Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 15.040 January 30, 2006 1) Introduction (Anna Safar) 2) kvetshn (Dina Levias) 3) kadatshke (Helen Winkler) 4) goye (Lillian Garfinkel) 5) Abbreviations (Florette Lynn) 6) New Yiddish Monthly (Eliezer Burko) 7) Polish Jews in Leninogorsk, 1939-1945 (Lynda Kraar) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 12, 2005 Subject: Introduction My name is Anna Safar and I live in Budapest, Hungary. I study English and Psychology at Eotvos Lorand University. This is where I got in touch with Yiddish and set off to study this beautiful language and, indeed, culture. I've been studying Yiddish texts for years now, although only sporadically. I hope Mendele will spur me to spend more time with Yiddish and help me find new resources. Anna Safar 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 9, 2005 Subject: Nokh a mol kvetshn John V. Burke writes: My mother and grandmother, Yiddish-speakers from Shepetovka (Volhynia), used "kvetsh" both to mean "complain" and to mean "squeeze;" the way to tell if a piece of fruit was ripe was to "give it a kvetch." Very briefly, a layman's (laywoman's) comment on Mr. Prager's learned and lengthy dissertation about "kvetshn": I am ready to accept the fact that "kvetshn" with the meaning "to complain" is "Yinglish" and originally not Yiddish; however,the process of semantic "distortion" exists : the French use "une cabale," from the Hebrew "Kabalah", to mean "secret plot," "conspiracy"; in German, "eine Blamage," cognate of "blame" (Eng.) and "bl�me" (Fr.), means "a disgrace, to disgrace oneself." Yiddish is no exception: it has changed the meaning of many words it borrowed from other languages ("shmaykhln" does not mean "to flatter," as it does in German, but "to smile," just as one example.) And languages are not hewn in stone. They are living organisms, and subject to evolution and change. So the usage of "kvetshn" in the sense of "to complain" may now be in the process of being adopted and integrated into Yiddish. As for Mr. Burke's other question: Also a question: is "farzindikn" in "nit tsu farzindikn" ("no complaints") cognate with German "suenden" ("sin") or with German "Sinn" ("sense")? I would answer unequivocally that it's "sinning" that is meant! There is a parallel expression in Russian: when someone asks you "how are you, how are things?" one often hears the answer, "Grekh zhalovat'sa," i.e. "it would be a sin to complain." Dina L�vias 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 12, 2005 Subject: kadatshke Here is a reply I received from Moshe Berlin, who is a klezmer musician in Israel, re: kadatshke. I will forward any additional information to Mendele if I here more about it: "I'll answer your question from my point of view. Also I forward your message to Yaakov Mazor, who is a famous researcher of Jewish music. He produced the research on the klezmer tradition of the land of Israel. The term kadatshke is a new one (probably 10-15 years), and it is used by the Yerushalmer Jews to describe a fusion dance of Hora, Debka, etc. and also solo dances performed by one or two dancers. Maybe it reminds [one of] the Kazazhok dance but only phonetically and [it is] not really Kazazhok. Maybe, when someone wants to dance a Kazazhok, he will ask the band to play a Kadatshke; the confusion is great [since it is not known] what he exactly meant. Therefore, when I am asked to play a Kadatshke, first of all, I will ask which tune do you want me to play." Helen Winkler 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 14, 2005 Subject: goye The feminine of "goy" is "goye." I never heard the word in this email. I learned Yiddish form my parents during my childhood and feel qualified to answer this question. There is a bilingual joke (Yiddish-English) about the nouveau-riche man who wants to collect original art, and asks his dealer for a Goya. Lillian Garfinkel 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 14, 2005 Subject: Abbreviations I know there is someone out there who can help me. I am translating a yizker book and have come across these abbreviations. I can't find them in my Hebrew dictionary or my Yiddish dictionaries. I'm sure they use the quotation mark to connote an abbreviation. 1. from Hamelitz-nun, vov, 243, shin"ayen. 2. after the name Gaon Reb Shmuel Mohlever---shin, hey" somech Florette Lynn 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 14, 2005 Subject: New Yiddish monthly for students - free der forverts geyt aroyslozn a naye tsaytung spetsyel far di vos lernen yidish (af farsheydene madreyges). di dozike tsaytung, vos vet farshpreyt vern bekhinem, vet heysn VAYTER un vet aroysgeyn eynmol in khoydesh af 4 zaytn. farshpreytn di dozike tsaytung veln YIDISH-LERERS. oyb ir zayt a yidish-lerer, zayt azoy gut un shikt undz tsu di tsol talmidim fun ayere klasn mit dem post-adres, vu tsu shikn di ongevizene tsol kopyes. tseteyln tsvishn ayere talmidim vet ir kenen aleyn. lozt andere yidish-lerers oykh visn vegn undzer nayem zhurnal. leizer burko asistent bam hoypt-redaktor funem forverts 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 14, 2005 Subject: Polish Jews in Leninogorsk, 1939-1945 When my mum passed away this past May, she left me an incredible yerushe -- a typed memoir of her experiences during the war years. I am now researching to learn more and would like to create a public work of her memoir. My mother was part of an eastbound transport of Yidn who departed Poland at the end of November, 1939, headed for Leninogorsk. Most of them stayed in that area until May 1945. My mother was from Lodz and was 14 when she left Poland (she travelled with her older brother, but the two split up soon after their arrival. He would die of tuberculosis in Russia two years later). Any and all information about this era, locale, and especially the people who made this journey is greatly appreciated. Email me privately at lyndakraar@aol.com and thanks in advance. Lynda Kraar ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 15.040 Please do not use the "reply" key when writing to Mendele. Instead, choose one of these two: Messages for posting on Mendele Personal and other messages to the shamosim ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 15.0 Please do not use the "reply" key when writing to Mendele. Instead, choose one of these two: Messages for posting on Mendele Personal and other messages to the shamosim