Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.183 December 6, 1995 1) Hebrew in Yiddish (Morrie Feller) 2) Hebrew in Yiddish (Ze'ev Orzech) 3) Hebrew in Yiddish (Daniel Soyer) 4) Der tunkeler (Peter Kluehs) 5) Singer/Cahan (Daniel Soyer) 6) Program materials for Yiddish clubs (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 7) Argentina (Keyle Goodman) 8) Judeo-German vs. Yiddish (Khayem Bochner) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 16:00:21 -0700 (MST) From: feller@indirect.com Subject: Hebrew in Yiddish I want to publicly thank those who responded so quickly and generously to my request about the book of Hebraisms in Yiddish. I received information about three such books along with information about sources, prices,etc. Mendelyaners are indeed a special breed! Morrie Feller Phoenix 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 15:46:37 -0800 From: orzechz@ucs.orst.edu Subject: Hebrew terms in Yiddish I am translating memoirs and letters of two separate members of my family. Both were active members of the Bund, one a bakery worker, the other a journalist. I am struck by the significant difference in the frequency of Hebrew (or Hebrew-derived) terms used in the writings of the two men. Can anyone explain this difference? Is it related to level of education, to geographical location, or what? Many thanks, Ze'ev Orzech 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 05 Dec 95 13:00:42 EST From: 74212.2700@compuserve.com Subject: Hebraisms Regarding the recent query concerning Hebraisms in Yiddish, I have a copy of Yankev Levin, _Verterbikhl fun hebreish-yidishe verter_(New York: Cyco Froyen Centrale, 1958). I do not recommend it, however. It seems to include mostly the most obvious entries. Less commonly used terms or more specialized expressions are not likely to be found there. Didn't the poet Yehoash, who translated the Tanakh into Yiddish, also compile a dictionary of Hebreisms? I don't have the citation. Daniel Soyer 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 04 Dec 1995 22:03:00 +0200 From: pete@pko.rhein-main.de Subject: der tunkeler [4] hemshekh fun *literatn mit bekies* in vol. 5.181 endlekh kumt der gelernter kave. in der hakdome tsu i.i. trunks verk "dos geshprekh tsvishn diogneses fesl un abileses piente" shraybt er folgndiks: "es iz mir iber hoypt oyffalndik, vos der analfabet d"r zshitlovski un azelkhe farshtopte moykhes, vi leo finkelshteyn un d"r gliksman nemen tsitirn dem geniush *shintse*, velkhn ikh bin in sofek, tsi hobn zey im gor geleyent. vayl *shintse* hot gor zayne verk nisht gedrukt. zey zaynen farblibn an unikum bloyz in dray hundert toyznt manuskriptn, vos er hot geshribn balpe un velkher gefint zikh bay mir in britishn muzeum un vegn velkhn ikh shrayb itst a monografye in 72 bender, vi oykh a groys hantbukh mit a shlisl, shlos un nokhshlisl. a dank der doziker monografye vil ikh arayntrogn a bisele ordenung in dem khaos fun di moykhes fun di greste denkers, vos hersht benegeye der biografye fun d"r *shintse*. in der doziker monografye, in dem 67stn band, zayte 2795, shtel ikh fest, az der d"r *shintse* iz geven nisht keyn slav, nor a yapanezer, a zun fun kazanova un a fraynd fun dem anglo-saksishn stenka razin, un geshribn hot er zayne verk in arabishn latayn mit sanskritishe bukhshtabn, vos - s'farshteyt zikh - az nisht aza farshtopter kop, vi leo finkelshteyn un d"r zshitlovski un aza amorets vi d"r gliksman zaynen in shtand tsu lezn. voltn zey nisht geven keyn flakhkep, voltn zey gevust, az loyt der trans- kriptsye fun daytshishn gelerntn prof' veremkraut fun minkhener elektrovnye badarf men di fraze "di froy iz der tsimes fun der natur" leyenen gants andersh, nemlekh: "der tsimes iz di natur fun der froy", un az der doziker aforizm iz geshribn gevorn fun dem groysn *shintse* nisht oyf dem fertsikstn yor fun zayn shafn, vi der analfabet zshitlovski vil, nor oyf dem eyn un fertsikstn mit a halbs. nor az flakhkep heybn-on tsu reydn vegn visnshaft, iz dokh nisht shaykh. men darf zikh nemen tsu zey! zol ikh nor fartik vern mit mayn entsiklopedye, vel ikh mit zey oykh fartik vern. diksi, lasuksi, tuksi mitreyksi (fun *bulgarishn epos*). sof folgt vos gikher peter kluehs wehrheim, germany 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 05 Dec 95 12:56:30 EST From: 74212.2700@compuserve.com Subject: Singer/Cahan I don't know if anyone has answered Daniel Bugel's recent questions about I.B. Singer's biography privately. Off the top of my head, I can only supply the most obvious information: Bashevis' brother was, of course, Israel Joshua Singer, and the editor of the _Forward_ was Abraham Cahan (in Yiddish he often signed his name "Ab.," but I don't think this abbreviation is usually used in English). I am not familiar off hand with Steinberg's Restaurant or _Dos yidishe vort_. Was this a New York pub- lication? Daniel Soyer 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 17:03:39 -0500 From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: Gathering program materials for Yiddish clubs The organizers of the 3rd International Yiddish Conference (in Miami from March 1-4, 1996 at the Dilido Beachfront Hotel) are gathering and cataloguing program materials suitable for a Yiddish Club, a Vinkl, a Leyenkrayz, un azoy vayter. If you lead any of the afore-mentioned group activities, and have created any program materials, please share them by mailing a copy to Fred Silberstein 10651 West Clairmont Circle, Tamarac, Fl 33321. They will be duplicated and distributed to other leaders. Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 14:32:53 -0800 From: ac939@lafn.org Subject: Argentina Ikh bin nor vos tsurikgekumen fun Argentina un s'iz mir a freyd shraybn vegn dorem amerike. Yiddish lebt un iz gezunt dortn. Ikh hob gehat di gelegenhayt zikh tsu bakenen mit Avrum L Likhtenboym, Paye Lewin, Moyshe Korin. Eyner, a fraynt, Mayer Nierenberg hot mir gegebn a matone--a bikhl _Memorias del Gueto de Lodz_. Dos iz in Shpanish ober m'zetst dos iber af Yiddish un efsher der tsukumendik yor vet dos zayn greyt af Yiddish. Di noyt iz groys. M'arbet shver tsunoyf klaybn vos iz ibergeblibn fun dem khurbn letstn yor. Di arbet ken nemen tsvishn 2 un 3 yor, efsher mer. S'iz faran 180 bilder velkhe m'muz zey oyfrikhten. Fun Minkovsky iz do 59 bilder. Prof. Likhtenboym hot mir gegebn tsu farshteyn az zey zukhn hilf vi vayt meglekh. Oyb s'do tsvishn undzer mendelyaner, mitglider velkhe hobn hashpoe mit muzeyen, universitetn, un privatishe layte velkhe kenen aroyshelfen, lost visn, ikh bet aykh. Ikh hob gehat a glik tsu zeyn tsvey forshtelung--Los Gauchos Judios un Sheyndele. In a park vos heyst Centenario hot a Yidisher khor gezungen alerley lider fun amolike tsaytn. S'iz efsher geven 1000 mentchen. In Buenos Aires iz a lebedike, yidishe velt. In Sholom Aleikhen Folkshule zenen do 2000 shilern. Az lerern bin ikh geven zeyer interesirt in di kinder un m'hot mir ayngeladn onkukn etlekhe klasn. In a klas fun 10 yor alt talmidim hot zikh mir azh geshtelt trern tsu hern undzere libe lider un oykh a forshtelung in yiddish. Di kinder hobn mir gefregt frages vegn undzer fareynikte shtaten--di frages zenen nisht geven vegn narishkayt ober mamoshesdike frages. antisemitizme, regiring shtitser vegn der yidisher kehile. Tsvishn mayne tsvey nesiyes dem letstn yor--Australia un Argentina, bin ikh shtolts mit undzer yidisher shprakh. A fayg di velkhe zogn "Yidish iz krank." Keyle (Kay) Goodman 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 05 Dec 95 18:11:42 -0500 From: Harry Bochner Subject: Judeo-German vs. Yiddish Leonard Mathless points out [5.182] that the Library of Congress considers Judeo-German to be synonymous with Yiddish, and asks what this implies about the language of Mendlessohn's writings. I don't know anything about Mendlessohn's writings, but I think I can help a little with the terminology. We have to bear in mind that the general acceptance of Yiddish as the name of the language is a relatively modern phenomenon, and that one of the other names it has been known by is Judeo-German. For instance, when Edward Sapir wrote on article on litvish Yiddish (presumably his own dialect) in 1915, he called it "Notes on Judeo-German Phonology". Thus, the Library of Congress is simply recognizing existing practice. This doesn't imply anything about the language of Mendlessohn's writings. The question Mr. Mathless probably has in mind is what I would word like this: how do we distinguish between a text in Western Yiddish and a German text transliterated into Hebrew letters? In general, if the text is in correct standard German for the time it was written, except for being transliterated, then you can probably call it German. If it uses words, or grammatical features, that aren't in the standard German of the time, and that reflect likely features of spoken Yiddish of that time and place, then it's probably best to call it Yiddish. Unfortunately for Mr. Mathless, and fortunately for those who have little patience with such things, that's about all I can say ;-) A better answer would involve a lot of detailed information about dialects, and I suspect it would be too much linguistics for most people here. I, for one, would be interested in hearing about it though. Khayem Bochner ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.183