Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 2 no. 110
December 6, 1992
 
1) Terms for non-Jews (Alan Rutkowski)
2) Terms for non-Jews (Shleyme Axelrod)
3) Dialect geography (Mikhl Herzog)
4) Tsign un beymer (Shleyme Axelrod)
5) "Ints geymir in azoy vatuh" (Elye/t Gertel)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 92 11:20:57 MST
From: ARUTKOWS%UALTAVM.bitnet@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu
Subject: Mendele Vol 2.108

Re: Shakeyts & shiksah. A Jewish friend of mine who grew up
in Bessarabia tells me that "goy" and "goyah" are also
pejorative. When her family spoke politely of Gentiles they
used the words "krist" and "kristleche."I don't see how the
word "shvartse" could be considered pejorative.

Alan Rutkowski

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 04 Dec 1992 14:51:46 -0500 (EST)
From: Seymour Axelrod <PTYAXEL@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu>
Subject: Terms for non-Jews

As I was growing up, I understood "sheygets" to be an
INoffensive term for "young non-Jewish male", and "shikse"
likewise inoffensive for "young non-Jewish female."
Apparently, I either misunderstood then, or am
misremembering now, or my relatives (who were ideologically
and fiercely, almost aggressively, non-racist) were
peculiar in their usage.  In any case, "goy" was used
inoffensively for men, and "goye" [U. Weinreich gives
"goyete" as an alternative] for women.

Shleyme Axelrod

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 92  14:07 EST
From: ZOGUR@CUVMB.Columbia.edu
Subject: Dialect geography

To Debra Halperin Biasca:

We "expect" gezunt and yorn to cooccur and gezint and yurn
to cooccur. If "gezint" and "yorn" cooccur, it's at
locations precisely in the area between Belorussia and the
Ukraine where "libm" ('life') occurs. Most, if not all of
that area, lies within the province of Volhynia. Can you
pursue your grandmother's origins with a map of that area
in mind.

Actually, there's one other town I know of, in Northern
Poland, at the East Prussian border, where "gezint and
yorn" cooccur--Ostrolenka. I suspect that that's irrelevant
in this case.

Mikhl Herzog

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 04 Dec 1992 15:14:26 -0500 (EST)
From: Seymour Axelrod <PTYAXEL@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu>
Subject: tsign un beymer

I often have problems with the meanings of--i.e., don't
undesrtand when one would use--Yiddish proverbs.  One such
is Ignatz Bernstein's (J:udische Sprichw:orte und
Redensarten, 1908) #362:  "Oyf a yungn boym shpringen ale
tsign" (my transcription).  All goats leap onto (or at)
young trees?  There's obviously something I am missing
about goat-tree interactions, and I'm therefore unable to
understand the metaphorical meaning. Ken emetser mir
derklern vos dos shprikvort vil undz zogn?

Shleyme Axelrod

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 04 Dec 1992 12:16:36 -0800 (PST)
From: EGERTEL@FULLERTON.EDU
Subject: "Ints geymir in azoy vatuh"

Mikhl Hertsogn:

A dank aykh di derklerungen klape dem [u] far [r] bay di
redners fun dorem- yidish.  Zikher hob ikh bamerkt vi azoy
tate-mames [u] iz aroysgeredt vi an [o] un nisht keyn [i]
far [r].  Nor eyn zakh muz ikh tsugebn: tate-mame zogn
nisht "dorkh" nor dem variant "adorkh" (un ikh oykhet
agev).  Tsurik geredt zogn zey "kekh" nisht "kakh" un
"brekhn" nisht "brakhn."  Ir zent oykh gerekht az ir zogt
az di mame zogt epes eynlekh tsu "omer" (English: have) un
s'kumt oys punkt vi ayer tsveyter moshl: "in(t)s om{shva}r"
vayl di mame zogt keynmol nisht "mir" vi der driter
perzenlikher pronom nor shtendik "uns" aroysgeredt
"in(t)s."  Zi zogt a shteyger "In(t)s geymir ankoyfn" un
dos glaykhn.  Far mir iz ale mol a bisl shver tsu visn vi
azoy aroysturedn farsheydene zakhn spetsiel loshn-
koydeshizms vayl di dialektin fun tate-mame zenen azoy
andersh eyner funem tsveytn.  Nu, azoy i' dos mit gemishte
khasenes (in dem fal a galitsianerin mit a podolyer [vos er
hot zikh gor a sakh gevoglt in di yunge-yorn])!

Elye/t Hersh Gertl (Elliot Hersch Gertel)

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End of Mendele Vol 2.110