______________________________________________________
Contents of Vol. 3.245
February 24, 1994

1) Yiddish CD (Mark Flumerfelt)
2) Yiddish writers and gentiles (Mark Flumerfelt)
3) The name for 'yiddish' in other languages (Ellen Prince)
4) A gut verterbuch (Jay Lee)
5) Yiddish transliteration (Marnen Laibow-Koser)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue Feb 22 23:59:04 1994
From: Mark Flumerfelt <MARKF@VM1.YorkU.CA>
Subject: Yiddish CD

Ted Steinberg mentioned a CD entitled "Voices of the Ghetto--Le 19
Avril 1943." Would anyone be able to tell me how I could purchase
this CD?  I live in Toronto.

Mark Flumerfelt

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed Feb 23 00:06:35 1994
From: Mark Flumerfelt <MARKF@VM1.YorkU.CA>
Subject: Yiddish writers and gentiles

Sean Martin asked for suggestions on Yiddish works which depict
Poles.  I am presently reading (in English) a collection of short
stories by Yaacov Zipper entitled The Far Side of the River.  Many
of the stories in this volume examine Polish attitudes towards Jews.
There is a particularly beautiful tale, called Light in the
Darkness, which tells the story of a gentile hearth-keeper, named
Mikolai, who continues his duties in the shtetl after all the Jews
have been removed.  May I also suggest a story entitled White
Challah (I don't remember the author's names) which offers a subtle
portrait of a Polish (or possibly Russian) anti-semite.

Mark Flumerfelt

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed Feb 23 15:02:51 1994
From: "Ellen F. Prince" <ellen@central.cis.upenn.edu>
Subject: the name for 'yiddish' in other languages

to: Anatole Beck

like you, i grew up hearing yiddish called 'jewish' (nyc) and only
learned that it's called 'yiddish' (by some people) as an adult.
btw, i've never seen it called 'juif' in french, but no doubt
because my interactions with it in french are only of the 'learned'
type, where yidish, yiddisch, yiddich, yiddish... seem to be used.

but i have a question: WHY do we call it 'yiddish'?!? it's the only
language i can think of whose name in english is simply borrowed
rather than translated. after all, we don't call french 'francais'
or japanese 'nihongi' (?)... of course, language names get borrowed
when there is no translation (swahili, dyirbal, wolof...), but the
yiddish name for itself, yidish, certainly has a translation,
'jewish'. is this simply another avoidance of the j-word in english
(cp. hias, ym/ywha...)?

ellen prince

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed Feb 23 17:15:12 1994
From: "Jay M. Lee" <JMLEE@ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: a gut verterbuch, zai azoi gut

	I work at a university library and soon we will be adding a
number of Yiddish books to our collection.  It will be my job to
process them and we have no Yiddish dictionaries in the office.  I
was hoping you could point me toward a good one.  The two I am
considering are Weinreich's Eng./Yid. Yid./Eng. (YIVO-McGraw Hill:
1991; $45.00) or Harkovy's Yid./Eng. (Shalom: [19--?]; $35.00).

	Does anyone have a preference, or another suggestion?

	A sheinem dank,

	Jay Lee <jmlee@ucs.indiana.edu>

(nokh a feigele)

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed Feb 23 17:15:22 1994
From: laibow@brick.purchase.edu
Subject: Yiddish transliteration

[Anatole Beck asks about a genuine transliteration scheme.]

How about something like this?

shtumer-alef      '              tsvey_yudn        ii
pasakh-alef       a              pasakh-tsvey_yudn ii
komets-alef       o              kaf               k
beyz              b              khaf              k_ (x?)
veyz              b_             lamed             l
giml              g              mem               m
dalet             d              nun               n
hey               h              samekh            s
vov               u              ayin              e
melupm-vov        u_             pey               p
tsvey_vovn        v (vv?)        fey               f (p_?)
vov-yud           uy (oy?)       tsadik            c
zayin             z              kof               q
khes              h_             resh              r
tes               t              shin              w (x?)
yud               i              sin               w_ (?)
khirek-yud        i_             tof               t
                                 sof               t_

Shalom,

Marnen Laibow-Koser

______________________________________________________
End of Mendele Vol. 3.245

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Mendele: Yiddish literature and language