Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.193 December 14, 1995 1) Intonation (David Herskovic) 2) Auld Lang Syne af Yidish (Debra Halperin Biasca) 3) Auld Lang Syne af Yidish (Ruvn Millman) 4) Kukvinkl (Anno Siegel) 5) Der tunkeler vegn nudnikes (Peter Kluehs) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 11 Dec 95 19:17:39 EST From: 100114.750@compuserve.com Subject: Intonation Mikhl Herzog's recent article about intonation (Vol. 5.189) reminded me of a story always told when a sentence can mean two opposites by intoning and accentuating different words. a bokher in yeshive shrabt ahaym tsi der tate a brivl. der tate makht of dos briv in laynt 'tate! ikh darf hoyzen!'. er loyft tsi di vab in vast ir di briv in bayzert zikh "vos zogst di tsi deym yingatch? rakhmone litslon vos iz fin eym osgevaksen. azoy shrabt men? azoy beyt men? a mekhitsef, er bakimt gornisht." di mame nemt di briv in der hant, laynt es op in zogt tsi ire man "di laynst nisht git. dos bokher iz nebekh farbitert in farsheymt az er drayt zikh arim in a tserisener por hoyzen. er shrabt mit osgevaynte oygen 'ta..te', er khlipert, 'ikh da..rf hoyzen'. The example Mikhl gave of the Stalin story where a statement is turned on it's head to by adding a few question marks and intoning particular words is called in the gemore 'bitmie'. In many places where a particular statement can be construed in either direction Rashi will jump in with a 'bitmie' to explain the proceedings. David Herskovic 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 Dec 1995 12:47:25 -0700 (MST) From: biasca@colorado.edu Subject: Auld Lang Syne af Yidish In reply to the recent query [5.192] seeking a singable Auld Lang Syne in Yiddish, there is one on page 17 of Marie B. Jaffe's _Gut Yuntif Gut Yohr_, Carol Publishing Co (Citadel Press) which I probably bought through the Workmen's Circle in NY. Here it is in my best approximation of YIVO standard. (it doesn't appear that way in the book, however) Ver ken fargesen alte fraynt Zey ligen in gedank, Lomir gedenken alte fraynt, Un simkhes mit gezang. Dermon zikh fun di alte teg, Dermon zikh fun amol, L'khayim tsu di alte teg, Un simkhes fun amol. Ot iz mayn hant, maynt guter fraynt, Un gib mir yetst daynt hant; Lomir makhen a shnaps, maynt fraynt, Mit freylekhs zayn bekant. Debra Halperin Biasca 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Dec 1995 01:45:00 -0500 From: ruvn@aol.com Subject: Auld Lang Syne ..ikh'ob es in der heym in a bikhl fun Marie B. Jaffe vos heyst "Gut Yuntif, Gut Yohr." S'iz a bikhl mit lider un poemes ibergezetst fun English...a laykhts a komishes. Ikh git aykh dos lid on derloybenish funem mikhaber (ikh antshuldik zikh). Ikh bin zikher vos men ken dos koyfn durkh dem Arbeter-ring (stdowling@aol.com) vaylt dortn hob ikh gekoyft mayns. Andere gite lider vos gefinen zikh in bikhl zenen: "Oh Captain! My Captain!," "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (vos iz amol retsitirt af NPR - zeyer geshmak!), "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat," "Old Smoky, "Lincoln's Gettysburg Address" un an oyszug fun Emily Dickinson. Dos bikhl kost $7.95 (suggested retail). Ruvn Millman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 Dec 95 19:00:25 +0100 From: anno4000@w172zrz.zrz.tu-berlin.de Subject: Kukvinkl Louis Fridhandler: quite a while ago, in Mendele 5.131, you wrote about the Yiddish word _kukvinkl_ under the heading "Interesting ambiguity of a Yiddish word". I printed the article because I wanted to reply, but forgot about it and only now do I find the printout and remember. Well, better late than never. . . . Today's German has a pair of synonyms for "point of view", one of which (Gesichtspunkt) works as a literal translation of the English term while the other (Blickwinkel) is close to the Yiddish one. Both were originally technical terms of perspective drawing; the former was actually coined by Albrecht Duerer in translation of Latin "punctum visus". Now they are only used in the sense of "kukvinkl", which was originally methaphorical. The technical term is now "Blickpunkt", still another combination of the basic components. Isn't language wonderful, I just love it. Still, this throws a different light on the meaning of "vinkl" in "kukvinkl". Weinreich confirms that "vinkl", besides meaning "corner" can also mean "angle". This polysemy is present in German too.But if the etymology of the German word has any bearing on Yiddish, it doesn't support your imaginative "...is the person in the corner not at all comfortable, but feeling backed into that corner? Hasn't the Jewish experience backed Jews into rather uncomfortable strictures from time to time?" Of course, etymology isn't meaning, and far less can it invalidate contemporay connotations a word may evoke. I still thought you might like to know. a grus, Anno Siegel Berlin, Germany 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 14 Dec 1995 20:21:00 +0200 From: pete@pko.rhein-main.de Subject: Der tunkeler vegn nudnikes [1] sholem aleykhem alemen! tsulib di filtsolike bakoshes fun *3* mendelyaners, vil ikh haynt nemen ibershraybn un araynlegn in mendele-postkestl arayn di mayse funem tunkeler vegn *nudnikes*. kh'hof az ir vet shepn a shtikl nakhes!!! kegn ale krenk un umglikn oyf der velt vern gezukht mitlen un eytses. doktoyrim shraybn artiklen, derfinders makhn derfindungen, khakhomim gibn eytses - alts vi azoy poter tsu vern, tsu bakemfn di un di krenk, di un di onshikenishn, oystsuhitn zikh fun der un der tsore. es vern geshribn broshurn, metodes, hantbikher, vi azoy zikh oystsuhitn fun sreyfes, fun katarn, fun moskitn, fun vantsn, fun heysherikn, epidemyes, zunshlagn, beyze hint, mayz, farfleytsungen, yam-krankeyt, tseynveytik, gest, hiner- oygn un andere onshikenishn, vos zaynen ongeshikt gevorn oyf dem zindikn mentshn tsu paynikn im oyf der velt. ober keyner, keyner hot nisht gepruvt epes a trakht tsu ton vegn a mitl kegn eyner fun di greste onshikenishn - di nudnikes un volt beemes emetser gefunen epes a mitl kegn nudnikes, volt yener efsher gehat dem grestn fardinst far der mentshheyt, nokh efsher mer eyder di derfinders fun khloroform, radio, pokn-serum, salvarsan, milkh- prubirers, parasol, ografke, shtoybzoygers, eks-shtraln un dos glaykhn. mashmoes, az di tsore fun nudnikes iz an umfarmaydlekhe tsore, eyne fun yene natur-makes, vos di mentshheyt laydt un laydt un hot nisht dertsu keyn shum trufe. shver, zeyer shver iz der kamf kegn di nudnikes. hemshekh folgt. peter kluehs wehrheim, germany ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.193