Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 6.019
June 21, 1996

1) Fargin (Michael Shimshoni)
2) Yiddish and its future (Harold L. Orbach)
3) In gehenem (Shoshana Balaban-Wolkowicz)
4) A shtikl yidishe gramatik (Peter Kluehs)
5) Proverbs (Paolo Agostini)
6) "Mendele" iz nisht genug (Moyshe-Zekharye Beker)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 96 16:01:37 +0300
From: mash@weizmann.weizmann.ac.il
Subject: Fargin

Bob Werman asked about the origin  of "farginen" which is used also in
modern Hebrew  getting there via  Yiddish.  I  think that it  had been
answered before.  Anyhow  there is the German word goennen,  as in "er
goennt es mir  nicht" which was modified in Hebrew  to "hu lo mefargen
li".

Michael Shimshoni

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 96 13:23 CDT
From: hlorbach@ksuvm
Subject: Yiddish and its future

The NY Times of Thursday, June 13 (C16) has a story, "When Jokes Are as
Old as Those Who Tell Them," about a tribute for the 85 year-old comic
Joey Adams (born Abramovitz) that may offer anecdotal evidence relevant
to the recurrent discussions regarding the future of the Yiddish
language.

In discussing the performances of those who participated, the writer,
one Neil Strauss, commented:

   The night began slowly, with joke-spinners who had either lost
   their ability to enunciate or who delivered too many punch lines
   in Yiddish.

Thus, delivering too many punch lines in Yiddish is akin to having lost
one's ability to enunciate...

Harold L. Orbach
Manhattan, Kansas

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 00:39:23 -0400
From: mahosu@aol.com
Subject: In gehenem

Nit lang tzurik  a Lubliner Yd hot gezungen a lid vos er flegt, mit
andere partizaner, zingen  in milkhome tzytn. Di ershe shure geyt azoy:

"In gehenem geyt a frost
in gan-eydn iz kalt...."

khbadoyer vos kh'ob es nit recordirt.

Es redt zikh oykh vegn "Moyshe Farkoyft zkarpetn.."

Ken emetzer (Chane Mlotek?) dem fuln text?

A dank,

Shoshana Balaban-Wolkowicz

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 20 Jun 1996 20:27:00 +0200
From: pete@pko.rhein-main.de
Subject: a shtikl yidishe gramatik

efsher s'iz do a meyvn vos kon mir entfern tsu mayne frages vegn inyonim
fun gramatik?

ershtns: a ponim zenen faran nit veyniker vi fir verter vos me nutst zey
kedey tsu definirn dem komparativ, dehayne: *vi, eyder, fun un far*. oyf
english klekt *than* un oyf daytsh *als*. faran nokh yidishe oysdrukn
far dem komparativ un vi azoy kon men zey untersheydn?

tsveytns: ikh leyen alts dos *toyg* un dos *geher* onshtot toygt un
gehert. farvos felt bay di zvey verbn der tes tsum sof? faran nokh aza
min verbn un vi azoy ruft men zey?

a dank foroys

peter kluehs
wehrheim, germany

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 21:58:24 +0200
From: pagos@mbox.vol.it
Subject: Proverbs

I like proverbs and adages. There are some which are characteristic of
yiddish only, like the following ones:

tsen goyim zenen nor tsen goyim, ober tsen yiden zenen shoyn a minyen.
ikh zol handeln mit tachrikhem, volt keyner nit shterbn.
a halber emes iz a gantser lign.
orm iz keyn shand, ober oykh keyn groyser koved nit.
a oysher hot kayn kinder, hot nor erbn.
fil melokhes venik brokhes.
geyt vi matses im vatikan.
es past, vi a hoyker tsu der vant.
beser a mise khasene vi a sheyne levaye.
nisht genug, dos a yid rekht hot, er mus oykh sekhel hobn.

..any Mendelniker knowing more? A grus.

Paolo Agostini

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 20:42:46 -0500 (EST)
From: yivo1@metgate.metro.org
Subject: "Mendele" iz nisht genug; leyent dem "Forverts" oykh!

Inem Forverts farn 21stn yuni iz do a kurts artikl, "'Mendele' aleyn iz
nisht genug!" (unter der rubrik "In der velt fun yidish," fun Y.  Hamer
[Yosl Mlotek]).  Kh'meyn az s'iz keday tsu farshpreytn dem gantsn artikl
tsvishn dem oylem Mendelyaner:

     Mir hobn shoyn nisht eyn mol mit loyb geshribn vegn der
     'Mendele-nets,' vos kumt itst a dank der elektronisher tekhnik, vos
     shpart itst on in hunderter yidishe heymen fun yidish-libhober un
     yidish-gelernte iber gor der velt.

     Haynt muzn mir ober onvayzn oyf epes, vos hot undz farshafn a sakh
     fardrus, vayl gemeynt hobn mir, az ale 'Mendelyaner' banugenen zikh
     nisht tsu shtiln zeyer interes tsu der yidisher shprakh nor mit der
     'Mendele-nets' oyfn kompyuter, nor zey leyenen oykh di yidishe
     prese un periodik.  Hobn mir gehat a groysn toes.

     Dem 1tn yuni hobn tsvey 'Mendelyaner' arayngeshikt aza frage:
     'Veys emetser dem nomen fun dem nokhfolger fun 'Sovetish heymland'
     (oyb aza oysgabe ekzistirt) un zayn adres?'

     Shoyn tsvey yor vi mir drukn meldungen in 'Forverts' vegn dem
     zhurnal 'Di yidishe gas' vos geyt aroys in Moskve oyfn ort fun
     'Sovetish heymland' un mir apelirn oft tsu shikn bayshtayerungen
     tsum 'Komitet farn videroyfboy fun yidish,' vos helft finantsyel,
     az der zhurnal zol kenen dershaynen.  Yedn numer 'Di yidishe gas'
     ken men koyfn in Arbeter-ring bikher-tsenter un in 'Forverts' un di
     farinteresirte in yidish un yidisher literatur hobn vegn dem
     keynmol nisht gehert?

     Zogn mir tsu ale 'Mendelyaner':  Oyb ir vilt oyf an emes visn vos
     es kumt for in der yidisher velt, tort ir zikh nisht banugenen nor
     mit dem kompyuter.  Ir darft vern shtendike leyener fun 'Forverts'
     un fun di yidishe zhurnaln vos dershaynen in Amerika un
     Medines-Yisroel.  Ir vet zikh dervisn, az yidishe tsaytungen un
     zhurnaln geyen oykh aroys in Vilne, Tshernovits, Odes, Varshe un
     Biro-bidzhan.

Moyshe-Zekharye Beker (Zachary Baker)

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End of Mendele Vol. 6.019