Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.049 July 11, 1995 1) Children's names in verbal aggression (Zellig Bach) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 10 Jul 1995 23:32:38 -0400 From: zellig@aol.com Subject: Children's names in verbal aggression Jewish children _ in der alter heym_ (in the old country) did not talk back to their parents. This would have been unheard of, unimaginable, a clear transgression of the fifth of the Ten Commandments -- "Honour thy father and thy mother." The children's only outlet to give vent to verbal aggression was by using the name of a child in a mocking, hurting, teasing way. If a child came home crying because he was called "names," all a mother could do was to console her daughter, or son, with basically the same advice offered in the old English rhyme "sticks and stones/ may break your bones/ but words could never hurt me." Some of the verbal-aggression samples I bring below I remember from my childhood in the second decade of this century in Vilne (then Russia). I remember a girl named Beylke, the diminutive of Beyle. She was a pale and probably oversensitive child, ready to cry if she lost a game, or when teased by other girls for some reason (or for no reason) . They would add to her discomfort by saying "Beylke, host dayn fatsheylke?" (do you have your handkerchief?), that is, do you have your hanky ready to wipe your eyes. ("Fatsheyle" in Yiddish means a shawl or kerchief, but its diminutive "fatsheylke," a small square white cloth, was used in Lithuanian Yiddish for handkerchief.) A young girl named Mal'ke (Hebrew-Yiddish for queen, the feminine of Mylekh, king) was often harassed by the premature, untimely question "Ma'le, Ma'le, ven verstu a ka'le? (when are you going to become a bride?). Note the shift from Ma'lke to Ma'le [see Postscript]. If a boy tried to change the rules in the middle of a game, or otherwise gain an improper advantage over his peers, they would tell him off by saying "Zay nit kayn Meyer der dreyer (don't be a Meyer the finagler) even if his name was not Meyer.) Both rhyming, as seen in the three examples above, as well as clang (sound) asociations, were characteristic features of much name-calling among children. Pairing of names, especially if they rhymed, was a frequent device. If two boys were always seen together, and in games that called for partners routinely sought such positions, they would be called "Be'rl un Shme'rl" (not their actual names). The pairing of these names is also found in the folk song "Be'rl mitn fidle, Shmerl mitn bas (Be'rl with his fiddle, Shme'rl with his bass). Several of the following examples were culled from an article by Khayim Sheshkin:* A boy named AvrEml (the dinimutive of Avrohom, also pronounced Avrom) was frequently heckled by other boys with the question "AvrEml, vos hostu in dayn kreml?" (what do you have in your /little/ store? [a euphemism for pants], or "AvrEml, farmakh dayn kerml" (close your shop), even if all buttons were properly done and in place. (This was in the era B.Z. -- before zippers.) If a girl was called So'rke, diminutive of So're, she would occasionally be cursed by other girls "Sore, So're ver a kapo're" (become a scapegoat punished for someone else's sins. Note the shift from the diminutive to the adult form of the name for the sake of the rhyme. Nonsense names were often invented for rhyming, strictly for the purpose of teasing and annoying. Thus, a girl named Riv'ke was made fun of by being called Riv'ke-Piv'ke. Similarly, a boy named Kiv'ke, diminutive of Aki've, might be pestered by Kiv'ke-Piv'ke. [See Postscript.] And a boy named Shi'men, who in the eyes of his peers behaved improperly, might be told that when he gets home he will see the "rimen" (rhyme), that is his father will assuredly give him a deserved spanking with a strap. In the blurred haze of nostalgia Jewish children are often portrayed as innocent malOkhimlekh (little angels), as the Mey'shelekh and Shley'melekh playing "Under di Grininke Beymelekh" (under the green little trees), as perpetuated by the great Hebrew poet Byalik in his wonderful, delightful poem he originally wrote in Yiddish. The reality, however, tells us a different story: They were normal children, with all kinds of feelings, including feelings of anger and aggression, but essentially verbal, playful aggression, with only a rare instance of rudeness and a very, very mild hint of barely discernible obscenity. Otherwise their verbal aggression was properly tamed and channeled. Postscript: Since the second syllables in Mal'ke and Riv'ke (the Hebrew-Yiddish kof-hey and, respectively, kuf-hey) sound exactly like the Yiddish diminutive "-ke" (kuf-ayen) -- familiar to children from their own names Hirshke, Motke, Leyke, Minke, Tsipke, and so on -- adults feared that children, upon hearing an adult, grown-up woman called Mal'ke or Riv'ke, with the Yiddish-sounding diminutive "ke," might erroneously perceive it as a sign of disrespect or insult. Imagine calling a grown-up adult woman as if she were still only a young child! The adults therefore invented *back formations* from the Yiddish-diminutive- sounding Mal'ke and Riv'ke and coined the *augmentative* names Ma'le and Ri've to obviate children's confusion or misperception. Zellig Bach Lakehurst, NJ _________________________________________________ * "Nemen in farsheydene oysdrukn un vertlekh" (Names in Various Expressions and Sayings), _di yidishe shprakh_, Vol. XX, No. 3, pp. 94 - 100, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, N.Y. (1960). ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.049 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listserv@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele nomail b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail c. To subscribe: sub mendele first_name last_name d. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu ****Getting back issues**** 1. Anonymous ftp archives are available. ftp ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files A table of contents is also available, along with weekly updates. 2. 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