Yiddish "mendl un vaibl.". This suggests, psychoanalytically speaking, that Jewish women who named hook-and-eye "mendl and vaibl" -- husband and wife! -- unconsciously perceived in its action a metaphor symbolizing coital union. I genuinely trust that no one will jump to the conclusion that by making this comment I have blemished and marred the sainted memory of our mothers and grandmothers. This would be like the reaction of children who, in the blush of their adolescence, do not allow themselves to accept the fact that their parents, especially their mothers, engaged in a sexual act. (The last sentence is more applicable to times bygone; adolescents nowadays are greatly more sophisticated.) _The suffix -nik_: The suffix -nik is very productive in Yiddish, and words with -nik probably exist in the hundreds. Just three examples to demonstrate its range: 'Hultaynik' [one who lives an irresponsible life]; 'kolboynik' [a rascal, also a Jack of all trades]; and 'Lamedvovnik' [one of the thirty-six saintly men]. But when the suffix -nik is borrowed from the Yiddish and transliterated in English, it has a different character. It parallels the connotations of the Yiddish words with -nik that had already gained popular acceptance in English, such as 'nudnik,' 'alrightnik,' 'no-goodnik,' all with negative meanings. In a similar vein were the relatively new coinages 'beatnik' and 'peacenik,' again with a dismissive tone of detraction. There is thus no need to "shlep"-in the suffix -nik into the name for the members of our khavruse. (For a further discussion of the -nik suffix, see the book by Sol Steinmets: _Yiddish and English -- A Century of Yiddish in America_, pp. 65 - 66). _The suffix -yaner_: 1. The -yaner suffix is also productive in Yiddish, but to a much, much smaller degree than the above-discussed -nik. The suffix -yaner, or (a)ner, serves as a geographic indicator, for instance Amerikaner, Mexikaner, Galitsyaner; also as the collective name for devotees to and proponents of a specific scientific or philosophical system of thinking, such as Freudyaner, Hegelyaner, Kantyaner. 2. In Warsaw of pre-World War I a number of secular young Jews would gather some evenings in the home of Yud Lamed (Yitskhok Leybush) Perets to listen to him talk on various social problems in Jewish life, on art, the lore of the people, etc. Sometimes he would also read to them of his work. Some of them aspiring to become writers read to him of their own work, for his criticism and, especially, for his approval. One of these young men was the poet Avrohom Reyzn, and Perets generally approved of his poetry and short stories and was very encouraging. This group of his devotees were then known as _Peretsyaner_. 3. Many American Jews, when reminiscing about their childhood and adolescence years spent in the secular Yiddish-conscious summer camp Boyberik (N.Y.), call themselves, in the glow of youthful pleasant memories, _Boyberikaner_. [Boyberik was a town in Poland, near Lvov. In Sholem Aleykhem's works, however, Boyberik obtained a humorous connotation, possibly based on the Yiddish expression "farforn in Boyberik," that is got off on a tangent, hopelessly "farblondzhet" [lost]. 4. The suffix -yaner is also used to designate a large family clan, after the name of a central paternal or maternal figure. Such is Moyshe Kulbak's prose work with the title _Zelmenyaner_, a book about loves, generational conflicts, and so on. (Four volumes of all of Kulbak's works are being prepared for publication by the Yiddish faculty of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Kulbak was one of the martyrs during Stalin's pogrom on Jewish intellectuals, writers, and poets.) _Mendelyaner as a collective and singular name_: The term Mendelyaner is thus safely grounded as a proper construction in Yiddish, and attests to the homage and tribute we pay the "grandfather" of the modern Yiddish literature. And while it does not incorporate the "third /e/" in Mendele's name, it rids our name of the appendage of a weak -nik. I therefore humbly recommend it as a collective name for our group, as well as for each individual member. Zellig Bach Lakehurst, NJ 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 17:16:22 -0400 From: zellig@aol.com Subject: Rosh Khavruse Our Noyekh Miller, Mendele's moderator, refers to himself in unbecoming modesty as "shames." I believe this is a totally inappropriate title. The position of shames was in most cases, and very likely still is, a menial and lowly one in the synagogue. If we are to apply a title from besmedresh life, it would be more appropriate to refer to him as ga'be (rhymes with aderabe [why not? By all means!]). In some posts in _Mendele_, as well as in several personal communications, I referred to him as "rosh khavruse," rosh being Yiddish-Hebrew for head of, and khavruse a learning society, as I perceive the group of Mendele members. A very good friend of mine, a polyglot (active knowledge of at least ten languages), called my attention to the fact that since the word "khavruse" is Aramaic, it should be "reysh khavruse" ("reysh" spelled reysh, yud, shin) and not "rosh-khavruse", since "rosh" is a Hebrew component in Yiddish and should therefore come with another Hebrew component, such as Rosh Yeshi've. Since the term "rosh" is more current in Yiddish than the Aramaic "reysh," as, for instance, in rosh khoydesh (the beginning of the month), rosheshone (the beginning of the new year on the Jewish calendar), and _be'rosh_ (at the head of), I think we might go ahead with rosh khavruse, pending Noyekh's approval. Both Alexander Harkavy and Uriel Weinreich list in their dictionaries more than ten noun combinations with rosh-. [Note: Do not confuse "be'rosh" with Yiddish "brosh" -- brooch.] I imagine that Noyekh will object to this change of title, but we Mendelyaner, being an absolute majority, can override his veto... What do other Mendelyaner think about it? Zellig Bach Lakehurst, NJ [Since in the real world real shamosim are sometimes as learned as the rov and may even have smikhe, shames may already be too high. Our good Zellig's proposed promotion to gabe or rosh khavruse is out of the question but declined with gratitude. Subject closed. nm] 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 Sep 1995 11:34:58 -0400 (EDT) From: sberger@yu1.yu.edu Subject: Sukkes song query I am trying to find the words to a song with the line "a sukele a kleyne." Any help will be greatly appreciated. Shulamith Berger ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.125