Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 10.011 June 12, 2000 1) Nagan (Paul Glasser) 2) Nagan (Shaya Mitelman) 3) Nagan (Morrie Feller) 4) Nagan (Mike Hirsch) 5) Nagan (Herman Taube) 6) Nagan (Hershl Hartman and Jim Williams) 7) Nagan (Dan Goodridge) 8) Nagan (Eric Gordon) 9) Nagan (Carl Goldberg) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 From: Paul Glasser Subject: Words for "pistol" [Martin Cohen (10.006) writes of "three different words that refer to the same weapon.. "shpayer," "pistoyl," "nagan". The first word is German, the second is Polish. I need help on the third."] In fact, all three words are Yiddish. Could we please say "Yiddish word of German/Polish/Hebrew derivation" and not "German/Polish/Hebrew (word)" when talking about Yiddish? The first word may derive from German (my German dictionary does not list "Speier"); the second does NOT come from Polish "pistolet" - more likely from German "Pistole" (the -oy- means the word is fairly longstanding in Yiddish); the third does come from Russian (definitely not from Hebrew, no connection to "irgun"!). My Russian dictionary translates it 'revolver', rather than 'pistol'; I must admit that I don't know the difference between the two in English. [As to Cohen's sources suggesting "that Glik was expressing what he thought was international struggle against fascism.."]: The sources he quotes are overstating the case. It seems much more likely to me that Glik, like any good writer, used the three synonyms for variety, since all three words would have existed in his Yiddish. He would not have calculated "Let's use German and Polish and Hebrew and Russian words in order to express solidarity with other nationalities," nor was he stretching his Yiddish to accomodate Jews from all over Europe. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct one. Paul Glasser 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 From: Serge Mitelman Subject: nagan Martin Cohen asks about the etymology of nagan (Vol.10.006). Emile and Leon Nagant were famous weaponry designers in Liege. Emile designed the box magazine of the Mosin-Nagant rifle in 1891, while next year his brother Leon created the Nagant pistol with gas-sealed revolving cylinder. It is common in Eastern Europe to call firearms by the names of their designers (cf. "Maxim" or "Kalashnikov" - for machine gun and automatic rifle respectively). So, while shpayer, pistoyl and pistolet are generic terms for a pistol, nagan (Nagant), vesson (Wesson) or mauzer (Mauser) are specific types of pistols, whose make-up is readily recognizable by anyone in that part of the world. Shaya Mitelman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 14:34:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Morris Feller Subject: nagan Responding to Martin Cohen in Mendele 10.006, the word _nagan_ in Hebrew means musician. There may be a possible connection with the Hebrew word _haganah_ which means defense. Morrie Feller 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 From: Hirsch, Michael Subject: Introduction/nagan I am out of my league in this hotbed of erudite philologists, but can perhaps contribute re latest inquiry on "nagan." Believe reference is to ["If you collect Mosin-Nagant rifles, chances are you also own at least one Nagant revolver. First introduced into service in Russia in 1891, this quirky, but effective, sidearm served the Russians through to the end of WWII. Currently available at very low prices (under $60, in arsenal refinished condition) on the US surplus market, the Nagant is the very embodiment of history. Adopted by the Czarist government, it is believed to have been the execution weapon used on Czar Nicolas and his family." from the WEB) Many other WEB entries. If I need a Yiddish name, Shija Meyer is as close as anything. I work for the Army on U.S. Government-to-foreign government weapons sales policy. My Yiddish is rudimentary, from what I heard when parents/aunts/uncles/grandmother did not want things understood. I've had Weinreich's College Yiddish for years, but have made little progress; perhaps when I retire. Actually, reading Mendele archives is teaching me; sometimes I can understand half. Mother's mother from the Ukraine spoke 6 languages, but did not read or write (maybe some Yiddish). She used kerick and referred to "Jewish" almost invariably as I recall. Cousin on father's side was language professor (tate hot fin Galitzia gekimen aza kint). In my case the genes are absent, or were destroyed in a fall from the nursery school teacher's car. Language (except English), art & music are on the dead side of my brain. Studied (Ashkenazic) Hebrew, German, and Spanish with very mediocre results. Will doubtless remain infrequent contributor, but appreciate the knowledge and nostalgia the list provides. Regards and thanks, Mike Hirsch 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 From: HTaube218@aol.com Subject: nagan Martin Cohen, Nagan in Yiddish was called: Revolver or Pistol. (a Shis-gever vos hot a zikh-dreiendn aparat). "English-Yiddish Encyclopedic Dictionary" Editor: Dr. Paul Abelson, (1915) Herman Taube 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 From: Hershl@aol.com Subject: nagan/naganes Dr. Martin Cohen's very delayed query (submitted 5/10/00, sent out on the list 6/10/00--long after his successful lecture as part of the Yiddishkayt L.A. Festival) jogged me into retrieving my file on the subject: the origin of the word "nagan," used by Hirsh Glik in his lyric, "shtil, di nakht" and (plural: naganes) in his Partisan Hymn, "zog nit keynmol." The question emerged on the listserve of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives-- dedicated to information about the Spanish Civil War and the volunteers who fought for the Republic against the Nazi-backed forces of Gen. Franco--in a discussion about the armaments used in that prelude to WWII. When I noticed the reference to the Moisin-Nagant rifle, I asked whether there might be some connection to the Yiddish word, nagan. Here is the reply from a very well-informed correspondent; I have highlighted the paragraphs that relate to the Yiddish connection. Hershl Hartman, Los Angeles "The Russian Moisin-Nagant rifle was a joint project between a Belgian gun designer Leon Nagant and a Russian army officer Sergei Ivanovich Moisin. When the Russian army called for entries for a new modern service rifle, both Nagant (still smarting because the Belgians adopted the Mauser) and Moisin submitted entries. The Army decided that they liked certain features of Nagant's submission and certain features of Moisins--and suggested they collaborate. In 1891, the Russians adopted the Moisin-Nagant. It was a somewhat complicated and overengineered design, and the bolt was difficult to work as rapidly as the Mauser, but it was an exceedingly accurate rifle, firing a cartridge similar to the US's 30-06. At the outbreak of WWI, The Tsarist government couldn't produce enough of these rifles and contracted with Remington Arms and with New England Westinghouse to produce Moisin-Nagants. Russia left the war before most of these could be shipped. The US Expeditionary Force which was sent to Russia to intervene during the civil war was equipped with these US-made Moisin-Nagants (my great uncle said he hated these and wanted his Springfield.) The remainder of these US-made Moisins rattled around in various warehouses. Some of them were converted to the US 30-06 round and sold to the civilian market for conversion to sporting rifles. However, some of them found their way to Spain (via Mexico) and into the hands of the Lincolns. Other Moisin-Nagants from Russia were also wending their way as well. The first M-Ns in Spain were simply left over 1891 models, but toward the end, a more modern version, the 91/30, was supplied. "Whether Leon Nagant was Jewish, or Nagant was a Yiddishism for a revolver, I don't know. (Nagant also designed a very strange revolver which was adopted by the Belgians and also by the Tsar. It was the standard service revolver of the Russian/Soviet army, until the automatic Tokarev T-33 came along.) "Since the going-out-of-business sales of the former Socialist countries, the market has been flooded with Moisin-Nagants of a multitude of origins and configurations. They have a devoted and fanatical following among some collectors, who really need to get a life." Jim Williams In a subsequent message, Mr. Williams adds: "The more I think about it, the more logical it seems to me that the Yiddish term "Naganes" could have referred to Mr. Nagant's very strange revolver, which was certainly in active use in Eastern Europe from 1895 through WWII. Well, we all know that logic and language formation do not necessarily go hand-in-hand." 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 From: "Dan Goodridge" Subject: nagan Martin Cohen asks about the word "nagan". It is a Russian word and refers to a type of hand gun which was used as a side-arm as late as WW II, and may still be even now. Dan Goodridge 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 From: EricArthur@aol.com Subject: nagan In response to Martin Cohen, I was told that "nagan" for pistol comes from the Belgian arms manufacturer Nagant (the t would be silent), whose name was stamped on his wares. Thus by extension, the name for the weapon. Eric Gordon Los Angeles 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 From: "Carl Goldberg" Subject: nagan Martin Cohen asks for the origin of the Yiddish word "nagan" (pistol). It is, indeed, a Russian word for "revolver", but I do not know its etymology. Carl Goldberg ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 10.011 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