Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.209 January 25, 1997 1) Shpiliter (Meyer-Leyb Wolf) 2) Shpiliter (Mordkhe Schaechter) 3) Shpiliter (Joachim Neugroschel) 4) Halevay (Nomi Kadar) 5) Halevay (Hugh Denman) 6) Khumesh Beys Yehude (Andrey Bredshtein) 7) Yiddish story-telling (Cara Jacoby) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 19:34:40 -0500 (EST) From: wolfim@chelsea.ios.com Subject: Shpiliter Morrie Feller's note on 'shpiliter' [6.207: 4] asks about it's "anomalous" plural in -n. Harkavy (1928) p. 515 lists the word, though with a cross-reference to 'ekspediter' in place of a definition which might have provided information on its plural. Anomalous it's not. There are a number of Yiddish words in -er that take an -n plural, including oyern, toyern, poyern (as well as poyerim), numern, federn, totern. Meyer-Leyb Wolf 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 02:56:40 -0500 (EST) From: mschaecht@aol.com Subject: Shpiliter Oyb a substantiv iz gekvetsht/ aktsentirt/ hot dem trop afn letstn traf, iz der rabim af -n: milionern, miliardern, komisionern. Mordkhe Schaechter 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 15:44:02 -0500 (EST) From: achim1@cris.com Subject: Shpiliter In regard to the -n plural of "shpiliter," my friend morrie feller misquotes me slightly (Vol.6.207): What I said was that in Yiddish the plural of a male "-er" noun indicating a profession is usually null or -s (e.g. "shrayber/shraybers"). "er" nouns in other categories can have an "-n" plural: e.g. "tsimern", "shvestern" (the latter can also have a null plural--perhaps in imitation of the plural for professions or in imitation of "bruder/brider?. The "e" in "shvester" couldn't get umlauted because the late Germanic e>i Umlaut stopped being productive but left German with conjugations like "Ich gebe/du gi(e)bst", or compare Yiddish "gebm" (infinitive with partial assimilation of n > m after b) but "er git" etc.) "Shpiliter/-n) is a mystery to me both in singular and in plural. Inincidentally: the "er" ending in profession nouns like "shrayber" and "milner" goes back--via German--to the latin ending "-arius". It shouldn't be confused with the homonymous "er" ending for masculine nouns indicating geographic origin: "varshever," "londoner", "shveytser": these go back, via medieval German, to a proto-Teutonic genitive ending of a collective singular. In regard to usage, they imitate German in that they can be used both as nouns and as adjectives: er iz a varshaver = er ist (ein) Warschauer der varshaver dialekt = die Warschauer Mundart but in English they can be used only as nouns: He is a New Yorker but: the New York dialect. the exception to this rule in (at least American) English is a Yiddishism for identifying hasidic rabbis and sometimes yeshivas: the Bratslever rebbe, the Satmarer yeshiva. On the other hand, American Yiddish speakers talk about the "Boston rebbe" as well as the "Bostoner rebbe." Joachim Neugroschel 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 09:58:59 -0500 (EST) From: nck6@columbia.edu Subject: Halevay [Vegn Dovid Braun's frage (6.207)]: Ikh gedenk az ikh hob gehert dos lid gezungen, dos heyst, nit fun a plate oder a tashme: halevay volt ikh geven gefilte fish (x2) vos zhe volt geven? volt ikh geven oyf yedn yidns tish... azoy vi dos iz dos ershte mol vos ikh bateylik zikh vil ikh zikh forshteln. ikh bin a graduir studentke in yidishe shtudies in Columbia un a lererin fun yidish. Nomi Kadar 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 20:39:31 +0100 (MET) From: h_denman@maier.vol.at Subject: Halevay In answer to David Braun's query concerning the song 'Halevay' [6,207:5], there is a very spirited rendition with several verses on the lp 'Freylekh zol zayn/ Vesyolej igraj' by the Ansambl Evrejskoj Narodnoj Pesni "Feyerlekh (sic)" , Melodija C30 19595 001 Hugh Denman 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 19:34:25 +0300 From: anbredstein@glas.apc.org Subject: Khumesh Beys Yehude Ikh hob ba zikh inderheym dem seyfer "Khumesh Beys Yehude". Dos iz eygntlekh a taytsh-khumesh in 5 bender, mit Rashi un a sakh andere komentarn, alts af yidish. Der seyfer is aroysgegebn in Piotrkow (Poyln), in yor 1928, in Tsederboym drukeray. Ikh volt geven zeyer dankbar di mendelyaner kener far di yedies vegn dem-o seyfer: ver iz der iberzetster, ver hot tsunoyfgeshtelt dem bukh ua"v. Bifrat interesirt es mikh der komentar "Likutey Yoysef", ayngeshlosndik dem mekhaber fun originaln hebreishn tekst. A sheynem dank, Andrey Bredshtein 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 11:05:20 -0600 (CST) From: cjacoby@knox.edu Subject: Yiddish story-telling Various people suggested contacting you about a project that I am working on for a class here at Knox College in Galesburg IL. I am curious about Yiddish story telling and how these stories have been passed on through out the years. My big question is this...Have any of you been told Yiddish stories, either in Yiddish or English, by your parents or grandparents? If so, which ones stick out in your minds, how were they told to you, have you passed them on, and any other interesting factoids you can share about these stories...If any of you have access to posting this as a question anywhere, that would be great! I would love to chat with anyone via email about their experiences. Also, if the stories have not been told to you, is there a reason why? for example, assimilation, or that just wasn't something that your family did, etc. Thanks so much for any help or suggestions of literature that you can offer! Cara Jacoby [Since Cara Jacoby isn't a subscriber, readers are asked to reply to _her_ at the address given and not to the shames. nm] ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.209