Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.280 March 12, 1996 1) Roykh and ruach (Ellen Prince) 2) Roykh (Arre Komar) 3) Daytsh in der lite (Dovid Braun) 4) International Yiddish conference (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 5) Fried matzo (Sturat Noah) 6) Glaykhn (Heather Valencia) 7) Zun-shtraaml (Mikhl Herzog) 8) Zun-shtraaml (Meyer-Leyb Wolf) 9) A medieval German vernacular (Leonard Prager) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 Mar 1996 17:10:19 EST From: ellen@central.cis.upenn.edu Subject: Roykh and ruach david baron writes: >Would it be so surprising that many (if not all) languages evolved from >Hebrew? it would be high comedy. ellen prince 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 Mar 1996 11:55:12 -0500 (EST) From: komar@yu1.yu.edu Subject: roykh The general consensus seems to be that the Yiddish word "roykh" stems from the German word "rauch". That was also my opinion for a long time . What gave me pause however is the common Yiddish expletive "Der roykh zol zey nemen". In that context the Hebrew meaning makes far more sense and most probably guided the construction of the phrase (particularly if we note that this is a pre-holocaust expression.) Arre Komar 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 Mar 1996 17:54:25 EST From: dovid@mit.edu Subject: Daytsh in der lite For Baltic Jews, the high status language was none other than German. (Vilne and environs was different: Russian, Polish [depending on era and societal aspirations].) Speak to people in their 70s from "Kovner Lite," the more towards the west, the better, and you're bound to hear things like anvtbroyt, mager, angenem, arem ('arm') etc. etc. (The a~o alternation isn't regular -- it's lexicalized, but nonetheless a reflection of close contact with German.) Riga was a German-speaking big city; Memel (Klaipeda) was a German-speaking province. A lot of connection between litvishe yidn and German. Dovid Braun 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 Mar 1996 19:34:50 -0500 From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: International Yiddish Conference in Miami (in a pitzele nutshell) Es iz mir a khidush un an antoishung vos ikh ze nisht a vort vegn der driter internatzyanaler yidisher conference in Miami onfang Mertz. Its seminars were rich, overflowing with Yidishkayt and insights. The keynote speech, "Yiddish in the 21st Century" by Aaron Lansky was dynamic, informative, and ever so hopeful about Yiddish on the rise; it set the prevailing tone of a lively tomorrow for lovers of Yiddish. Michael Alpert and Brave Old World, consummate musicians and ethnomusicolo- gists, added lebedike folkdancing and memorable concerts turning the days into a festival and celebration of klezmer music and its Ashkenaz culture. Bernard Mendelovitch's "Development of the Yiddish Theatre" and his night club performance gave proof of his reputation as London's Yiddish Olivier. Genardy Estraikh (from Oxford) lectured about the development of Yiddish from its inception to the 1990's, also ending on a hopeful, aristocratic note for its tomorrow. Dovid Katz appeared suddenly, like Eliyohu Hanovi, through the open door at Saturday dinner, mingling, answering questions, creating future shibboleths. Dr. Heszel Klepfisz traced the culture of Ashkenazy Jewry and Dr. Moshe Wolf discussed the National Jewish Theme in Soviet Yiddish Literature. Chana and Yosl Mlotek, as always outstanding for their knowledgeability and sensitivities, filled us with Yiddish song and folksong about women, paint- ing their socio-economic station, yearnings, degradations, and happiness, from the cradle to the grave. Morrie Feller, veteran Mendelyaner, represented us all and told how to reach out to the Yiddish World through computer networking. Sprinkled throughout the four days were fun seminars like "Kosher Humor for Yiddish Clubs" by Meyer Zaremba (a Florida star troubador who also made it lebedik by leading us in song), and "Yiddish Terms of Love, Sex, and Endear- ment" by Troim Katz-Handler who has written a book of erotic poetry in mame- loshn. Help was extended for leaders of Yiddish Clubs - "Creating Yiddish Theatre" by Nathan Garnick, and "Programming Techniques and Resources for Yiddish Groups" with Sunny Landsman, Bea Karg, and Fred Silberstein. Ruth and Dave Barlas, the Conference Chair, radiated such love and warmth, they made the four days a true khasene in shtetl. Ruth's idealism, knowledge and sincerity were contagious and inspirational. A blessing on her head. A deep joy was the camaraderie, the sharing of ideas, meeting Yiddishistn from way back in the early days of secularism, and, of course, fleshing out EMail friends like Fishl Kutner, Morrie and Tibbie Feller, and Bob Freedman. Resolutions were passed to create lobbying actions and central coordinated funds for the worldwide creation of teachers and teaching and schools and clubs and conferences. I shall treasure the memories, the inspirations, the new friends, and the hope, the conference created. Hope to meet you at the one next year, Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 Mar 96 03:45:17 +0800 From: snoah@ibm.net Subject: Fried matzo .. my family has always used the word (and excuse me if I try to spelling is odd) "Prezj'nyet'seh" for fried matzo. The problem is I have never heard anyone outside my family use this word, and as far as I know no one else does ! I've always thought that if I could learn the etymology of this word I might learn a little bit more about my family's background. Stuart Noah 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 Mar 1996 14:21:28 GMT From: h.m.valencia@stir.ac.uk Subject: Glaykhn I was interested in Khayem Bochner's discussion of "glaykhen" used in Yiddish for "to like". The idea of it entering American Yiddish from German is very persuasive. Howver, the older speakers in my Yiddish group in Glasgow use this word frequently in this sense. Their Yiddish comes from their parents who, I think without exception, came to Scotland directly from Russia or Poland. They would not have been in contact to any extent with German or English. It seems more likely that they at least adapted the Yiddish glaykhen (which they already used in its sense of similarity or equality) as a loan translation of the new English word "to like". Heather Valencia 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 Mar 96 12:52 EST From: zogur@cuvmb.columbia.edu Subject: Zun-shtraaml Meyer Wolf was good enough to remind me that in the Trancarpathian- Hunharian area, Eliyohu Juni MAY well be hearing _zyn-shtraaml_; i.e. neither _zun_ nor _zin_ but something akin to the German umlayted _u_ spelled _ue_, a front-rounded vowel. I've heard the joke among Hungarian Jews concerning the distinction between _fynishe_ and _finishe_ (not to be confused with Finns). Does this make any sense to you Eliyohu? Mikhl Herzog 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 Mar 1996 14:52:33 -0500 From: wolfim@chelsea.ios.com Subject: Zun-shtraaml Eliyohu Juni: Is it possible that what you rendered as 'zun-shtraaml' was actually 'zyn-shtraaml', i.e. with a front-rounded vowel rather than [u]? It would be interesting to know whether the purimshpiler who produced the unexpected vowel are young or old and whether they had American accents. Meyer-Leyb Wolf 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 Mar 96 20:46:35 IST From: rhle302@uvm.haifa.ac.il Subject: A medieval German vernacular A BBC World Service radio program called "Three Days in Jerusalem" (heard in Israel on 11 March 1996 at 8:45 Israel time, 6:45 London time) informs hearers throughout the world that the denizens of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem avoid the sacrilege of speaking Hebrew and instead speak "a medieval German vernacular." The program quite properly devotes a large part of its time to the central concern of most Jerusalemites, namely the rebuilding of the Temple and, especially, the restoration of animal sacrifice. The program's authors, with their genuine empathy for atavism, were apparently delighted to learn that Yiddish -- contrary to all known natural linguistic laws (this is Jerusalem) -- froze in the Middle Ages and is authentically spoken, unchanged, in the ultra-Orthodox precinct of Mea Shearim at this very moment. Leonard Prager ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.280