Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.228 January 22, 1996 1) "Dona" (David Jacobs) 2) Yiddish expressions in the mass media (Larry Rosenwald) 3) Haredi Yiddish (David Herskovic) 4) Pluperfect/gevest (Ellen Prince) 6) Judeo-Alsatian and Alsatian-Yiddish (Norman Fishman) 6) Occupational names and women (Mendy Fliegler) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 20 Jan 96 17:48:52 -0800 From: David_Jacobs@mindlink.bc.ca Subject: "Dona" I am looking for the original Yiddish words to a song which I know only in English. I believe it comes from the Yiddish theatre. The title of the song is "Dona". On a wagon bound for market, There's a calf with a mournful eye. High above him, there's a swallow Winging swiftly through the sky. etc. As I say, I think this comes from the Yiddish theatre and what I seek are the original Yiddish words, the title of the play and the name of the author. Thank you in advance. David Jacobs 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996 11:14:18 -0500 (EST) From: lrosenwald@wellesley.edu Subject: Yiddish expressions in the mass media I'm posting this query for Douglas Glick of the Vassar Anthropology Department, who posted it on the Linguist list; I bet he'll get more information from Memdele. He writes, "I am writing on behalf of a student of mine who is interested in documenting the various ways in which Yiddish is present in contemporary English. In particular, he seems to be interested in the ways particular Yiddish expressions are used in the mass media (though I think he'd be happy to discover any related sources). Does anyone know of work done that in any way relates to this topic?" If you can help him, you should send information to him directly, at glick@vassar.edu thanks on his behalf, Larry Rosenwald 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 21 Jan 96 16:50:02 EST From: 100114.750@compuserve.com Subject: Kharaydishe yidish To give a full report on the precise state of Yiddish in kharaydi communities one must first appreciate the diversity and complexities of this community. Although it is referred to as a single group in reality it is anything but that. It is generally true to say that the more khasidish the group, the more Yiddish will be spoken amongst them. So for eg. Satmar, Skver, Belz, Viznitz are all solid Yiddish-speaking khasidim. The frimest of these will speak only Yiddish between themselves men, women and children. Amongst the more ofgeklerte one may find English creep in between the women and the girls. These will probably be more 'modern' khasidim whose wives wear 20 denier tights instead of 60 denier with a seam or perhaps they don't wear a hat on their shaytel. In Bobov which is considered something of a dandy khsidesh English is much more common and its usage wouldn't cause heads to turn. The Rebbe would never address his khasidim in English (if he can speak it at all) and the first language there is still Yiddish but it is not enforced rigidly. The Yiddish amongst non-affiliated shtramel wearing khasidim will vary in almost direct proportion to their frimkayt. As for non-khasidim, Yiddish is hardly used unless for a specific reason as Henekh Coleman has already accurately described. This is more or less the picture in khasidic Jewry outside Israel with only slight variations from country to country. For eg. Australia which is an oberlender kehile with few khasidishe shtiblekh is almost all Anglicised. London has two frime areas, Stamford Hill and Golders Green. The former is a stronghold of khasidim and Yiddish rules while the latter is inhabited by more 'moderne yiden' and English is the norm. Antwerp is an exception with probably the highest ratio of non-khsidish Yiddish speakers. This may be a result of it having been an established kehile before the war and also that the country doesn't have one single language. But even there Hebrew is slowly creeping in among the non-khsidisher youth. While all this is true in khits loorets it is altogether a different picture in Israel. Many families in Israel of the kind that had they lived abroad would have spoken only Yiddish hardly speak any Yiddish in Israel. It is not uncommon to hear shtramel clad khasidim talk 'az (as in 'az yoshir') hob ikh gegangen' in a thick Hebrew accent. The Gerer khsidim use Hebrew as a first language with Yiddish a distant second. Viznitz is not as bad but also far more than English is to similar people of similar backgrounds outside Israel. The Belzer, Satmarer and yrisholaymer are the few groups who stick steadfastly to Yiddish. In Belz they mock the Gerer by copying a dialog between two Gerer bokhurim. "yesh tish?" "lo, yesh minkhe". In Belz it would sound like this "es gayt zan a tish?" "nayn, ober der rov kimt aran tsi minkhe." The letsones obviously being that such heavenly things as the Rebe and the Tish can be discussed in anything but Yiddish. The kharaydi newspapers in Yiddish in the USA are, as mentioned, der yid and der tsaytung (weekly) and dos Yiddishe vort (monthly). (Di algemayner zournal being a borderline case regarding its kharaydiism). In Israel there is a Yiddish section of 4 pages in the weekly newspaper HaMakhne HaKharaydi. But to those 'impecable secularists' round here I ask: Is it not hypocritical of you to rejoice at this last vestige of Yiddish when it is only achieved through the shutting out of all else? Is this not precisely what was so anathema to the likes of Mendele, Peyrets et al? The funny thing with Yiddish literature is that its popularity and the popularity of the ideas it espoused is exactly that which led to its demise. So perhaps the fraye yid should look around him see the 'achievments' of these writers and proclaim 'Hallelujah! The job has been done lets call it a day and wind up the whole show.' Meanwhile, while the show goes on blabts mir ale gezint and I will continue enjoying 'mendele' with all its participants and their contributions. David Herskovic 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996 17:30:56 EST From: ellen@central.cis.upenn.edu Subject: Pluperfect/gevest meyer-leyb wolf: thanks for pointing out the _gevest_ usage in yehoash's bible. meyer-leyb and dovid: note that this is a very different usage from his fellow litvak olsvanger's! while olsvanger uses _gevest_ only in the past conditional and only in place of standard _geven_, yehoash is using it in the pluperfect -- and in place of _gehat_! the line you cite, isaiah 38.10, is such a case: _ikh hob gevest gezogt_. (both olsvanger and yehoash seem to distinguish _hobn_ and _zayn_ verbs normally in the plain ol' past tense.) meyer-leyb: do you know offhand if yehoash uses _gevest_ in any other environment? (how i wish i had an electronic version and could do a global search! [zachary: hint, hint...) a dank. the plot thickens. :) ellen prince 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996 14:45:01 -0800 From: normf@ix.netcom.com Subject: Judeo-Alsatian Fellow Mendeleyaner, Dan Leeson, opened two areas for discussion that attracted lots of it. I find myself unable to resist injecting a word or two on both. 1. Is Yiddish Dying? Just look at what is happening at the National Yiddish Book Center and read the most recent Pakn-tregger and you must conclude that Yiddish is not only not dying, but is becoming "born again". 2. Judeo-Alsatian: The following excerpt from an article in Moment (1979?) by George Jochnowitz, is pertinent. The language of Southern France is called "Provencal." Few people know that there was also a Judeo-Provencal, sometimes called Shuadit. Its last speaker, Armand Lunel, died in 1977, and the language died with him. The four towns of Avignon, Carpentras, Cavaillon, and Isle-sur-Sorgue, often called the Arba Kehilot, were not always a part of France. Until 1792 they were a part of the Papal States. When Jews were expelled from France in the 14th century, those in the Arba Kehilot were not affected. They lived in relative isolation and developed their own language - Shuadit. After the French Revolution, Jews were once again permitted to live anywhere in the country, and the Papal territories had become part of France. Jews left the Arba Kehilot in great numbers, married Alsatian Jews, and lost their unique dialect. Can it be that Shuadit was absorbed by the Alsatian Jews and their unique dialect become even more complex and less traceable to identifiable origins? Norman Fishman 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996 20:55:55 -0500 (EST) From: efliegle@CapAccess.org Subject: Nokh vayberishe neymen Khaver Zellig, ikh denk az ir hot fargesn a pur neymen vus vayber nitzn oft, du in 'Amerishke': Tzum bayshpil: Di Presidentke..... I have never heard anyone call a lady president of Hadassah, "Presidentin". And what would you call a Chairlady in Yiddish--"Benklfroy"? (That's almost like delegatkes! Es graymt zikh mit latkes) Are there others? Mendy Fliegler ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.228