Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.182 December 4, 1995 1) Hebrew terms in Yiddish (Shleyme Axelrod) 2) Hebrew terms in Yiddish (Henry Srebrnik) 3) Library of Congress romanization of Yiddish (Zachary Baker) 4) A vort vegn dorem-afrikanish (Joseph Sherman) 5) Judeo-German vs. Yiddish (Leonard Mathless) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 04 Dec 1995 10:47:57 -0500 (EST) From: ptyaxel@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu Subject: Hebrew terms in Yiddish Morrie Feller (5.180) asks about lists of Hebraisms in Yiddish. Two readily available collections are 1. Steven A. Jacobson (a Mendelyaner), "A guide to the more common Hebraic words in Yiddish", 3rd ed., 1994. This book lists alphabetically according to their traditional spelling about 2000 hebraisms, together with their phonetic Yiddish respellings (following the YIVO orthography) and their English glosses. A second section lists the same expressions alphabetized by the phonetic respelling, together with the traditional spelling and the glosses. Available from Steven Jacobson, P.O. Box 82849, Fairbanks Alaska 99708. 2. Nakhman Krupin, "Hantbukh fun hebreizmen in der yidisher shprakh", 1957. This book lists hebraisms and their phonetic respellings (no English). There is also a brief section on words having hebraic roots and non-hebraic prefixes or suffixes (e.g., _shadkhn, shadkhnte, shadkhenen zikh..._), and finally examples of the use of hebraisms by _di klasiker_ and others. Available from the Jewish Book Center of the Workmen's Circle, 45 East 33 St, New York NY 10016. My own early Yiddish education gave short shrift to _loshn-koydesh_-derived lexicon, and I've found both the Jacobson and the Krupin quite useful in playing catch-up. Shleyme Axelrod Buffalo, New York 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 03 Dec 1995 15:15:49 -0400 (AST) From: hsrebrnik@upei.ca Subject: Hebrew terms in Yiddish Morrie Feller asks for a reference to a book listing Hebrew words used in Yiddish. The _Verterbichel fun hebrayishe-yidishe verter_, by Yacov Levin (New York: Cyco Froyen Central, 1958) is one such book. Henry Srebrnik 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 3 Dec 95 16:52:53 PST from: bm.yib@rlg.stanford.edu Subject: Library of Congress romanization of Yiddish In remarking upon the variant spellings of Shmuel Rozhanski's (Samuel Rollansky's) name that he has encountered in library catalogs -- Shmuel Rozshanski and Shemu'el Rozshanski -- Ron Robboy [in 5.181] has stumbled across two Library of Congress practices that are at variance with standard ("YIVO") romanization. The first has to do with the romanization of the letter combination zayin+shin. YIVO romanization transcribes it "zh," while the Library of Congress approaches it from the standpoint of transliteration (letter-by-letter) and the resulting romanization is "zsh." That at least is understandable and on a certain level defensible. But what is absolutely indefensible is the Library of Congress's insistence that Yiddish names of Hebrew origin be romanized as if they were modern Israeli names. "Shmuel" is a form that has been superseded by "Shemu'el"; many more examples could be cited, including some egregious howlers. The Library of Congress has codified this practice in its "Hebraica Cataloging" manual, and librarians that produce cataloging in an online environment are obligated to follow this rule, which was unsuccessfully contested in 1985 (a year before the publication of "Hebraica Cataloging") by the Association of Jewish Libraries' Cataloging Committee. The same committee, at my request, has submitted a memo to the Library of Congress, urging that this policy be reconsidered. Library of Congress romanization practices for other Yiddish words of Hebrew/Aramaic origin conform more closely to standard practices (with some variation), e.g., "emes" and not "emet." If you feel strongly about this issue, you may (if a U.S. resident) write your Member of Congress -- although I doubt that he or she will be much exercised by it. Zachary Baker 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 09:23:16 GMT + 2:00 From: 071jos@muse.arts.wits.ac.za Subject: A vort vegn dorem-afrikanish I should like to thank Ron Robboy very much for having called attention [5.181] to the late Shmuel Rozhansky's important volume on _Dorem-Afrikanish_ in his invaluable Musterverk series. I am, of course, intimately familiar with that volume, and fully agree that it makes a magnificent contribution towards putting South African Yiddish literature in its proper literary perspective. What I should have made clear, and actually meant to say, in my tribute to the memory of the late Professor Liptzin, is that his work on our Yiddish literature was the most important to date in _English_. Hence I take this opportunity to reply to Ron Robboy through the open columns of Mendele, rather then privately, lest, kholile, Mendelyaner should take me for an amerats in regard to my own country's Yiddish heritage, khas vesholem! What may be of further interest to Mendelyaner is the fact that the entire Musterverk series was funded by Joseph Lifshitz through the the fund he specifically established for this purpose. His name and sponsorship is acknowledegd throughout the series. The importance of this fact for us in South Africa is that the late Joseph Lifshitz was a wealthy South African diamond dealer, passionately devoted to Yiddish litearture and culture. It is therefore a great source of pride to the few of us Yiddish scholars left here that South Africa was once a significant force in both the the production and promotion of Yiddish culture. Our Yiddish monthly (later quarterly) Yiddish journal _Dorem Afrike_ ran uninterruptedly from 1948 to 1993, and attracted contributions from Yiddish writers all over the world. Complete sets of this journal -- now regrettably very rare -- are much sought after by libraries in the United States. My own resaerch in South African Yiddish literature has to date resulted in two volumes of translations into English, with critical introductions and notes, published here in South Africa. I regard my work as just beginning. Hence the importance to me of the work of the late Professor Liptzin and the late Shmuel Rozhansky, z"l. I am grateful indeed for the opportunity, offered by Ron Robboy's thoughtful response, for me to keep South African literature at least on the fringes on the literary consciousness of the wider world of Yiddish scholarship. Joseph Sherman 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 4 Dec 95 08:00:55 PST From: bm.ynh@rlg.stanford.edu Subject: Judeo-German vs. Yiddish Being a subscriber for somewhat over a year, I have not seen a dis- cussion on Mendele of this subject [cf. 5.178] except for a mention in a posting of last week. My interest in having this issued aired stems from both scholarly and professional concerns. Apropos of the latter, the Library of Congress does not recognize Judeo-German as an independent entity but refers from it to Yiddish. Does this mean that Moses Mendlessohn's famous "Be'ur" is written in Yiddish and not German that has been transliterated into Hebrew letters? I would like to know if there are clear lines of demarcation between the two and what are the the linguistic issues involved. Would a full-scale discussion of these issues on Mendele be appreciated by other subscribers? Leonard Mathless ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.182