Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.104 September 14, 1993 1) Tsimbl (Khaim Bochner) 2) Shmus (Amitai Halevi) 3) Farsheydenes (Eli Katz) 4) Missed opportunity (Jesse C. Rabinowitz) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Sep 13 17:22:55 1993 From: bochner@endor.harvard.edu Subject: Re: tsimbl Mottel Lakin shraybt: > Ich farshtei az tzimbel iz takeh "cymbal" . Efsher ken emetzer arein > shreiben vegn "nemen oifen tzimbel", fun vanen nemt zich . A sakh mentshn (afile mayn tate-mame) meynen az a tsimbl iz der instrument vos heyst oyf english "cymbals", dos heyst a por tatsn azoyne, vos me klapt zey tsuzamen. Azoy vi ikh farshtey, ober, iz dos a toes. Fartsaytns iz a tsimbl geven a "cimbalum" (oysleyg?), dos a heyst, aza instrument vos heyst hayntike tsaytn in amerike a "hammer dulcimer". Dos iz aza min tishele, mit a sakh strunes, vos me shlogt zey zeyer gikh mit a por kleyne hemerlekh. Fun dem iz es nisht azoy shver tsu farshteyn farvos me nutst "nemen oyfn tsimbl" tsu bashraybn vi azoy me mutshet emetsn. Un fun dem, meyn ikh, hot der mineg fun shteln a sakh frages in Motl's mishpokhe genumen zayn nomen. -- Khaim 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Sep 13 17:50:40 1993 From: Amitai Halevi Subject: Shmus slg3@cornell.edu (sander l. gilman) writes: >Is there a relationship between 'schmus' to gossip and >Mauschel/gemauschel? 1. Being much more familiar with Hebrew than with Yiddish, I was under the (mistaken?) impression that "schmus" was actually "shmu'es", derived from the Hebrew "shmuot" ("shmuos" in Ashkenasi pronunciation), that means "rumors" or "gossip". 2. My familiarity with German is even less than with Yiddish, so I had to look "mauscheln" up in my pocket German-English dictionary (Langenscheit, 1983). I was unpleasantly surprised to read: mauscheln: talk sheeny; _fig._ jabber. I then looked up "sheeny" in the English-German section, and only found the innocuous definition "glaenzend", which in turn, is translated as "bright, brilliant". Aside from my annoyance at Langenscheidt's sneaky, or perhaps inadvertent, retention of the pejorative "sheeny" in such a recent edition, I wonder: 1. Can anyone confirm or refute my guess as to the Hebrew origin of "shmus"? 2. Is it conceivable that "mauscheln" was absorbed into the German from Hebrew via Yiddish, like e.g. "meschugge", and "Tohuvabohu"? (Incidentally, both of these appear in the aforementioned dictionary as legitimate German words.) Shana Tova to all. Amitai Halevi 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Sep 13 19:17:37 1993 From: katz@Sonoma.EDU Subject: farsheydenes 1. With regard to Shleyme Axelrod's question and the ensuing comments regarding "yontef": My father who was not an arayngeyer in shil (not even rosheshone or yomkiper) was nevertheless fastidious about proper observance, i.e. he loved to deride those who professed to observe but did't "really" know what they were doing. He scoffed at amoratsim who spoke of yomkiper as a yontef when it is, of course, a "tones." According to him, one did not greet anyone on yomkiper with "gut yontef," but rather, "ir zolt hobn a laykhtn tones." The proper greeting on rosheshone was "leshonetoyve tikuseyvu" to be answered with "tikuseyvu ve sikhuseymu." But I can't recall whether he pronounced on whether it was OK to say "gut yontef" on rosheshone. I think yes. 2. Mottl Lakin asks about "nemen afn tsimbl." That was one of the idiomatic expressions I mentioned a while ago. In my family it was used more generally to mean something like "putting on the spot." Inciden- tally, in my father's vocabulary, pace Weinreich and Harkavy, "tsimbl" was not a cymbal, but a cimbalom, the "Hungarian hammered dulcimer" (Webster's Third Unabridged) beloved of Gypsy (and some klezmer) ensembles. 3. I would maintain that the Yiddish pronunciation of yarmlke DOES in fact include the r, with the qualifica- tion that uvular r before m is generally not trilled, but is represented by (more or less) velar constriction, something that could easily be missed by someone referring primarily to the English phonological system. This would be particularly true in places like New York and Boston where English non-prevocalic r disappeared (at least in our days). The question concerning i vs u is really not relevant since the u in yarmulke is really an English spelling convention and does not occur in either Yiddish pronunciation or Yiddish spelling (cf. Weinreich). 4. Since we're back to talking about idiomatic expressions (2 above), here are a few more that I thought I'd remind you of: vi kumt di kats ibern vaser? "How are we going to carry out this (problematic) project?" "The idea is good, but its execution is problematic." dort ligt der hunt bagrobn. "THAT'S what's at the bottom this!" "That's where the trouble lies." This can also be phrased as a question: vu ligt der hunt bagrobn? "Where does the trouble lie?" a berishe toyve. The kind of favor a bear did for a man when he swatted a fly on the man's head with his paw. Although I've been lying low for the last couple of months I'd still welcome additional examples, and I AM recording them. I'll provide a list of those submitted thus far in a little while. Eli Katz 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Sep 13 21:18:34 1993 From: panisse@mendel.Berkeley.EDU Subject: Missed opportunity. The communication from Allan E Blair enititled "Yiddish Clubs" was short but totally uninformative. Mendele is probably not the appropriate place to record the proceedings of that conference, however it would be of general interest to know whether any such material is available to the public. More specific information about what went on at the conference would be more effective in generating interest in the Second Conference than the opinion that the first was a "..huge success." Jesse C. Rabinowitz ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.104