Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 07.127 December 19, 1997 1) vodke/hekdesh (Claus Buryn) 2) hekdesh (Ruth Rischall) 3) Hegdesh/hegdish is hekdesh (Gilad J. Gevaryahu) 4) Yiddish maps (Itsik Goldenberg) 5) Yiddish maps (Harold Black) 6) Paul Abelson's English-Yiddish Encyclopedic Dictionary (walter golman) 7) a goyisher tsimes (peter kluehs) 8) Sotsialistn in kongres (Elliot Gertel) 9) Zanvil/Zangvil (Aron M. Mandl) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 10:06:38 +0200 From: Marion Troia & Lucas Bruyn Subject: vodke/hekdesh Re: Vodka Vodka is I believe the diminuative of Russian vod- Engl. wot-er. As for a 'yiddish voserle': Tsvi Kanar. [Zwi Kanar] Opgegebn Broyt. [Bread for Bread] "Hee... Kenst ober laykht untersheydn tsvishn undz. Der rov ayerer trogt a lange bord mit peyes un trinkt heyse tey mit tsitrin. Der provoshtsh ober hot nisht keyn bord mit peyes un trinkt gern vudke, tsum libstn a finfunnaytsiker. Nu, zog, vos iz beser? Ha, ha, ha..." Bronfn seems to be the general term for hard liquor or distilled. Same source: "Proshen [P. prosic-ask; prosze- please, I beg you] kshiendza [P. ksiadz, priest, padre], nokh a kelishek [P. kieliszek -glass]?" - hot der tate tsum viflstn mol genumen in hand dos fleshl branfn, voz iz geshtanen oyfn tish. also: Solem Aleikhem, Motl Peysi dem Khazns, Der Emes, Moskve, 1947, mayn bruder elyes getrank, section beys: "A retsept af tsu fabdinen hundert rubl a khoydesh un mer durkh makhn liker, zise brandfns, limonadn, sode waser, kvas un andere nokh mer bilike getranken." [If you ever find a good 'retsept' for kvas, let me know] Re: hekdesh Solem Aleikhem, Motl Peysi dem Khazns, Der Emes, Moskve, 1947, first chapter, section vav, last alinea: (Motls father is dying of consumption) "In hekdesh" vil di mame im nisht lozn beshum oyfn! Zi vet frier shtarbn. zogt zi, eyder lozn im in hekdesh!... Claus Buryn. 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 08:46:09 EST From: Rrischall Subject: hekdesh Milt Eisner asks about hegdish. It is a Hebrew word, spelled hay, kuf, daled, shin. It means poorhouse or hospital for the poor. Since such places were usually diismal and dilapidated, it aquired the meaning ooof messy place. Ruth Rischall 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 10:45:44 EST From: Gevaryahu Subject: Hegdesh/hegdish is hekdesh The word "hegdesh/hegdish" is correctly spelled hekdesh. It is originally Hebrew and also used in Yiddish. The meaning of it is based on the stem K-D- Sh, holy. The place where items given to the Temple were stored and the items themselves was called Hekdesh. Often these items stayed for a long long time, accumulating dust, till proper use was found for them. The sentense used by Milt Eisner : "My mother would say, 'This place looks like a hegdish!'" makes perfect sense. That is a messy dusty place. Gilad J. Gevaryahu 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 09:03:53 -0500 From: "Robert Goldenberg" Subject: Yiddish maps Miriam Isaacs asks where to get Yiddish maps [07.124]. There are a number of books available from The National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Mass. that contain coloured maps with Yiddish names of continents, oceans, countries, etc. I can think of 2 in particular, and there are probably others that they can identify for you. (1) Cahan's Geshikhte fun di Fareynikte Shtetn (2 vol.) (2) Algemeyner Yidishe Entsiklopedye (vaious volumes). Itsik Goldenberg 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 14:17:50 EST From: hersh23@juno.com (Harold Black) Subject: Yiddish maps There are many Yiddish maps in the memory books produced during the 1950's. They can be copied and blown up. Harold Black 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 12:58:47 -0500 (EST) From: walter golman Subject: Paul Abelson's English-Yiddish Encyclopedic Dictionary Years ago, there was one English word about which my friends and I kept pestering our parents -- "SWEATER." We were asking for a Yiddish equivalent, other than pronouncing the English word with a "v" instead of a "w". My parents' copy of Abelson (the 1915 edition) came to the rescue, sort of, with five possible explanations: 1- one who perspires; 2- something that causes perspiration; 3- the proprietor of a sweatshop; 4- one who shakes coins in a bag to rub off some of the metal; and 5- a warm knitted "yock" or "kaftel." We realized we could never use the words "yock" and "kaftel" and expect anyone to understand us. Though we later learned that modern Hebrew has solved the problem with "svedder," we'll long remember learning about the somewhat disappointing difference between an "encyclopedic dictionary" and an azay-zikh "dictionary." walter golman 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 18 Dec 1997 19:01:00 +0200 From: pelokoha@t-online.de (peter kluehs) Subject: a goyisher tsimes tayere khaveyrim, s'iz nokh alts mit groys hanoe un tshikave, vos ikh farnem zikh mit di mendele bsures, un biz itst hob ikh zikh nokh keynmol nit banutst mit dem oysmek-knepl. aderabe, ikh foyl zikh ash nit tsu bahaltn al di mendele postn in mayn kompyuter. mendele vet far mir nisht farlirn dem tsutsi- koyekh! fraynd fridhandler hot mit a por teg tsurik arayngeleygt a vikhtikn gedank, dehayne, az do shmuesn mir vegn yidish....... tsum badoyern hot er dos geshribn, mishteyns gezogt, in an artikl vos nebekh kimat in gantsn iz geven oyf english. staytsh??? far vos zoltn mir nisht zayn oykh imshtand tsu shmuesn vegn yidish OYF yidish? voltn mir nisht ale gehat a sakh mer fargenign, az me volt gekont leyenen oyf a batamtn mameloshn, di diskusyes un afile di hipsh farakshnte makhloykes tsulib der etimologye fun davenen oder dem banutsn zikh mit a mer oder veyniker badaytndiker kolektsye verterbikher, vos 'yene yidn' hobn kloymersht nisht dem koyekh tsu shlepn zey arum zeyer kompyuter? kh'hob a bisl moyre, az s'iz faran a kentike tsol khaveyrim libhobers fun yidish, vos shraybn bloyz oyf english, kedey oystsumaydn kritikn fun di meyvinim fun der YIVO-klalshprakh. nisht azoy? fonye ===== bay tevyen dem milkhiker gefindt men oykhet "foni", vos shmuel rozhansky, der redaktor funem musterverk, derklert vi: di rusishe regirung. bay salcia landmannen leyent men, az fonye badayt oder dos rusishe folk oder bifrat der rusishe zelner (fonye-ganef). di etimologye iz loyt ir meynung nisht keyn klore, ober zi halt az fonye shtamt funem rusishn nomen afonya. daytshmerish ============ leyendik di sikhroynes fun glikl hamil hot zikh mir dervust, az mit 300 yor tsurik hobn di yidn in daytshland genutst zeyer a sakh oysdrukn vos hayntsutog ruft men zey daytshmerizms. afile in kol israel kon men itst hern in di yidishe oyditsyes aza verter vi lemoshl "layder, bite, frekh" lebn di geveyntlekhe "tsum badoyern, ikh bet aykh, khutspedik". nu vos? mistome a simen az mameloshn iz genug shtark kedey ibertsutrogn afile a por naye daytshishe diburim? blaybt mir ale gezunt un shtark biz hundert un tsvantsik, oder lomir zogn biz hundert mit sibnuntsvantsik -- vegn inflatsye B:=} peter kluehs wehrheim, germany 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 13:28:46 -0500 From: Elliot Gertel Subject: Sotsialistn in kongres Libe Mendelayt: Tsulib dem vos kh'hob zikh geyogt arayntsushikn dem onzogekhts maynem, hob ikh gehat toesn inem entfer Harold Orbachn mekoyekh sotsialistn in amerikanishn kongres (07.124): "Khaver Orbach hot demolt nisht gezogt az Berger un Meyer hot men oysgeklibn vi kongreslayt fun spetsifishe sotsialistishe parteyen..." hob ikh geshribn, nor "...az Berger un London..." hob ikh gemeynt nisht "...az Berger un Meyer..." Un kh'hob a bisl vayter gehat ot dem zelbikn toes a tsveyt un a drit mol af english. Zayt zhe mir ale moykhl di toesn vos kh'hob beshoygeg gehat, spetsiel bay Khaver Orbachn, vos er hot uns ongezogt mekoyekh London (nisht Meyer un nisht Meyers), oysgeklibn tsum amerikanishn kongres in 1914 un Berger, in 1911 gevorn der same ershter oysgeklibn farn reprezentantn-hoyz vos er hot moyser-medoe geven az er iz geven a sotsialist. Azoy bet ikh oykh mekhile farn umkoved dem nomen fun Meyer Londonen. Az di dozike teme hot vayt nisht vos tsu tun mit yidish, lomir hofn az kh'vel mer gornisht nisht zogn vegn dem inyen in di zaytlekh fun _Mendele_. Dear Mendelayt: In my haste to respond to Harold Orbach's comments regarding socialists in the US Congress, I made the same error thrice (once in the Yiddish and twice in the English portions of my text [07.124]): "Nowhere in the declaration above is there anything that indicates specifically that Berger and Meyer were elected as members..." "...Berger and Meyer..." should, of course, read "...Berger and London ..." and later, "Had Mr. Orbach stated _initially_ that Berger and Meyers were the only members..." should read "...that Berger and London were..." My apologies to all, especially Harold Orbach--who brought our attention to Messrs. London (not Meyer nor Meyers) elected to the US House of Representatives in 1914 and Berger, the first avowed socialist ever elected to the House (1911)--and to the memory and honor of Meyer London for the unintentional error. As this has nothing to do with Yiddish, I hope that this is the last I will have to say on this subject in _Mendele_. Elyet Hersh Gertl [Elliot Hersch Gertel] Boka raton, florida [Boca Raton, Florida] 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 14:15:19 EST From: Aronio Subject: Zanvil/Zangvil There is currently a disagreement going on right now in my shul about the proper pronunciation and spelling of the Hebrew/Yiddish name Zanvil, or is it Zangvil (with a gimel). Please enlighten me. Thank you. Aron M. Mandl ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 07.127 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu Mendele on the Web: http://mendele.commons.yale.edu http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html