Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.234 December 14, 1994 1) Introduction (Jeff Straussman) 2) Greek, Hebrew, and -- Targemloshn (Zellig Bach) 3) Greek, Hebrew, and -- Targemloshn (Michael Shimshoni) 4) Yiddish 'r' in Russian (Jules Levin) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 14 Dec 1994 10:53:44 EST From: jstraussman@maxwell.syr.edu Subject: Introduction I am a professor of public administration at Syracuse University who does not speak Yiddish--other than the small number of words and phrases I heard as a youngster in my grandparents' apartment. (My Hungarian is similarly limited--and has the same "roots".) I play trombone (classical and jazz) and, as of last Sunday, Klezmer as well. I am interested in learning some more Yiddish as well as the literary and historical characteristics of the language. Suggestions for a beginner are welcomed. Jeff Straussman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 13 Dec 1994 14:35:03 -0500 From: zellig@aol.com Subject: Greek, Hebrew, and -- Targemloshn This is a P.S. to my recent posting: Before my Mendelyaner colleagues assert that the interpretations of the three expressions I discussed are too narrow, I hasten to add that they could as well have a _positive_ meaning, namely an honest admission that the matter at hand is "too complex to follow;" occasionally they may also be said in an ironic or humorous vein. This should then cover the entire gamut of the nuances of all three expressions -- "This is Greek to me," "this is Hebrew to me," and "bay (ba) mir iz es targemloshn." Zellig Bach 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 14 Dec 94 11:25:25 +0200 From: mash@weizmann.weizmann.ac.il Subject: Greek, Hebrew, and -- Targemloshn Zellig Bach gave some fascinating examples about Targemloshen and its association in some cases with Greek and Hebrew. If Reb Noyekh will allow this time some related remarks even if not about Yiddish I will give them in short, with > quotations from Zellig's article. >"Targem," as it is pronounced in Yiddish, means only one thing: the >translation of the Bible into Aramaic. No definite article is used or >necessary. Several years after entering kheyder a boy soon learns what >Targem means. > >In time the Targum translation entered the canon of religious readings of >the Jewish people, and enjoyed a sanctity of its own. The Talmud then >enjoined the reading of the weekly Toyre passage ("parshe") twice in >Hebrew and once in Targum. I have come across a related usage by a not fluently Yiddish speaking group of Jews, the Yemenites. Their version of the khumesh (not the Sefer Torah but a printed copy) is called TAG (? tav aleph gimel, I do not know what it means). In the TAG, we have each verse given first in Hebrew, this is followed by it in Aramaic from the Targum (Unkelos) and after that comes the verse in Arabic based on the translation by Rabbi Sa'adya Ga'on (10th Century, Sura, Babylon). In all versions, including the Arabic ones, the alphabet used is the Hebrew one. Zellig then tells us about some event while meeting his former Hebrew teacher in Paris: >One evening, a young lady student in his class sat next to him, and when >she casually took a glance at his notes, she exclaimed in French "That's >_Hebrew_ to me.," meaning that she could not make out a thing of his >scribbles. > >I regret not knowing French to quote her exclamatory phrase verbatim, but >it has about the same meaning as the English "That's Greek to me." As far as I remember some childhood French this is "c'est Hebreu pour moi!". >Well, the interesting part is that in this instance she was correct, >because he was taking his notes in Hebrew... Well, he should have replied "pour moi aussi!". Now I shall let you all return to Yiddish proper. Michael Shimshoni 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 13 Dec 94 18:06:55 PDT From: jflevin@ucrac1.ucr.edu Subject: Yiddish 'r' in Russian Ben Alpers is correct re the stereotype, but as my semiotics teacher Michael Shapiro once remarked, in order for a stereotype to have legs, it must have a grain of truth (no one will buy that the Swedes are happy-go-lucky). The Yiddish uvular /r/ is found in Yiddish-accented Jewish speakers of Russian, not, obviously, in native speakers of Russian who happen to be Jewish, and who may not even -know- Yiddish. Thus his premise, that "Yiddish speakers in Russia pronounce their "r"s as Russians do", is mistaken. Curiously, this pronunciation of /r/ as a uvular trill occurs in at least two other registers of Russian, although I don't believe it ever occurs in any territorial dialects. First, it was found in the speech of some pre- revolutionary aristocrats, where it was considered an affectation. References to it crop up in 19th C Russian novels, though it may be hard to tell from the English translations. Second, it is taught as a substitute pronunciation to those who cannot make a trilled 'r', a common impediment in languages that use the apical trill. In fact, I know an immigrant from Russia who looks extremely Jewish, has a very Jewish last name, and who uses the uvular 'r', I assume because of reason #2. Ironically, he is _not_ halachically Jewish! Jules Levin ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.234 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) A Table of Contents is now available via anonymous ftp, along with weekly updates. Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files Archives available via gopher on: gopher.cic.net Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listserv@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu a. 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