Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 16.015 December 1, 2006 1) shvarkes (Dimitri Ponomarenko) 2) shvarkes (Lyuba Dukker) 3) shvarkes (Abraham Melezin) 4) nant (Leyzer Gillig) 5) nant, poplinkes, and valakhes (Jack Berger) 6) nant, poplinkes, and valakhes (Lyuba Dukker) 7) nant, poplinkes, and valakhes (Hugh Denman) 8) "Di frosh" (Martin Baker) 9) Yizker-bikher translations (Jack Berger) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 15, 2006 Subject: shvarkes shkvarki in Russian means cracklings. Dmitri Ponomarenko 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 15, 2006 Subject: shvarkes I have heard similar expressions used sarcastically. For instance, when a child wouldn't eat his regular meal, mother would say: "nu, to vos vilstu, martsipanes? Bald vel ikh dir makhn taybelekh mit shkvarkes! Es, zog ikh dir!" Shkvarkes is the same as gribenes. There are many similar recipes. Regards, Lyuba Dukker 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 15, 2006 Subject: shvarkes Concerning the inquiry about "shvarkes": first, the word is shkvarkes. It refers to fat goose skin fried to crispiness, a delicatessen side dish (with a lot of calories and cholesterol) to meat dishes. Shkvarkes comes from Russian shkvarki. In New York, on the Lower East Side, a maven translated it as cracklings. Abraham Melezin 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 15, 2006 Subject: nant I think that might be what is called "nunt" (or almost "nu-int")in Tsentral-yidish, which is a kind of candy made of honey and nuts. In Yiddish, it would be spelled nun komets-alef nun tes. (Hence the questioner's having spelled it "nant"). A recipe for this confection can be found at http://www.recipezaar.com/109332, although I recall it having been made with coarsely chopped, rather than finely chopped walnuts. I only had it once or twice, at the home of some Bobover khsidim. I remember the host remarking as a play on words that "nunt" symbolizes that we are "closer" to God on Purim. Nunt (nont in Standard Yiddish) means "close." Leyzer Gillig 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 15, 2006 Subject: nant and other foods Concerning Bob Rothstein's inquiries about foods on behalf of Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska: 1. valakhes (berries - perhaps blueberries or wild cranberries) I haven't seen this, but I wonder if it has anything to do with a preparation that might have been rolled. 2. nant (an item in the basket next to chickpeas and pumpkin seeds) I bring to mind hearing the sound "nahit" with reference to chickpeas. 3. poplinkes (children taking freshly baked ones to kheyder). I have seen this before in the same context, but do not know its origin. I took it to mean some sort of a baked confection that the children could eat as a snack, maybe something akin to an Italian "zeppole." Jack Berger 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 16, 2006 Subject: nant, poplinkes and valakhes My guess would be that poplinkes are kind of bread, plural for poplinik (paplonik); and valakhes must be voloshkes, the cornflowers. Nant doesn't ring a bell. Regards, Lyuba Dukker 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 26, 2006 Subject: nant, poplinkes and valakhes Concerning Bob Rothstein's query (on behalf of Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska)[16.014:6], I'm afraid to say that I'm equally stumped by "valakhes" and "poplinkes." However, for "nant" a solution is readily to be found in Yitskhok Niborski's Dictionnaire Yiddish-Francais (2002) where "nont" is recorded as a variant of "nontl," whose meaning is given as "confiserie base de miel avec des noix ou des graines de pavot" which fits the context admirably. I might add that no serious Yiddishist can afford to be without this invaluable work when seeking recondite Yiddish lexical items. With its 37,000 lemmata, it is by far the most comprehensive Yiddish dictionary in existence so far. Of course, the absence of "valakhes" and "poplinkes" is evidence (as if it were needed!) that something even more exhaustive is still required. Fortunately, it is rumored that Simon Neuberg, who collaborated with Niborski on the DY-F, is at work on a Jiddisch-Deutsches Woerterbuch that promises to be yet larger. Hugh Denman 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 15, 2006 Subject: "Di frosh" Mit a por vokhn tsurik, hob ikh hob gekoyft Paula Teitelbaum's CD, "Di grine katshke." S'iz oysergeveyntlekh. Yedn tog (un nakht) bet mayn zunele "daddy, zing a lidl. Di frosh. Di frosh. Di frooooosshhh!" Ot iz mayn zorg: 'khob shoyn farloren di CD un oykh dos bukh, un ikh gedenk nisht mer fun di ershte verter vi "geven iz a frosh in a grin samet kleyd, kvaa kvaa....". Ikh volt geven zeyer freylekh tsu kenen di verter funem gantsn lid. Anisht vel ikh vern meshuge! A sheynem (un shoyn halb-meshuge) dank, Martin Baker 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 15, 2006 Subject: yizker-bikher translations [Moderator: regarding Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska's translations of two Bilgoraj yizker-bikher.] Folks, It is a singular delight to see that a scholar has, perhaps indirectly, received some support to undertake a translation of Yizker books into English. Long time readers will know of my avowed concern that the precious history found in this substantial archive (1273 total volumes, of which 432 are in Yiddish) not be consigned to oblivion behind a language barrier, as facility with Yiddish continues to fade among the general Jewish populace. Accordingly, it is -- to me -- of paramount importance, to learn how this specific task was accomplished, and whether some general lesson can be learned about how to propagate this experience into a more broadly based initiative. It also strikes me that we need a clearing house for such undertakings. Having completed six of these translations myself, to date, I am now deep into my seventh, which is Tomaszow-Lubelski. I note that Bilgoraj is on my "punch list," but a lesser priority. It would have been a shame to squander the limited talent that could be applied to this task, if a needless duplication of effort had taken place simply out of an ignorance of one another's activities. Can someone who knows about this instance brief the readership? Regards, Jack Berger ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 16.015