Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 4.054
July 12, 1994

1) Introduction (Harvey Spiro)
2) Solent-cholent (Herb Fishman)
3) Gettysburg Address in Yiddish (Zellig Bach)
4) Yiddishe Fedder-Fraynt (Avrom Yitzkhok Blair)
5) Childhood Misconceptions About Yiddish (Michael Shimshoni)
6) Long single-syllable words (David Sherman)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue Jul 12 10:04:16 1994
From: hjs@nrc.gov
Subject: Introduction

Ikh heys Harvey.  Mayn yidishe nomn iz Hersh, but that was only used by
immediate family, and only my brother dares use it now. Parents were
native speakers of Yidish, but spoke unaccented (well, New York accented)
English at home.  Father born in Galitzian shtetl near Dembitz and Yaslo,
mother's family from Poltusk, north of Warsaw.  Standard story of English
spoken in the home, Yidish at family gatherings.  Grandmother lived with
us many years; she spoke Yidish to us, we answered in gehakte Yidish.

I'm 43, live in golus (Virginia suburbs of DC), married to daughter of
German Holocaust refugee (hence a yeke, in whose family Yidish was held
in low regard).  Our kids (Joseph 7 and Shoshana 4) understand the
gemutchte Hebrew we speak at home, but also hear tapes of Yidish songs.
Each kid, at about age 3, demanded "Der Rebbe Elimelech" as his/her
nighttime song every night for about six months.

Have quite a large collection of Yidish books (thanks to family, book
sales and NYBC).  Can't speak worth bopkes, but enjoy slowly reading
(with dictionaries close by) Sholem Aleykhem stories, some Peretz and
Singer brothers.  I attend and enjoy Professor Max Tiktin's leyn krayz in
Washington, DC, where we're reading Peretz short stories in Yidish.

I love spoken Yidish tapes.  Have several by Dzigan, NYBC (Tevye, Motl
Peysi, Reyzen), several others.  Would like to hear of sources of tapes
of Yidish readings by native speakers.  Also would like to hear about
Yidish children's material for all ages (I have Workman's Circle
catalogs).

Harvey Spiro

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 11 Jul 94 22:06:10 EDT
From: 70724.2130@compuserve.com
Subject: Solent-cholent

In reply to one of Chana Luntz's questions, I can offer some anecdotal
evidence as to the pronunciation of -cholent-. I recalled that in my
conversations with some of my elder Russian immigrant friends the -shin-
in Yiddish was often replaced by a -sinn-. So I called one of them on the
phone and after describing this delectable sabbath dish, I innocently
asked for its name. Without hesitation she said -tsolent-. This women is
from Minsk. Chana, I hope that this little tidbit will be of some help to
you.

Herb Fishman

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Jul 94 22:49:36 EDT
From: Zellig@aol.com
Subject: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in Yiddish

In recent Mendele Volumes there were a number of postings about the art
of translation from Yiddish into English.  I herewith wish to call the
attention of the Mendele khavruse     to a translation of Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address into Yiddish.

It was printed in the journal yidishe shprakh, published by YIVO (N.Y.).
The then editor, the late Yudl Mark, invited a number of Yiddish writers
and journalists to transslate into Yiddish Lincoln's famous speech,
famous for its brevity, high style, and rhetoric appropriateness for the
unique occasion.

It was, by editorial design, a collective undertaking.  In response to
his invitatiion the editor received l2 translations of the speech, also a
number of translations from readers of the journal, a total of 2l
experimental attempts at translating Lincoln's prose.

The editor subdivided Lincoln's Address into 30 units, some short ones
("Four score and seven years ago,"  "our fathers," "conceived in
liberty;"  others longer ones ("and dedicated to the proposition,"  "that
all men are created equal," and so on. He then analyzed the 21 Yiddish
translations of each unit, pointing out the variations, special problems,
phrasing, word choices, and rhytms.  (There is, for instance, no word in
Yiddish for "score.")  Even such a short unit as "our fathers" presented
a problem:  Should the Yiddish translation read "eltern," "oves,"
"foters"?

The editor went on to analyze and comment on each of the 30 translated
units, and came up at the end with a synthesis of the entire Address.
(One example: In the unit "our fathers," the editor opted for  "foters"
as the most appropriate translation as against "eltern" (too
mishpokhedic), or "oves" (overly associated with the historic image of
the Jewish past).  He found "foters" more suitable in the context of
American history and the framers of the Constitution.

Mendele khaveyrim who wish to obtain a copy of this remarkable and
instructive experiment should write to YIVO, 1048 Fifth Avenue, New York,
NY 10028.  Refer to "Lomir zikh lernen yidish af lincolnen," Volume III,
Nos. 1 &2, Jan.-April l943.  Enclose check for $14.70 payable to YIVO.
This will cover the cost of copying, including shipping and handling.

Zellig Bach

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 1994 16:42:34 -0600 (CST)
From: ablair@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: RE: Yiddishe Fedder-Fraynt

Fedder-Fraynt (Pen-Pals) is progressing well.  One thing that I forgot to
tell you when you send in your name: tell me a little about your self -
Age, profession, special interests, whatever.......

Allan (Avrom Yitzkhok) Blair

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 94 15:00:15 +0300
From: MASH@WEIZMANN.WEIZMANN.AC.IL
Subject: Childhood Misconceptions About Yiddish

Leah  Zazulyer after  telling about  her friend's,  asked about  other
possible childhood misconceptions about Yiddish etc.

>Recently learned of a friend's childhood misconception about Yiddish:
>She thought one was born speaking English, and as one became the age of
>one's parents one became bilingual.  When one had reached the hallowed
>age of one's grandparents one had advanced to the purest state--and spoke
>only Yiddish.

Well, that story sounded familiar,  and I seemed to remember something on
these lines  in my Rebbe's three  volume opus on Jokes  and Wit.  I
looked  at  Alter  Droyanov's  work, and  found  an  Israeli  version.
Actually, while it  sounds true for earlier times and  not so much for
present day Israel,  (A.D. died some fifty years ago),  it seems to me
still worth repeating.: So here is #2904 (out of 3170!):

A five year  old asked another kid  of that age if he  knew what death
was.   Sure was  the  reply.  First  one  is born,  then  one goes  to
kindergarten and  gymnasium, after that  one gets married,  become Dad
and Mum,  Grandad and  Grandma, then one  starts speaking  Yiddish and
dies.

Michael Shimshoni

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 94 2:59:39 EDT
From: dave@cai.lsuc.on.ca
Subject: *long* single-syllable words

> [tsolent].  My father's family, REAL Litvaks, pronounced it [tsount].

I always think of _tsholnt_ and _tfiln_ as the two longest
single-syllable words in Yiddish, if you want them to be.

David Sherman

______________________________________________________
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