Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 10.012 June 12, 2000 1) geshtoygn (Ronald Florence) 2) geshtoygn (Sidney Belman) 3) shmontses (Mikhl Herzog) 4) YIVO website (Paul Glasser) 5) Abelson's English to Yiddish dictionary (Steve Jacobson) 6) Perets' "ale mentshn" (Hershl Hartman) 7) Perets' "ale mentshn" (Marvin S. Zuckerman) 8) kale gevorn (Milt Koosman) 9) bulakh (Martin Green) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 From: Ronald Florence Subject: geshtoygn Paul Gross asks about the expression: "Nisht geshtoygn, nisht gefloygn." I believe it is a Jewish skeptic's answer to Christian claims about Jesus: he neither rose [from the dead], nor ascended [to heaven]. Ronald Florence 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 From: Sidney Belman Subject: geshtoygn Paul Gross requested information on "nisht geshtoygen nisht gefloygen" It means, "not true at all;a lie out of whole cloth".(It doesn't stand, it doesn't fly). Harkavy gives geshtoygen as p.p. of shtaygento rise, to go up. Fred Kogos, "Yiddish slang and idioms" also has it. Sidney Belman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 12:20:38 -0400 (EDT) From: "marvin herzog" Subject: shmontses Josl Piekarski inquires about the etymology of _shmontses_. Would you believe--Hebrew! Derived from Hebrew _shmua'_ 'rumor', SPELLED with _ayin_, which sometimes yields a nasalized vowel in Yiddish; e.g., _resha(y)nte_ ( _roshete_, feminine of _roshe_), _maynse_ 'story'. Mikhl Herzog 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 From: Paul Glasser Subject: YIVO website A gute psure - der YIVO hot itst a nay vebzaytl! Kumt khapt a kuk afn adres http://www.yivoinstitute.org Good news - YIVO has a new web site! Come see it at http://www.yivoinstitute.org Paul Glasser YIVO Institute for Jewish Research 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 From: JACOBSON STEVEN A Subject: Re: Abelson's 1915 English to Yiddish dictionary Re: Sidney Belmen's query (Vol10.007): Abelson's 1915 English to Yiddish dictionary is long out of print, and almost certainly hasn't been reprinted. You might try the National Yiddish Book Center if you really want a copy. It's a huge thick book, and in character it's more a dictionary that explains English words for the benefit of people whose first language is Yiddish, rather than being a dictionary that gives Yiddish equivalents of English words for the benefit of people whose first language is English. (The English to Yiddish part of Harkavy's first, 1891, dictionary was of the same character, that is aimed at Yiddish speaking immigrants who wanted to understand the English they were encountering). English to Yiddish dictionaries with the other orientation, that is, for English speakers seeking to learn or broaden their Yiddish, if that is what you want, are: Weinreich "Modern English-Yiddish, Yiddish-English Dictionary", and--much more limited-- Aaron Bergman's "Student's Dictionary, English-Yiddish, Yiddish-English" of 1968, and David Mendel Harduf's "English-Yiddish, Yiddish-English Dictionary of 1983 (and other editions of it). If there are any other English to Yiddish dictionaries, I'd like to know about them too. Steve Jacobson 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 From: Hershl@aol.com Subject: Re: Perets' "ale mentshn" Goldie Sigal's friend (10.008) will find an excellent (unfortunately, not credited) translation of Perets' poem, along with its musical setting (from Beethoven 9th symphony) in "Apples & Honey: Music and Readings for a Secular Humanist Observance of the Jewish New Year Festival," published by the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations. Further information: www.csjo.org Hershl Hartman Los Angeles 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 From: "Marvin S. Zuckerman" Subject: Re: Perets' "ale mentshn" In response to Goldie Sigal's request below for a translation of "Brider" by I.L Peretz, it is to be found on the outside, back, book jacket of the anthology of the selected works of Peretz edited by myself and Marion Herbst (whether it's singable or not I leave to Goldie to determine). (BTW, the book also contains my original translation (and the only one to date) into English of Peretz's play, *Di Goldene Keyt*.) The book was published by Joseph Simon/Publisher. Title: *The Three Great Classic Writers of Modern Yiddish Literature: Volume III: I.L. Peretz*, Edited by Zuckerman & Herbst. It is out of print, but may still be availabe through the National Yiddish Book Center and/or the Workmen's Circle Bookstore; a search on the net might also turn up a source from which to purchase it. Marvin S. Zuckerman 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 Subject: kale gevorn Anne Szledlecki, asks for meaning of various phrases one of which is "kale gevorn" which she says is in the of something spoiled. The words mean that a woman has become a bride and I would suspect that would indicate that she has been deflowerd and therefore the reference to something no longer pristine. Milt Koosman 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 From: "Martin Green" Subject: Re: bulakh Gennady Gorelik ask about the expression "er iz a bulakh". In the book I am translating, "Oyf Fremder Erd", author Falk Zolf refers to the White Guard pogromist Bulakh Bulakhovitch in describing the dangers of travelling the roads of post-war Poland (in 1920): "We also heard, that around Brisk, gefinnt zikh der troyerik-barihmter, Vayss-Gvardisher pogromshtchik Bulakh-Bulakhovitch, who had earned his reputation mit zayne shekhitehs (massacres) in tzendliker Yiddishe shtetlekh." Martin Green ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 10.012 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