Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 6.114
December 1, 1996

1) Yidish un yidishkayt (Joachim Neugroschel)
2) Mer vegn "zelbstmord" (Joachim Neugroschel)
3) Liubistik (Mechl Asheri)
4) Sholem Aleichem's language(s) (Louis Fridhandler)
5) Saying "please" in Yiddish (David Sherman)
6) Tikn toes (Noyekh Miller)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 1996 10:24:35 -0500 (EST)
From: achim1@cris.com
Subject: Yidish un yidishkayt

Mechl Asheri hot mikh gefregt (Mendele Vol 6.112) vi azoy me ken hobn
yidish on yidishkayt.  keyn positivn, optimistishn entfer af zayn shayle
hob ikh nisht--tsum badoyern.....

far der tsveyter velt-milkhome zenen do geven (loyt Max Weinreich)
efsher dray hundert toyzent ladino-reders--di helft in eyrope, di andere
helft in tsofn- un dorem-amerike. haynt iz nokh do eyn eyntsiger zhurnal
af ladino--Aki Yerushalayim--vos er kumt aroys tsvey mol a yor in
medinas-yisroel.  di analogye is klor--un oystaytshn ken men zi vi me
vil, pozitiv oder negativ....

's zenen haynt do veltlekhe tate-mames vos redn yidish mit zeyre kinder,
ober dos iz (vi me zogt af daytsh--dem yidishn ekvivalent ken ikh
nisht): a tropn af a heysn shteyn (ein Tropfen auf den heissen Stein).

mir kenen nor hofn az andere--i yidn i nisht-yidn--veln zikh vayter
farinteresirn mit yidish un der yidish-redndiker kultur.

benegeye main eygn interes mit yidish:  di englishe iberzetsungen fun
der yidisher literatur vos ikh hob amol geleynt zenen geven azoy narish
un umgelumpert az ikh hob ongehoybn zikh tsu lernen yidish un zikh tsu
farnemen mit der yidisher kultur--iber hoypt di beletristik--nor keday
tsu makhn gute iberzetsungen....un dem tsil hob ikh dergreykht.... mayne
antologyes fun der yidisher literatur farkoyfn zikh nokh alts
keseyderdik--khotsh nisht azoy gut vi efsher mayn Kafka-zamlung vos me
hot publikirt mit dray yor tsurik (vos fun ir farkoyft men toyzent
ekzemplarn in yedem khoydesh--shtelt zikh for di tantyemes!).

oykh ven me vil zikh kontsentrirn af literatur darf men kenen
reden a shprakh un tsu ir tsuhern, un zi banitsn inem vokhedikn lebn...in
shaykhes mit dem hob ikh a zamlung fun efsher fertsig yidishe filmn un
zeyer a sakh mer musik-tashmes mit yidishe lider....  un a mol fir ikh a
shmues (perzenlikh oder mit telefon oder el-post) mit andere
yidish-reders..ikh her zikh oykh tsu tsu yidishe radio-oyditsues..
. di batsiung tsvisn dem geredtn un dem geshribenem loshn iz dialektish:
ikh red yidish teylvayz kedey tsu farshteyn beser di yidishe literatur,
und ikh leyn di yidishe literatur teylvayz kedey tsu farshteyn beser di
yidishe shprakh.

's zenen do in der yivo-bibliotek an erekh fuftsig toyzent bikher
af yidish. az me leynt l'moshl eyn bukh a vokh vet me kenen iberleynen ale
50,000 in toyzent yor....

so let's get the show on the road.

Joachim Neugroschel

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 1996 11:30:21 -0500 (EST)
From: achim1@cris.com
Subject: Mer vegn "zelbstmord"

nokh dem az ikh hob arumgeredt dem daytshmerizm "zelbstmord" hot mir
leybl botwinik privat "geblitst" az er meynt az ikh hob banitst dem
falshn verter-seyder.  er iz in gantsn gerekht, un bayot hot dos mordkhe
shekhter: af yidish zogt men: "er iz bagangen zelbtsmord" mit dem
obyekt nokhgeshtelt _nokhm_ partitsip (leheypekh tsum daytshn klal)--der
doziker idyom iz nokh nisht gevorn keyn perifrastisher verb af yidish vi
"khasene hobn" un "moyre hobn."

zeyer a sheynem dank mayne tsvey kolegn far dem tikn-toes--un ikh hof az
keyn mendelist hot zikh ongeton a mise (oder a mayse) mitn shlekhtn
sintaks....

Joachim Neugroschel

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 1996 19:57:44 +0200
From: donnom@netvision.net.il
Subject: Liubistik

In Sholom Aleichem's ironic monologue, "A Vayse Kapore", the following
appears: "Mayn mame, muzt ir visn, iz oykh nisht kayn groyse tsedekes,
nor fun di dozige zakhn halt zi grod. Tsum bayshpil, oyf Pesakh,
pesakhdige borsht. Oyf Shvuos, liubistik.. etc." Liubistik, according to
Weinreich means "bast" (the inner bark of certain trees), but I don't
know what his source is, because in Russian, the morpheme "liub" has to
do with "love". The Russian word for bast is "lub" and Harkavy also
gives "lub" (not liub) as bast. It would appear to me from the context
that a certain food is referred to and the only thing I can imagine is
that "liubistik" may be a Russian version of the German "Lebkuchen",
although Shvuos dishes are typically milkhig. Can anyone give me an
apposite meaning for this word?

Mechl Asheri

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 1996 15:05:41 -0500
From: lfridhan@aol.com
Subject: Sholem Aleichem's language(s)

Bernard Katz in 6.110,1 redt vegn Sholem-Aleykhem's shprakh in der heym,
az siz tomed geven Rusish un nisht Yidish. Dos is take nisht keyn
khidesh. Do in Amerike muz men redn English az me vil makhn a lebn. In
Rusland, in Sholem Aleykhem's tsaytn, hot men oykh gezorgt vegn makhn a
lebn, un Rusish iz geven a neytike shprakh vi haynt.

Tsu zayne kolegn, di mekhaberim, di shraybers, hot er geshribn briv af
Yidish. Zey hobn farshtanen Rusish un Hebreyish ober, bashaynperlekh,
Yidish iz far zey geven heymish, bakvem, natirlekh. Tsu Mendele Moykher
Sforim, Yakov Dinezon, Mordekai Spector, Dovid Frishman, Khaym Nakhman
Bialik, Shmuel Niger, un andere hot er geshribn Yidish. Tsu zayn
familie, zayne fraynt (nisht di shraybers) hot er geshribn Rusish. Ober,
tsu Rokhl Loyev, zayn shviger, hot er geshribn Yidish.

Bernard Katz in 6.110,1 mentions that Sholem Aleichem's language at home
was Russian, not Yiddish. That's actually no wonder. In America, English
is necessary for making a living. In Russia, in Sholem Aleichem's time,
Russian was necessary for making a living, as it is today.

To his colleagues, the writers, he wrote letters in Yiddish. They
understood Russian and Hebrew, but evidently Yiddish was comfortable,
homey, natural. To Mendele Moykher Sforim, Jacob Dineson, Mordecai
Spector, David Frischmann, K. N. Bialik, Samuel Niger, and others, he
wrote Yiddish. To his family and friends who were not writers, he wrote
Russian. However, to Rachel Loyev, his mother-in-law, he wrote in
Yiddish.

Louis Fridhandler

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 1 Dec 96 5:04:42 EST
From: dave@cai.lsuc.on.ca
Subject: Saying "please" in Yiddish

We have the same issue as Dovid Yosef Herskovic in how to correct a
child so that he or she adds a Yiddish "please" to "ikh vil a trink". We
settled long ago on "zay azoy gut" (phonetically, "zaa azoy git" chez
nous). If you slur it together enough, it's not much longer than
"please". It sometimes gets abbreviated to "zoygit", especially by the
younger children, although the official reply to the prompt is indeed
supposed to be "a zoy git kon ikh hobn a trink?"  Try it yourself.

David Sherman
Toronto

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 1 Dec 96 6:22 EST
From: nmiller@trincoll.edu
Subject: Tikn toes

In Vol.097 the shames mentioned the version of the YIVO transcription
guide prepared for Mendele's users but neglected to include the name of
Arn Abramson as one of those responsible.  The shames knows Arn to be
the kindest man on the planet and hopes to be forgiven.

Noyekh Miller

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End of Mendele Vol. 6.114