Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.196 January 12, 1997 1) Jewish English or "Hebonics" (Harry Wittenberg) 2) Kheshbn/khezhbm (Joachim Neugroschel) 3) Yidishe duetn (Andrey Bredshteyn) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 10 Jan 97 00:30 EST From: zogur@cuvmb.columbia.edu Subject: Jewish English or "Hebonics" The Encino School Board has declared Jewish English a second language. Backers of the move say the district is the first in the nation to recognize Hebonics as the language of many of America's Jews. Here are some descriptions of the characteristics of the language, and samples of phrases in standard English and Jewish English. Samples of Pronunciation Characteristics Jewish English or "Hebonics" hardens consonants at the ends of words. Thus, "hand" becomes "handt." The letter "W" is always pronounced as if it were a "V". Thus "walking" becomes "valking". "R" sounds are transformed to a guttural utterance that is virtually impossible to spell in English. It's "ghraining" "algheady". Samples of Idiomatic Characteristics Questions are always answered with questions: Question: "How do you feel?" Hebonics response: "How should I feel?" The subject is often placed at the end of a sentence after a pronoun has been used at the beginning: "She dances beautifully, that girl." The sarcastic repetition of words by adding "sh" to the front is used for emphasis: "mountains" becomes "shmountains" and "turtle" becomes "shmurtle" Sample Usage Comparisons Standard English Phrase Hebonics Phrase ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "He walks slow" "Like a fly in the ointment, he walks" "You're sexy" "Oy! So shmaltzie, this girl is here. Let me look at you." "Sorry, I do not know the time" "What do I look like, a clock?" "I hope things turn out for the best" "You should BE so lucky" "Anything can happen" "It's never so bad, it can't get worse" Harry Wittenberg 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 22:43:57 -0500 (EST) From: achim1@cris.com Subject: Kheshbn/khezhbm Those who might be interested in a more thorough treatment of the pronunciation of nun after a bilabial ("b" or "p") as in "lebm", "zibm" (and of course "khezhbm") might want to consult Mordkhe Shekhter's excellent intermediary textbook "Yidish Tsvey". The author likewise points out other phonetic features not captured in Yiddish spelling: for instance, unvoicings in front of unvoiced consonants like "ret-takt" (=stress group) as opposed to "red-loshn" (spoken language). the standard Yiddish word for "noun" is spelled "suBstantiv" but pronounced "suPstantiv". The "s" vanishes before a "sh": "oys-shepn" is pronounced "oy-shepn, etc. I've been defending Weinreich's excellent books, and I think that Shekhter's grammar does a fabulous job of picking up where Weinreich left off. Joachim Neugroschel 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 23:56:39 +0300 From: anbredstein@glas.apc.org Subject: Yidishe duetn Lize Tomlinson zukht [6.189] yidishe "duetn". Ikh gedenk a lid fun mayn zeydn z"l nokh. Er shtamt fun Nikolayev (Ukraine) un derfar gib ikh do di ershte strofes davke af zayn steyger: "- Vus dergeysti mir di yurn, mayne yurn, yinge yurn? Zug, vus bisti tsigeshtanen haynt tsi mir? Oy, ven ikh volt geven frier visn, Az mayn mome vet nit veln dir far a shnir, Volt ikh di lipn mit di tseyn farbisn, oy vey, In keyn libe keynmul nit gefirt mit dir! - Tsi dayn momen hob ikh gurnisht, hob ikh gurnisht, hob ikh gurnisht, Vayl dayn mome iz nit shildik in deym. Nor zitsn zol zi ba fremde tishn, In keyner zol zikh nit imkikn of ir, Vayl tsi keyn libe tor men zikh nit mishn, oy vey, Oy, vus hot zi gehat tsi mir?" Oyb dos iz interesant, meg ikh aroysshikn di iberike strofes - shraybt mir vegn dem. Un s'iz faran nokh a por lider vos ikh ken nisht af oysnveynik nor ikh volt gekont di verter oysgefinen: a lid fun a porfolk - "Bam glezl tey" iz der titl, dakht zikh: - Berele, mayn manele, hob tsu dir a bakoshe... - Perele, mayn vaybele, vos far a bakoshe? - Imirtseshem, az ikh vel hobn, a yingele in freydn, Vel ikh im a nomen gebn nokh mayn frumen zeydn!... un a lid vegn a farlibtn bokher: - A gut shabes, Feyge-Sosye, vos zitst ir azoy "osobeno"? - A gut yor, Dovid-Yosye, s'iz mir azoy "udobeno"... Andrey Bredshteyn Moskve (Rusland) ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.196 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. 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