Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 15.013
June 27 , 2005

1) parkh (Felicitas Payk)
2) orkheporke (Lucas Bruyn)
3) orkheporke (Lyuba Dukker)
4) orkhporkhe (Perets Mett)
5) Cat's pajamas (Hershl Hartman)
6) Haynt (Bob Becker)
7) Hansel un Gretel (Shloyme-Khayim Cohen)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 21, 2005
Subject: Re: parkh

Regarding Zachary Baker's posting in Mendele (Vol. 15.011): It was
interesting to read that first a reference was made to the "parkhes" who
were "chased to Egypt", whereas in the Yiddish text this changed to
"parkhim". Have these plural suffixes been used  interchangeably in this
case, or does "parkhes" refer to the infection itself, and "parkhim" to
those being infected by it? I would be appreciative of any elucidation on
that matter. That's what comes out of learning Yiddish before learning
Hebrew.;-)

Felicitas Payk
Hannover, Germany

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 12, 2005
Subject: Re: orkheporke

I want to thank Amitai Halevi for bringing clarity in the orkheporke issue,
giving a quote from the Talmud and relating the second part to the root
prkh -  fly, run.. Several contributors to the discussion explainened porke
as coming from the root prkh - to flower. Looking things up in a dictionary
does not always tell you what choices to make.

Lucas Bruyn

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 22, 2005
Subject: Re: orkheporkhe (yet again)

In Russian the rootless wanderers are called "perekati pole", or tumbleweed
as it is known in America: inflorescents form a shape of resilient strong
lattice spheres, which allow the plant to snap off easily in heavy wind and
roll over many kilometers in the desert, disseminating seeds. Couldn't the
ancient Hebrew-Aramaic source, from which orkhe orkhe derives, mean
exactly that, literally wandering flower, tumbleweed, perekati pole?

Lyuba Dukker


4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 22, 2005
Subject: Re: orkheporkhe

Amitai Halevi writes [Mendele 15.012]:

I imagine that it was adopted directly from the Talmud, which Orthodox
Ashkenazi Jews used to study in Yiddish and - as far as I know - still
do.

אוודאי לערנט מען נאך גמרא אויף יידיש!

עמיצער האט שוין באמערקט אז "ארחי פרחי"
נעמט זיך פון דער גמרא כתובות. דארט
ערקלערט רש"י אז ארחי זענען די אורחים וואס
בלייבן אויף א וואך אדער א חודש, און פרחי
זענען מענטשן וואס דארפן איבערנעכטיגן
אונטערוועגס.

אגב, איך האב נאר געהערט אויסרעדן "ארחי
פרחי" מיט א פתח-אלף נישט מיט א קמץ-אלף
.(הארקאווי איז אויך מסכים דערצו)

פרץ מעטט

avade lernt men gemore af Yidish!
emitser hot shoyn bamerkt as "orkhey porkhey" nemt zikh fun der gemore
kesuves. dort erklert Rashi as orkhey zenen di oyrkhim vos blaybn oyf a
vokh oder a khoydesh, un porkhey zenen mentshn vos darfn ibernekhtign
untervegs.

agev, ikh hob nor gehert oysredn "orkhey porkhey" mit a pasekh-alef nisht
mit a komets-alef (Harkavy iz oykh maskim dertsu).

Perets Mett

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 22, 2005
Subject: Cat's pajamas

My childhood buddy, Marv Engel (who should send his email address to me
offline) asked for a Yiddish equivalent to "the cat's pajamas," the 1920s
version of "super-cool". I'm sure others will join in, but I'll start with
"dos eybershte fun shteysl" -- lit., the upper portion in the churn; i.e.,
cream.

Hershl Hartman

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 26, 2005
From: "Bob Becker" 
Subject: "Haynt" Project Progress

A few months ago, I wrote to Mendele [14.020] about a project I had
started. I am now suggesting that it would be a good time to revisit
www.haynt.org because of what has happened since then. This website about
Chaim Finkelstien's book, Haynt: a tsaytung bey yidn, 1908-1939, which
contains 31 years of pre-holocaust Jewish-Polish history and was published
only in Yiddish. The translation is over 80% complete and should be
completed in about two - three months.

There is no business connected with this project. It is not for profit and
all translations are in the public domain.

I would love to correspond with people about this project. Who else do  you
know who would be interested in this project?

Bob Becker
Overland Park, Kansas, USA
bobbecker@kc.rr.com

7)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 27, 2005
Subject: "Hansel und Gretel" af Yidish?

A khaverte bay mayn shil volt gevolt visn oyb se gefint zikh a yidishe
iberzetsung fun der opere "Haensel und Gretel" af Yidish.

Oyb yo, vu gefint zikh a kopye?

A dank in foroys.

Shloyme-Khayim Cohen

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End of Mendele Vol. 15.013


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