Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.187 December 8, 1995 1) Der NYBC Conference in Los Angeles (Miki Safadi) 2) Long and short vowels (Bob Poe) 3) Chaim Grade's Tsemakh Atlas (Benyomin Moss) 4) Der Tunkeler (Peter Kluehs) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 11:20:08 -0800 From: msafadi@ucla.edu Subject: Der NYBC Conference in Los Angeles Ikh ken nit gefinen di verter mit vos tsu derklern aykh vos far an iberlebung mir hobn gehat baym conference funem Natsioneler Yiddisher Bikher Central letste sof-vokh, 12/1-3. Professors Roskies (Jewish Theological Seminary) un Kassow (Trinity College) hobn undz genumen tsurik tsu die ghettos fun Warsaw un Lodz, un mir hobn gezen un gefilt vos die martirer hobn ibergelebt durkh zeyer shriftn. Azelkhe groyse shriftn!! Emanuel Ringelblum hot farshtanen vie vikhtik es vet zayn tsu dokumentirn alle derfarungn dortn, un hot gemutikt a sakh mentshn tsu farshraybn zeyer derfarungn un gefils. Die derfarungn zaynen dershiterndike, ober azelkhe vunderlekhe shraybn!!! Yasher koyakh tsu die shrayber (aleyhem ha shalom) un tsu Prof. Roskies un Prof. Kassow far brengn zey tsu undz in Yiddish un af English ibergezetst. Far mir die shriftn fun die ghettos zaynen geheylikte literatur, say far der vikhtikayt, say far der literarisher kvalitet. Yasher koyakh tsu Aaron Lansky un zayn personall far gebn undz die meglekhkayt tsu bateylikn zikh in azelkhe oyserveveynlekhe dray teg. I can't find the words with which to explain to you what sort of experience we had at the National Yiddish Book Center conference last weekend (12/1-3) in Los Angeles. Professors Roskies (Jewish Theological Seminary) and Kassow (Trinity College) took us back to the Warsay and Lodz ghettos, where we saw and felt what the martyrs had lived through through their writings. Such writings!! Emanuel Ringelblum understood how important it would be to document all the experiences in the ghettos, and had encouraged many people to write down their experiences and feelings. Those experiences were heartwrenching, but what wonderful writing!! Congratulations to the writers (may they rest in peace) and to Professor Roskies and Professor Kassow for bringing them to us in Yiddish and English translation. For me, the writings of the ghettos are precious, both for their significance and for their literary quality. Congratulations to Aaron Lansky and his personell for giving us the opportunity to participate in such an extraordinary three days. Miki Safadi 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 7 Dec 95 14:58:38 EST From: poe@keps.com Subject: Long and short vowels I want to thank Khayem Bochner for responding, in 5.172, to my question about "shraabn dialektish", in particular with respect to the distinc- tion between long and short vowels. The demonstration is pretty con- vincing and evokes my recollection of hearing the speech of Jews from Poland some years ago. There is a danger, with this kind of transcrip- tion, that it may become something of a caricature, but I think that tends to happen in any language when a novelist (say) tries to suggest dialect pronunciations. I am interested in learning more about the long-short distinction in Yiddish vowels, which seems to have disappeared in NEY (litvish) and standard (literary) Yiddish. Apparently it was a determining factor in some of the vowel shifts that have occurred. Tell me if this scenario is more or less correct: At some place and time there was Proto-Yiddish. (Perhaps 12th Century Rheinland Germanic dialects --at least that's what I read at one time.) What was, for instance, a long `a' in Proto-Yiddish (and remains a long `a' in modern German) became rounded and backed over time and gave rise to a (long) open `o' in Yiddish. The short `a' was unchanged. Later, the long `o' was shortened in North East Yiddish, while in Central and South East Yiddish it remained long and continued to become more rounded and backed (more so in the former than in the latter) until it gave rise to a long `u'. Still later, perhaps, in parts of SEY the short `a' started down the same path (tote-mome). Thus, what may have started life as [alema:l] became [alemo:l] (where the `:' indicates length). This then branched into the modern [alemol], [alemu:l], and [olemu:l]. (This last was my mother's pronunciation, from Southern Ukraine; the `o' and `u' were fairly open, however, and I didn't really hear much difference in length between her "long" and "short" vowels.) Now, I knew a woman from Romania who claimed that, in *her* dialect, the word was pronounced [ilemul]! Is that actually the case? What evolutionary process could take `a' into `i', especially if it was by way of `o'? Bob Poe 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 7 Dec 95 15:48:21 EST From: kmoss@eden.rutgers.edu Subject: Chaim Grade's Tsemakh Atlas Ikh hob a frage vegn Grades "Tsemakh Atlas"n. In dem Weinreich (Vaynraykh?) Zumerprogram hobn mir geleynt a kleyne teyl fonem bukh, vos in dem der rosh-yeshiveh gefint di veltlekhe bikher vos di bokhers leyenen. Eyner fon zey heyst "Pitigrili; Der Gartl fon Tsnies; Un Andere Dertseylungen." Afile Professor Nowoshtern (epes a brilyant, un a groyser gelernter) hot nisht gevust, oiv dos iz an emese mayse, un oiv yo, vos iz es geven. Veyst emetzer? Benyomin Moss Oykh: ven der rosh-yeshiveh, er zol zayn mit mazel, gefint dem bukh, er zogt az s'iz "nibl-peh." Tsi heyst dos "obscenity" in a klalishe khush (nitzt me "khush?") oder heyst dos "pornography?" 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 07 Dec 1995 22:35:00 +0200 From: pete@pko.rhein-main.de Subject: der tunkeler [5] sof fun *literatn mit bekies* in mendele volumes 5.175, 5.178, 5.181 and 5.183 in etlekhe teg arum nokh der doziker literarisher polemik, vos tseykhnt zikh oys mit groys eruditsye, bavayzt zikh in dem organ *der meshener* *fayfl* folgndike notits: ***tikn toes*** ,,tsum badoyern muz ikh bamerkn a fardrislekhn toes, vos hot zikh arayn- geganvet in mayn artikl ,,di froy in der dinamisher atmosfere fun di shafungs-koykhes in der feodaler epokhe", nemlekh: anshtot *shintse* badarf shteyn *nitsshe*". d"r zshitlovski varshe 1924 ======================================================================== di dozike dertseylung hob ikh gefunen in band 77 funem musterverk un ibergeshribn far dem mendele oylem kedey tsu makhn aykh a bisl shpas. agev, veyst emetser dem emesn nomen fun dem shrayber vos banutst zikh mit dem pseudonim "der tunkeler"? in an artikl fun m. nudlman in ot dem band heyst es, az der tunkeler iz geven der humor-redaktor funem vitsn-bletl "krumer shpigl" in der varshever tsaytung "moment". un sof-kol-sof nokh a frage: oyb ir hot geshept hanoe fun leyenen dem tunkelers publikatsye un s'iz aykh nisht gevorn nudne, volt ikh gekont ibershraybn shpeter a tsvayte zeyer sheyne mayse funem glaykhn mekhaber vegn *nudnikes*. iz faran interes? peter kluehs wehrheim, germany ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.187