Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 13.021 March 14, 2004 1) yovn (Jack Berger) 2) yovn (Vulf Plotkin) 3) shnorer (Gerry Kane) 4) shnorer (Meyer Zaremba) 5) shnorer and yovn (Mechl Asheri) 6) New book: Yiddish glosses (Marion Aptroot) 7) Lebedoff's "Rumenye" (Al Grand) Visit Mendele on the Web: http://www.mendele.net 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 11, 2004 From: jsberger@optonline.net Subject: RE: yovn Sylvia Schildt's remarks (Mendele 13.019) are very interesting, however I am skeptical about her allusion to the Russian-Greek interplay. The counter-example is 'Fonye Ganef', the marvelous epithet that was first applied to our Good Friend Czar Nicholas I (zoln zayne beyner farfoylt vern). Jack Berger 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 11, 2004 From: vulf@iimath.com Subject: Re: yovn In my mame-loshn (litvakish) "yovn" was the standard designation of a soldier, which accounts for its use in the saying "Ale yevonim hobn eyn ponim" (All soldiers have the same face, i.e. look alike). The plural clearly indicates the Hebrew provenance of the word. That is why the linkage to "Ivan" is rather spurious. The identification of soldiers with Greeks most probably reflects the historic reality of Greek rule in Eretz Israel. Vulf Plotkin 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 12, 2004 From: Subject: Re: shnorer a schnorrer is eyner vos klept zikh tsu tsu an anders tish oder keshene mit on farbetung. Given that a "leech" and a "parasite" klepn zikh tsu mit on farbetung makes both words good english equivalents for "schnorrer." A mooch or moocher also fits the category. Flexner in his dictionary of American slang says "one who begs, chisels or depends on the generosity of others for his living.." Gerry Kane 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 11, 2004 From: greenecuzineh@aol.com Subject: Re: shnorer I've read the various "definitions" of "schnorer" but they don't include an element that distinguished the "schnorer" from other who were seeking handouts. The schnorer looked at himself as one who was doing you a favor. It was a "mitzvah" to give to those in need. However, some people did not want to give. The "schnorer", by his insistence and persistence" was, therefore, helping you fulfill the commandment and was, therefore, doing you a favor. Meyer Zaremba 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 14, 2004 From: donnom@netvision.net.il Subject: Re: shnorer and yovn I had written to Dr. Bershady distinguishing between a shnorer and a betler, but I gave a different definition of each. In essence, a man who stands on the street and sticks his hand out is a betler. A shnorer always seeks a nedove. This doesn't means anyone seeking a nedove is a shnorer: one who does so for an institution or a chevre (hakhnoses kala, for example) is a sh'liakh. I, like many Jews who live in a traditionally Jewish ambience have a personal shnorer. He comes about once a month to my door and I give him 20 shekels. He is poor and begs to support his family; that is his profession, so to speak. As for Yovn, this word has the meaning of goyim in general and not in a friendly sense. There is a Yiddish proverb: "Ale Yevonim hobn ayn ponim". I find that inquiries regarding Yiddish words in Mendele tend more and more to focus on their occasional use in English. Their use among Jews whose everyday vernacular is Yiddish is often different and, it seems to me, more clearly defined, with less ambiguities. Mechl Asheri 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 12, 2004 From: aptroot@phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de Subject: New book: Yiddish glosses If the call for announcing one1s own books isn1t followed by authors, others will have to do so. Last year an edition of Yiddish glosses to the book of Job from the 14th-16th century appeared. The volumes are edited by Walter R”ll with the assistance of Gabriele Bruennel, Maria Fuchs, Liliane Gehlen, Heidi Stern-Schulze and Carla Winter (Tuebingen: Niemeyer). Yiddish glosses in Hebrew codices are important for research on early Yiddish language and Ashkenazic culture, but editions are few and far between. This edition is a milestone and although it comes at an understandably hefty price, the edition - based on 9 manuscripts and two printed books - is a must for every university library with a Yiddish collection. The edition is published in two volumes. The first volume (381 pp.) contains introductory chapters as well as a series of word registers, the second volume (835 pp.) contains the edition proper. The concise and clear introductory chapters deal with the texts from which the glosses were taken, but also with topics like vocalism, morphology, lexicon, Yiddish Bible translation language, etc. The editor gives the glosses in their original spelling in square characters, but also in a transcription which not only makes the glosses accessible to Germanists and scholars in Jewish Studies who don1t know Yiddish, but also gives Yiddish scholars an informed interpretation of the pronunciation based on the current state of research. The division in two volumes makes it easier for the user to consult the edition and the registers simultaneously. It is also enjoyable just to browse either the registers in the first volume (which, like the registers in other editions, are extremely useful even for those not interested in glosses but in Old and Middle Yiddish literature as long as we don1t have an Old Yiddish dictionary) or the glosses in the second and immerse oneself in the world of Old and Middle Yiddish and traditional ashkenazic Bible study. Marion Aptroot 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 13, 2004 From: savoyid@optonline.net Subject: Lebedoff's "Rumenye" I had two versions of his 78 rpm recordings back (I believe) in the late 1940's. One recording was on one side of the disc and the other was on both sides. I was enthralled by the longer version on both sides and took the trouble to listen to it over and over again while attempting to write down the words. I was not totally successful because some of what he sang was in very rapid Rumanian - a language I don't know. For the Rumanian words I wrote down what I heard but it is only an approximation of the correct lyric. I did much better with the brief Russian segment [KHOTCHET LYUBIT, KHOTCHET DYEVKA, NI KOPEKI, DYENGI NYET!] inasmuch as I'm moderately familiar with the language. The bracketed segment in the previous sentence can be loosely translated as "I have love, a young girl, no kopeks, no money!" Incidentally - this longer two-sided version was ultimately put onto an LP and possibly on a CD. You can check that out with Robert Freedman who runs this marvelous website http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/collections/freedman/index.html by writing to him at yidsong@pobox.upenn.edu. As for the Yiddish words - even there I had to guess, in one or two spots, as to what he was singing owing to the rapidity of his delivery and the primitive nature of the recording. But I'm fairly certain that the Yiddish words that I transcribed are at least 95% correct. Finally - in one spot, following the "HOP, HOP, HOP, HOP, HA" he sings something that was, to me, totally unintelligible {SHTATN YATN HAPN PAPN, CHIDL DI PAPN - HA}. Wherever something was _that_ bad I put it into brackets { }. I had to do that in only two other places: TANTST MEYDLAKH HULYET HOPET {nem dem lopne nombe shaye}, MAZL TOV {es rule shoshe, fan dar maydl} KHAYIM YOSEF. This will make much more sense if you can obtain (or if you already have) the longer version and you try to follow my transcription as you listen to it. I am relaying the transcribed lyrics to you both in an attachment to this message and also pasted below. My transcription is a labor of love (done when I was about 18 years old) rather than an academic exercise. I leave it to the academicians to correct my _toesn_ and to fill in what I couldn't hear in the unintelligible spots. If any Lebedoff lover in academia would indeed fill in what is missing here I would be supremely grateful to receive a copy of a corrected text. Al Grand RUMENYE ["Long" version - transcribed from old Banner 78 RPM record by Al Grand] eh! - rumania, rumania, rumania, rumania, rumania, rumania, rumania - di amolige rumania, nit di yetstige rumania, di gute rumania, rumania, geven amol, amol, amol, amol, nit haynt a land a zise a gite a sheyne. eh! - rumania, rumania, rumania, rumania, rumania, rumania, rumania - oy rumania, gevald rumania, rumania, rumania, rumania - vi nemt men nokh a land vos iz geven amol, amol a land a zise, a gite, a sheyne? dort tsu voynen iz geven a fargenign, vos di harts glust di hosti gekent dos krign: a mameligele, a pastromile, a karnatsele, - un a gleyzele vayn! [musical vamp] ay in rumania iz dokh git, pinkt fun dayges veys men nit, vayn trinkt men iberal, me farbayst mit kashtaval - ay digge digge dam - digge digge dam ay digge digge dam - digge digge dam. [musical vamp] ay in rumania(n) iz dokh git, pinkt fun zorgn veys men nit, vayn trinkt men s'meg zayn shpet, me farbayst a kastravet - ay digge digge dam - digge digge dam ay digge digge dam - digge digge dam. [musical vamp] oy poyim vestri trey mashlini, ashum bidar lekhmutchini, ekhley gutsi, ekhley gutsi tey yu beste makh-ma-chev - zim ma! - ay yidl di dam - zim ma! - ay yidl di dam - bam bom! - ay yidl di dam - bum bum! - ay yidl di dam. ay, 'siz a mekhaye, vos beser ken nit zayn, ay, a fargenign iz nor rumeynish vayn. [musical vamp] oy vi g'vald ikh ver meshige, ikh lib nor brinze marmalige, tants un frey zikh biz der stelye ven ikh es a pat-lo-zhe-le, zim zim! - ay yidl di dam - bum bum! - ay yidl di dam - ah ah! - ay yidl di dam - chi chi! - ay yidl di dam. ay, 'siz a mekhaye vos beser ken nit zayn, ay, a fargenign iz nor rumeynish vayn. [musical vamp] tsi fil esn iz nisht git - veynig iz gezinter, un ver si hot a feter vayb - iz yenem varm vinter, arram! - da yidl di dam - - tra ram! da yidl di dam - zim zim! - da yidl di dam - - tchu tchu! da yidl di dam. ay 'siz a mekhaye, vos beser ken nit zayn, ay a fargenign iz nor rumeynish vayn. [musical vamp] ver es hot nor gelt a sakh, yener iz a knaker, an eygnem vayb iz take git not yenem's iz geshmaker. arram! - da yidl di dam - - tra ram! da yidl di dam - zim zim! - da yidl di dam - - bl'p bl'p! da yidl di dam. ay 'siz a mekhaye, vos beser ken nit zayn, ay a fargenign iz nor rumeynish vayn. a - a - a - a - y, chay! ********************************************************************** lumanesti, bucharesti, filanesti, lumanesti, bucharesti, lumanesti - a-a-a-a-h, c h o w ! ! ! ay digge digge dam digge digge digge dam [sort of heavy breathing] cha ee ow oo - - etc. uuuu uuuuu uu looo - - etc. bum blyim, bum blyim - - etc. [g a r g l e] [slap hand against open mouth] x x x x xxxxx xxxxx yikum pirkun min sh'maye - - shteyt un kisht di kekhne, khaye ongeton in alte shkrabes - - makht a kigl l'koved shabes, zets! da yidl di dam,- zets! da yidl di dam, - zets! da yidl di dam, - z e t s ! ! ! iz moyshe khayim ongekimen, dem beste kheylik tsugenimen, moyshe khayim, borukh shmil - khapt a kitsl in der shpil, zets! da yidl di dam,- zets! da yidl di dam, - zets! da yidl di dam, - z e t s ! ! ! un dos meydl nebekh blozt zakh i zi vil nit nor zi lozt zakh - - u u u u u u u ! loz zakh meydele, loz zakh! loz zakh vi nit loz zakh! loz zakh meydele, loz zakh! dayn mame hot zikh oykh gelozt. tantst meydlakh hulyet hopet {nem dem lopne nombe shaye}, mazl tov {es rule shoshe, fan dar maydl} khayim yosef, zets! da yidl di dam,- zets! da yidl di dam, - zets! da yidl di dam, - z e t s ! ! ! ay, shtot, shtot, shtot, shtot - ya di khnyabli yadni lubni, khotchet lyubit, khotchet dyevka, ni kopeki, dyengi nyet! zets! da yidl di dam,- zets! da yidl di dam,- zets! da yidl di dam, - z e t s ! ! ! ay, 'siz a mekhaye vos beser ken nit zayn, ay a fargenign iz dokh rumeynish vayn, ay, la, la, la, da, da - ay, la, la, da, da - ay, la, la, la, da, da - ay, la, la, da, da a h ! ! a - a - a - a - ah ! ! ! c h o w ! ! ! hop hop hop hop ha, {shtatn yatn hapn papn, chidl di papn - ha} ho, git tsu kishn iz a moyd ven zi'z alt zekhtsn, ven men kisht an alte moyd, heybt zi on tsu krekhtsn, zets! da yidl di dam,- zets! da yidl di dam,- zets! da yidl di dam, - h a ! ven a bokher trit a meydl meynt zi (az) 'siz a glik, er trit zi mit an "ice cream soda" kvetcht es oys tsurik, zets! da yidl di dam,- zets! da yidl di dam,- zets! da yidl di dam,- h e h ! bashafn hot undz got a velt mit nisim un mit vinder, galetsyaner makhn gelt un litvakes kinder, zets! da yidl di dam,- zets! da yidl di dam,- zets! da yidl di dam, - zets!! ay 'siz a mekhaye vos beser ken nit zayn, ay a fargenign iz nor rumeynish vayn - day - la, la, la, la, - la, day - la, la, la, lar day - la, la, la, la, - lup, la, la, la, la, la, ay! ay! ay! rara!! ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 13.021 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu