Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 10.013 June 13, 2000 1) Lemster's poem (Sarah Traister Moskovitz) 2) kalye, kalemutne (Hugh Denman) 3) lovitch, kalye, kalamutno (Jack Berger) 4) nagan (Hugh Denman) 5) nagan (Edward Cherlin) 6) translation (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 7) Sholem Asch (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 8) amol (Jan Jonk) 9) veter oyf yidish (Leybl Botwinik) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 From: "Sarah Moskovitz" Subject: Lemster's poem At a lecture given by Boris sandler in the L.A. Yidish Cultue Club about a month ago he read a piece of a wonderful poem in which one line was something like "es shtarbt a shtelele in mir". I would really want to have a copy of that poem. Niether the Nat. Yid. book center nor the arbeter Ring Center haver anything by Lemster. Can anyone help? With much appreciation for your help Sarah Traister Moskovitz 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 From: Hugh Denman Subject: kalye, kalemutne With reference to Ann Szedlecki's query [10.008:5] re the etymology of 'kalye' and 'kalemutne'. The two words are cognate and of Slav origin. The ultimate origin is an Indoeuropean root meaning 'mud, filth, excrement'. Yiddish 'kalye vern' is cognate with Polish 'kale' = 'excrementa' or the Ukrainian 'kal'aty' = 'to befoul' and thus the literal significance is that of something becoming dirty of defiled, but is colloquially used to mean simply 'spoiled, ruined'. Yiddish 'kalemutne' on the other hand is cognate with the Ukrainian 'kalamutnyy' = 'muddy, turbid' or, in a sense corresponding more closely to the etymology, 'having, consisting of a muddy sediment'. The Yiddish innovation appears to be the figurative application to a frame of mind. Hugh Denman London 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 From: Jack Berger Subject: lovitch, kalye, kalamutno With regards to the several expressions presented by Ann Szedlecki (10.008), I offer the following: 1. Ich hob dich in lovitch. A 'lovitch' is some kind of an animal trap, and I suspect that this has the same general connotation as 'Ich hob dich in bod,' where 'bod' is a 'bath,' but the sense is exactly the same. 2. Kalle gevorn This comes from the Russian word, 'kalyik' meaning a cripple. Hence the sense being described. 3. 's'Iz mir kalamutno This sounds familiar to me, but I can't put my finger on it. I am reminded of the expression, 's'Iz mir Umetig,' which has a similar meaning. I think it comes from the German, Ummutig. I wouldn't be surprised if the slavism, 'kalamutno' is a hybrid of a German root inside a Russian word frame. This is just a guess. Regards Jack Berger 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 From: Hugh Denman Subject: nagan(er) and pistoyl With reference to Martin Cohen's query [10.006:9] re the etymology of 'nagan(er)', the explanation is quite simple. Both the Polish and Russian words 'nagan' designate a type of seven-chambred revolver that was produced from the end of the 19th century until the Second World War by the Belgian armaments manufacturer Naguan Freres which supplied both the Tsarist army and the Polish inter-war forces with such weapons. Martin Cohen writes that 'pistoyl' is of Polish origin. However, with respect, the vocalism of the word makes it clear that it must have been borrowed from Early New High (or perhaps Low) German soon after the appearance of such weapons in Central Europe (15th century) while the 'o' > 'oy' (cf. 'rot' > 'royt') mechanism was still productive. Polish 'pistol' has only numismatic significance and Polish 'pistolet' would have had a different outcome in Yiddish. Hugh Denman London 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 02:50:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Edward Cherlin Subject: nagan According to the Smirnitsky-Müller Russian-English Dictionary (sixth edition, Dutton, 1959), "nagan" is Russian for a Nagant revolver (1892-1945, invented by Belgian gunmaker Leon Nagant, and adopted by Russian and Polish armies and various police forces. See http://www.voicenet.com/~danz/MN/nagant1.htm). [Martin Cohen (10.006) asks:] If Rubin's explanation is correct, does that mean that there was no Yiddish word for pistol that would have been understood by Yiddish speakers from diverse parts of Europe? Weinreich gives for English "gun" Yiddish pistoyl, for "pistol" pistoyl and nagan, and for "revolver" revolver. The non-existence of a native Yiddish word for something that Yiddish-speaking Jews had no use for in normal life does not surprise me. Edward Cherlin 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 From: Marjorie Hirshan Subject: translation Translation, the Mendele agenda of the week (TMR and Bontshe Shvayg), still appears to evoke impassioned responses. I wonder if these calls for accuracy and precision are a means for honoring only the Yiddish original? Beyond the compulsive cry for exactitude, I remember, and want to note, the anti-translation era of the secular Jew. When a parent asked our beloved shula teacher, Yankl Blank, to respond in English, he answered idealistically and passionately, "A ki git bloyz milkh; oyb men vil fleysh muz men es derhargenen." (A cow gives only milk; if you want meat, you must slaughter it.) The survival of Yiddish then was to speak, read, write Yiddish! More realistically, today translation enjoys a new look as one of the means of perpetuations of Yiddishkayt. (Was this spear-headed by the power we handed to the National Yiddish Book Center?). Even Sholem Aleichem, in his will, leaves the wish that on his yortsayt his works be read _in any language_ of the land and the time. He also gave his son-in-law, B.Z. Goldberg, free reign in his Hebrew translations. Goldberg took this unconditional right and even made harsh changes in the master's works. Yet, in talented, thoughtful hands there is much pleasure to be found in translations (yes, especially when accompanied by the original): Ruth Whitman's anthology, Penguin's book of modern verse, Cucumbers and Plums. And some translators (writers themselves) have a great sense and sensibility of word and syntax: John Hollander, Cynthia Ozick, Joachim Neugroschel, Hillel Halkin, Curt Leviant. Because of them, I have shared much beauty with bright, literary friends who are Yiddish handicapped. It has been said that reading a translation is like being kissed through gauze. But gauze can be woven of royal silk too. And isn't a kiss through gauze still a kiss? and dos iz avade asakh beser, azoy fil beser, vi gornisht.... Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 19:33:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Marjorie Hirshan Subject: Sholem Asch Sheva Zucker seeks information about Sholem Asch's "God of Vengeance": Translations - 1996 - A work to make us all proud was the translation by Joachim Neugroschel (he's a Mendelist) in the winter 1996 issue of _The Pakn Treger_, the magazine of The National Book Center. This outstanding issue includes masterful photographs from the original presentation, background history of cops and court actions, how Peretz told Asch to burn the play, and an enlightening article by Neugroschel about the art of translation. 1999 - It was staged off-off Broadway (on 8th Avenue and 42 Street in a closed-down Burlesque theatre) and translated by blonde and Irish Caraid O'Brien, who studied Yiddish and desires to serve it. The Conference at Yale, as reported in the Forverts, was _Sholem Asch: a Nayer Opshatz_. I found it of great interest to read that Dan Miron named East River as Asch's greatest work. I look forward to reading Sheva's synthesis of facts about this important, beleaguered Yiddish writer. Mirl Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 03:23:07 -0400 (EDT) From: "Jan Jonk" Subject: amol Tayere Mendelyaner, Some remarks about amol(ik) - Mendele Vol10, nr 6 The word 'almol'(almolt) comes from mhd 'alle mal' means always. The word 'amol' comes from 'ein mal' and means: formerly, once, once upon a time. The word 'ein' has changed to 'a', what is not unusual in german dialects p.e. ein tish/a tish, ein bisl/abisl, ein mal/amol. amolik means: formerly, once; occasionally, rarely, forgone, obsolete, of times past. Zayt gezunt, Jan Jonk 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 03:37:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Leybl Botwinik Subject: veter oyf yidish - Weather in Yiddish [English follows Yiddish] tayere khaveyrim mit a shtikl tsayt tsurik bin ikh aroyf oyf a vebzaytl vos vayzt di veter iber amerike (un andershvu). dort zaynen geven ongegebn a sakh shprakhn in velkhe men ken zen di informatsyes, nor yidish loshn iz do nit geven. hob ikh zey geshribn, un forgeleygt, az ikh bin a baln ibertsuzetsn di geherike tekstn kedey yidish zol oykh figurirn vi a shprakh far dem vebplats. un ot iz es. koydem, a transliterte versye. dernokh, veln mir zen vegn arayngebn mit yidishn shrift (ikh vel efsher darfn a bisl hilf mit dem). lozt hern vos ir meynt. oyb emetser vil oysbesern di terminen, - aderabe, kontaktirt mir oder dem vabmayster. agev, di merste taytshn zaynen, in mayn meynung gute, ober ikh hob gehat a bisl a problem mit an ikerdik vort "FORECAST" - ikh hob es ibergezetst "FOROYSZOG" - tsi hot emetser a besern taytsh? http://www.wunderground.com Dear friends, A while ago, I came upon a website which shows the weather in the US (and elsewhere). Many languages are listed in case you want to read the info in another language, but Yiddish was missing. So I volunteered to prepare the applicable translations, in order that Yiddish will also appear as one of the available languages. And here it is. The first step was to make it available as a transliterated text. In the near future, I hope to have the texts appear in Yiddish (i.e. hebrew alphabet) - I may need some help with this. Let me know what you think. If someone would like to improve on the terms - please do so, and contact me or the webmaster. By the way, most of the tranlations are OK, in my opinion, but one of the key words gave me a bit of a problem "FORECAST" - which I translated as "FOROYSZOG" - does anyone have a better translation? Please see the followwing website. - May the sun always shine for you. zet dem folgndikn vebplats - zol di zun tomid shaynen far aykh. http://www.wunderground.com Regards, Leybl Botwinik yisroyl ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 10.013 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