Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 10.008 June 8, 2000 1) bulakh (Gennady Gorelik) 2) Yiddish version of a Yiddish proverb (Yankev Lewis) 3) Third Seder (Eric Gordon) 4) shmoktelyakes (Jason Payne) 5) Word origins (Ann Szedlecki) 6) tales/taleysim (Paul Glasser) 7) talis/taleysim (Paul Glasser) 8) talit-talitot or talis-taleysim (Gilad J. Gevaryahu) 9) Translation of poem sought (Goldie Sigal) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 14:13:47 -0400 (EDT) From: Gennady Gorelik Subject: bulakh I would appreciate if anybody tell me the exact meaning of the Yiddish word "bulakh" (I failed to find this word in Weinreich's dictionary). I am trying to recover the real meaning of what my grandmother said about Stalin in the early 30s "er iz a bulakh" (it was in a Belorussian shtetl). Thanks Gennady Gorelik 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 18:39:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Enkin * Lewis Subject: Yiddish version of a Yiddish proverb Can anyone supply the original Yiddish version of the following Yiddish proverb: "God should only protect us from everything we can get used to!" a dank Yankev Lewis 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 02:21:47 -0400 (EDT) From: EricArthur@aol.com Subject: Third Seder In response to Al (Avrum) Miller: I don't know if the Carnegie Hall Third Seders he used to go to had a Seder meal or not, but definitely, just about all the secular Jewish groups around the country today have some version of a Third Seder. He certainly should know that in Los Angeles, the Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring has a splendid Seder every year; the Sholem Community also sponsors a Seder, and so does the Society for Humanistic Judaism (though the latter would not especially emphasize Yiddish). There is also another I have heard of, sponsored by a Yiddish leyenkrayz. In New York the Arbeter Ring Seder is a major spectacle, attracting some 600 people every year in a big hotel ballroom--it's truly something to experience. Next year in Los Angeles, Al! Eric Gordon Los Angeles 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 09:44:44 -0400 (EDT) From: payne.9@osu.edu Subject: shmoktelyakes Khevre-- I'm cleaning up my latest draft of a translation of Sholem Aleykhem's "Sender Blank" and have still been unable to find a meaning for the word "shmoktelyakes". The immediate context is a description of Reb Sender's grand, massive desk. Any help is appreciated. A hartsikn dank. Jason Payne 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 10:18:46 -0400 (EDT) From: TelAviv893@aol.com Subject: Word origins I am curious to know the roots of the following expressions: 1. Ich hob dich in lovitch. Back home in Lodz and elsewhere in pre-War Poland, this expression meant, "It's not of importance what you do/say." 2. Kale gevorn Also in Poland, we used this expression to describe anything that is not in working order or gets spoiled or rotten, such as a situation or food. 3. 's'Iz mir kalamutno We used to this expression to mean, "I'm sad/despressed." I would like to hear from the mendelyaner on these items. Any information would be helpful. Thank-you, Ann Szedlecki 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 10:51:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Paul Glasser Subject: Re: tales/taleysim Vegn tales/taleysim: mir dakht zikh, az s'iz loshn-zokher af yidish poshet derfar, vayl di endung af -es iz nisht keyn loshn-nekeyve-endung af yidish (saydn ba abstrakte substantivn, vi lemoshl "rakhmones"). Dos zelbe tsu hern vegn "shabes", "shakhres" uaz"v. Oykh internatsyonalizmen, vi me hot rikhtik ongevizn: af yidish zenen s'rov substantivn, spetsyel layverter, maskulin, saydn s'iz do a sibe (lemoshl, an endung) vos ruft aroys dos loshn-nekeyve, azoy tsu zogn. F' Vaismans khokhme vegn "nouns in drag" hot ba mir aroysgerufn a shmeykhl. Fundestvegn vil ikh epes komentirn: di batseykhenungen "zokher" un "nekeyve" hobn nisht keyn mamoshes, zey zenen mutvilike terminen mernisht. Me zogt nisht "der tish" vayl a tish iz a mantsbil oder "di vant" vayl a vant iz a vaybsparshoyn. S'iz poshet a kapriz fun der shprakh. Far vos ruft men "tish" zokher un "vant" nekeyve? Vorn "der tish" iz geglikhn GRAMATISH tsu "der man" un "di vant" GRAMATISH tsu "di froy". Dos iz a gramatisher klal. Mit der realitet funem obyekt aleyn (tish oder vant) hot es nisht keyn shaykhes. Vos shayekh f' Itsik Shteyn: oyb er vil zikh aynshparn, az "khoyzek" kumt dafke fun ivrit, iz zol im voyl bakumen (gedenkt: afile Harkavy fregt dos op). Nisht keday lang brayen. About tales/taleysim: it seems to me that it is masculine in Yiddish because the -es ending is not a feminine ending in Yiddish (except in the case of abstract nouns like "rakhmones"). The same applies to "shabes", "shakhres", etc. This applies to "internationalisms" as well, as was noted in Mendele: a majority of nouns in Yiddish, in particular loan words, are masculine, unless there is a reason (e.g., a particular ending) with feminine associations, so to speak. Iosif Vaisman's use of "nouns in drag" was funny. However, I'd like to address it seriously: the terms "masculine" and "feminine" should not be taken literally, they are merely arbitrary grammatical terms. Usage does not dictate "der tish" because a table is male or "di vant" because a wall is female. So why do we say "tish" is masculine and "vant" is feminine"? Because they are in the same GRAMMATICAL gender categories as "man" and "froy" respectively. It has nothing to do with the reality of the object so designated. As far as Itsik Shteyn's comments on "khoyzek" are concerned: if he wants to continue to insist that his etymology is correct (although even Harkavy denies it), it's OK with me. I don't see the point to going into it any further. Hershl Glasser 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 12:33:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Paul Glasser Subject: Re: talis/taleysim Tsugob tsum frierdikn brivl: F' Itsik Shteyn hot geshribn: "Harkavi (Dovid Katz's oyflage fun 1988)". Dos iz a toes. S'iz nisht Dovid Katzes uflage - s'iz der iberdruk fun 1988, aroysgegebn funem YIVO un dem farlag Schocken, mit an araynfir fun Dovid Katz. Dovid Katz iz nisht der aroysgeber, nisht der tsunoyfshteler, nisht der redaktor. Ba der uflage hot er geton bloyz eyn arbet: mekhaber geven dem araynfir. Me darf leyenen mit kop un ibershraybn pinktlekh, nisht stam gebn a mish un ibershraybn loytn (farfirerishn) zikorn! Hershl Glasser 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 15:28:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Gevaryahu@aol.com Subject: talit-talitot or talis-taleysim Mikhl Herzog (Vol 10.002) says: <> Both constructs of 'talit-talitot' and 'talit-taliot' are old. E.g., "eser taliot zo al gav zo" (Zavim 4:5); Tosefta, Zavim 4:4, B. Shabbat 93a. Rashi to the last item says taliot=talitot. "Hayotzeim betalitot" (B. Shabbat 147a). Gilad J. Gevaryahu 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 20:32:50 -0400 (EDT) From: "Goldie Sigal" Subject: Translation of poem sought Dear Mendelianer: I am appealing to you on behalf of a friend who would like to know if anyone has come across a good [possibly singable?] translation of the following poem, "Brider", by Yud Lamed Perets, (The original Yiddish version was put to music and sung at a camp my friend attended many years ago):- Vayse, broyne, shvartse, gel'e, Misht di farbn oyf tsuzamen, Al'e mentshn zaynen brider, Fun eyn tatn, fun eyn mamen. Al'e mentshn zaynen brider, Vayse, broyne, shvartse, gel'e, Andersh zaynen nor di farbn, Di natur iz dokh di zelbe. Al'e mentshn zaynen brider, Gel'e, broyne, shvartse, vayse, Felker, rasn un klimatn - S'iz an oysgetrakhte mayseh.=20 Many thanks, - Goldie Sigal ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 10.008 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://metalab.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html