Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.179 January 2, 1997 1) Taytshn fun psukim un maymrim (Leybl Botvinik) 2) Mit griner gal (Joachim Neugroschel) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 2 Jan 1997 12:22:18 +0200 (IST) From: leybl@telecomm.tadiran.co.il Subject: Taytshn fun psukim un maymrim apropo velkhe verterbikher kenen helfn oyfklern veynik bakante verter, oysdrukn u.az.v. vil ikh zikh teyln mit aykh vegn an oystser vos iz tsufelik tsu mir arayngefaln in di hent. mit tsey vokhn tsurik hot mayn shvoger mir ontelefonirt un gezogt az er hot far mir 2 bikher oyf yidish vos ikh muz zen. der ershter heyst "mimay'n hokhokhme shel am yisroyl" [fun dem kval fun khokhme fun yidishn folk - l.b.] (y.l.perets farlag,1962), fun yisroyl shteynberg. in der hakdome shraybt er: "...do vern gezamlt psukim un aforizmen fun tanakh, ma'ymrey khazal un glaykhvertlekh fun talmud un medrish, fun der shpeterer hebreyisher literatur un fun folks shafungen..." dos bukh anthalt 403 zaytn, tseteylt oyf etlekhe un akhtsik temes (lemoshl mentsh, guf un neshome, tsayt, muser, yidish folk un geule,...). es vert prezentirt a zayt akegn a zayt, mit numerirte psukim, vertlekh, u.az.v., -- eyn zayt hebreish (mit dem mekoyr), un unatkegn, dem yidishn taytsh. tsum bayshpil, oyf zayt 300 (teme=oylem/velt): " 14. im eyn bo'oylom ma she'oto mevokeysh, bokeysh mo shenimtso (m.ibn-ezra) [ikh hof, az ikh gib iber rikhtik dos ashkenazish, vayl keyn nekudes zaynen nito inem bukh unter di hebreishe tekstn. me darf ersht oyszukhn dem original, dem mekoyr] --> un oyf zayt 301: 14. oyb es iz nishto oyf der velt dos vos du vilst, bager dos vos iz faran. " * * * dos 2te bukh, oykh fun y. shteynberg heyst "Psukim un Taytshn" (y.l.perets farlag,1969), 303 zaytn. do vern gegebn psukim oysgeshtelte nit loyt temes, nor loytn alefbeys. yeder posik farmogt 4-6 shures. di ershte shure oyf dem origineln loshn koydesh (un in klamern dem mekoyr); nokh dem, dem yidishn taytsh; un dernokh, a tsitat fun der yidisher literatur vu dos vert banutst, mit dem mekhaber un bukh/mayse(?) vu es gefint zikh. lemoshl, oyf zayt 189, tsvishn di "mem" oysyes, hob ikh gefunen dos: " meyeyver loyom (dvorim lamed, 13) fun yener zayt yam, fun vayte mekoymes - ikh vil nisht dertseyln keyn maynse meyeyver loyom ... nor a zakh vos hot zikh getrofn do (-y.l.peretz "fun yoykhonon melameds mayselekh") * * * ikh hob telefonirt inem farlag, un zey hobn dem tsveytn bukh ("taytshn") far 30 shekel (arum $10). tsu dem darf men tsugebn far post nokh a 10 shekel. me zukht dem ershtn bukh. vayl es iz oyf der hebreyisher reshime, iz shverer dos tsu gefinen. [English]: I have recently come across two wonderful books which may aid you in understanding hebrew/loshnkoydesh in yiddish (or other) texts. The first is called "mimay'n hokhokhme shel am yisroyl" [from the source/ spring of wisdom of the Jewish people- l.b.] (Y.L.Perets Publishing,1962), by Yisroyl Shteynberg. This gives 403 pages divided into over 80 topics with numbered quotes followed by the source, and a facing page with matching numbered yiddish translations. the 2nd book, also by Y.Shteynberg, is an alphabetic listing of Hebrew/ loshnkoydesh terms used in the Yiddish literature, with a translation into yiddish and a quote from a work of literature where such term/quote was used. This book "Psukim un Taytshn" (Y.L.Perets Publishing,1969), is still available for 30 shekels (plus postage) from the publishers. The first book may or may not be available (they're still looking) leybl botvinik netanya 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 1 Jan 1997 17:13:38 -0500 (EST) From: achim1@cris.com Subject: Mit griner gal In regard to the bilious Yiddish idioms "mit griner gal", "grine verm", etc., there are no verbatim equivalents in older German, though they may exist, or may have existed in certain dialects. However, German has a number of affect idioms that use the colors green and yellow, which are quite frequently linked in German idioms, e.g.: "gruen und gelb vor Neid" =literally: "green and yellow with envy" "Ich koennte mich gruen und blau aergern" = "I could kick myself" "gruen und blau schlagen" = "beat someone black and blue". It could go on forever... oddly enough, "gruen" can also have a positive sense: "Er ist ihr gruen" = "He likes her". But a reversal of fortune for a word is not unusual: German: "Ich mag ihn leiden" (I like him) as opposed to English "loath" and Yiddish "layden" (suffer). In German "die Galle" has all the same idiomatic meanings as Yiddish "gal"--so we can assume the obvious.... Whereas English "gall" means, well, "khutspe". Hugh Denman is quite right in questioning the "green color" of "mit griner gal". But first of all, green and yellow do have a special relationship in German idioms. Granted "gall/gal/Galle" are all cognate with "yellow", "yolk," and "gold"--but languages don't always see colors in the same way. While Yiddish "gel" means "yellow" in most instances, it also refers to a hair color that is called "red" in English. So by comparison, "grin" may look more yellowish to a Yiddish speaker than "green" does to an English speaker. In line with that, French uses "rouge" for most instances of "red"--but "roux" for the hair color that we call "red" in English and "gel" in Yiddish. What we call "blue" (Eng) and "bloy" or "blo" (Yiddish) is rendered by two loanwords in Italian: "azzuro" (from Arabic) for sky-blue, light blue, blue eyes, etc. and a Germanic borrowing "blu" for a color ranging from English "blue" to "dark blue." And don't forget Homer's "wine-red" sea--which Italians call "azzuro", an adjective they also apply to many other things that may be darker than "blu". And in French "vin bleu" is cheap wine, rotgut, even though it's as red as good red ine. Joachim Neugroschel ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.179