Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.198 December 21, 1995 1) Yiddish dialects (Sheva Zucker) 2) Holy fool (Binyomin Weiner) 3) Yiddish euphemisms (Zellig Bach) 4) Bekeshe (Mikhl Herzog) 5) Der tunkeler vegn nudnikes (Peter Kluehs) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Dec 1995 15:40:05 -0500 (EST) From: sczucker@aol.com Subject: Yiddish dialects I am looking for a native-speaker of Ukrainian Yiddish--Volin, Podolie, Kiev, Kherson, Poltava, all districts may apply--to record yourself speaking and reading (something I send you) in your dialect for a few minutes. If you or someone you know fits this description, please notify me, Sheva Zucker ASAP at sczucker@aol.com or call 919 286-3628. Ikh heys Sheva Tsuker un ikh hob ongeshribn a Yidish tekstbikhl. Ikh greyt itst tsu a serie tashmes (tapes) tsu baleytn dos bikhl. Af eyn tashme vel ikh brengen dugmes fun geboyrene yidish-reders. Ikh volt zeyer gevolt gefinen a mentsh vos iz geboryrn gevorn in der ukraine un redt dem yidish fun yene kantn. Ir volt gedarft makhn a kleyne rekordirung far mir. Azoy vi ikh ken, tsum badoyern, nit redn mit aykh ponim el ponim, vet ir mir darfn tsushikn a kasetl. Ikh vel betn ir zolt leyenen a mayse oder an anekdot fun mayn bikhl un zogn a por verter, vi ir heyst, vu ir zayt geboyrn gevorn, un azoy vayter. Di gantse zakh darf nit gedoyern mer vi a por minut ober es vet zayn a groyse mitsve vayl studentn veln zikh kenen tsuhern tsu emese yidish-reders vos haynt iz dos a zeltnhayt. Vi azoy kumt di kats ibern vaser? Ikh vel aykh tsushikn di materialn tsum leyenen. Oyb ir hot tsutrit tsu a DAT recorder (dos heyst Digitat audio tape recorder) iz avade gut. Geveyntlekh, gefint men dos nor bay profesionele mentshn, radio mentshn oder in studios, shprakh laboratories, un azoy vayter. Oyb ir hot nit kin tsutrit tsu dem, un mistome hot ir dos nit, kent ir es makhn af a "tape deck." A sakh mentshn hobn dos in der heym, un in ergstn fal, az ir hot dos oykh nit, kent ir dos makhn af a "portable cassette recorder." Oyb ir kent es makhn un tsushikn in di kumedike tsvey vokhn, iz avade gut. Oyb ir kent mir helfn, oder kent emetn vos ken mir helfn, zayt azoy gut un lozt bald fun zikh hern. Ir kent mir shraybn durkh elektronisher post af dem adres sczucker@aol.com Mayn telefon iz 919 286-3628. Shraybt oder klingt bald un mir veln zikh farshtendkn. Ikh dank aykh zeyer. Al dos guts, Ayer Sheva Tsuker 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Dec 95 15:50:56 EST From: bweiner@sorosny.org Subject: Holy Fool I was wondering what collections of Hershel Ostropolier stories might be available over the counter, in English preferably. Also, where does the name Ostropolier come from? Happy Hanukah, Khanike, Chanukah, Chanooocha and Kwanzaa to all, Binyomin Weiner 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Dec 1995 23:05:45 -0500 From: zellig@aol.com Subject: Yiddish euphemisms In the Yiddish half of a recent post in Mendele about a lecture ("A short history of klezmer music" (5.189,3), I found a neologism -- "shtulmentsh." Actually it was simply a literal translation into Yiddish of the compound English word "chairman" -- shtul (chair) + mentsh (man). There was no need at all for such a new formation since there exists for it an old, well established term, namely _forzitser_ (Uriel Weinreich's English-Yiddish/Yiddish-English Dictionary, p. 49, column 2). The Yiddish euphemism for toilet, rest room, privy is the Hebrew compound "beys ha'kise" (beys, yud, sof/ hey, kof, samekh, alef), pronounced "beysekise," and means the house [the room] of the "chair." In this respect "shtulmentsh" in its literal meaning is close to the euphemistic meaning of the "House of the chair," possibly too close... It is interesting to note that Hebrew was the source for many Yiddish euphemisms for anatomical sexual parts, as well as for natural body functions. Thus, we have already encountered in Mendele the Hebrew term "beytsim" (eggs, for testicles) in the widely discussed sentence "Az der bubbe vot gehat..." (4.118,1; 4.309,2, and other posts.) Then there is the Hebrew term "kis" (pocket, for scrotum), and many, many more. The probable reason for this phenomenon is that Jews (men) considered Hebrew a "foreign language" to Jewish women, and therefore resorted to it as the acceptable euphemistic description among themselves. Zellig Bach 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Dec 95 23:29 EST From: zogur@cuvmb.columbia.edu Subject: Bekeshe To pick up on a recent subject, note that the word _bekeshe_ for the traditional male "overgarment" (elsewhere _kapOte_ and _kApete_) was used mainly in Galicia and in the area to its Southwest. Mikhl Herzog 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 21 Dec 1995 19:43:00 +0200 From: pete@pko.rhein-main.de Subject: Der tunkeler vegn nudnikes [4] hemshekh fun mendele vol. 5.197 (dem letstn hemshekh hob ikh aroysgeshikt tsu gikh mit a por graysn, zayts mir moykhl, khaveyrim) di mentshheyt hot zikh gepruvt oyf alerley oyfanim. vorem kegn vemen, meynt ir, zaynen gevendt ot di ale oyfshriftn oyf di vent: "derleydigt ayer inyen un geyt aykh gezunterheyt!" "tsayt iz gelt" oder "misbroykht nisht yenems geduld!" un "ikh bet nisht reydn!", "nemt nisht tsu keyn fremde tsayt!" un nokh azelkhe vorenungen? nu, iz vos? helft es vi a toytn bankes. vorem der nudnik leyent aykh iber di ale oyfshriftn un nemt aykh nudyen ot vegn di oyfshriftn gufe: "ven hot ir di oyfshriftn oyfgeklept?" oder "ver hot zey aykh azoy sheyn oyfgeshribn mit azelkhe sheyne oysyes?" un "tsi hot ir aleyn geshribn oder ir hot gebetn a moler?", un "tsi helfn zey, di dozike oyfshriftn?". ot azoy lang nudyet er aykh biz ir heybt-on tsveyflen in der gantser nitslekhkeyt fun di dozike oyfshriftn. vayl in khokhme un in eytse keneged hanudnik - nishto keyn khokhme, nishto keyn eytse kegn a nudnik; nishto keyn antrinung, nishto keyn bahelftenish. men dertseylt, az eyner a khokhem hot zikh gepruvt oysbahaltn fun a nudnik. hot er zikh azoy lang oysbahaltn biz er hot zikh arayngekhapt in zayn shloftsimer un zikh arayngeleygt in bet arayn unter der koldre un geshikt dem diner zogn dem nudnik, az der balebos ken im itst nisht oyfnemen, makhmes er ligt in bet. hot der nudnik geshikt tsurik zogn dem balebos, az er hot tsayt, er vet oyfvartn biz der balebos vet oyfshteyn. hot der khokhem, der balebos, geshikt vider zogn dem nudnik, az er iz krank, er ligt in bet krank. iz der diner gekumen tsurik tsum balebos un gezogt, az der nudnik vil take arayngeyn tsu im mevaker-khoyle-zayn. hot der khokhem, der balebos, vider geshikt zayn diner zogn, az er iz a khoyle mesukn, a goyses. iz der diner gekumen tsurik un gezogt dem balebos, az der nudnik hot gezogt, az er nemt zikh zeyer shtark tsum hartsn di gsise un az er vil kumen betn mekhile far zayn toyt. hemshekh folgt peter kluehs wehrheim, germany ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.198