Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 17.018 March 5, 2008 1) farkratet/a shit mit 'brokhes' (Martin Jacobs) 2) Rosetta Stone in Yiddish? (Harold Goodman) 3) bartyarn (Hugh Denman) 4) bartyarn (Bob Rothstein) 5) Yiddish names for plants (Refoyl Finkel) 6) Yiddish names for plants (Rukhl Schaechter) 7) Spelling in gravestones (Rukhl Schaechter) 8) plant and remedy names/spelling on gravestone (Hershl Glasser) 9) "Yidvokans" (Paula Eisenstein Baker) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 15, 2008 Subject: farkratet/a shit mit 'brokhes' Can anyone tell me the meaning of farkratet (or, farkrotet - the aleph in my text is lacking a vowel point)? It occurs in a description of the jail in the town of Goworowo in northeast Poland: "Dos iz geven aza min gebeyde fun holts mit a farkratet fensterl, vos dort hot men arayngezetst a fardekhtikn in a farbrekh, oder far epes a shtrof." In the description of an elderly man in the Polish town of Goworowo who was once energetic and who could still manage even now to dominate people, there occurs the idiom "a 'shit' mit 'brokhes'." Can anyone explain what it means? Context: er hot nokh gekont gebn a "shit" mit "brokhes", az men zol nisht visn vu a tir efnt zikh. Martin Jacobs 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 15, 2008 Subject: Rosetta Stone in Yiddish? A previous post suggested that Rosetta Stone, one of the wealthiest provider of language courses, would only do a Yiddish language edition if some organization sponsored the project and checked the translations. This expense is the responsibility of the publisher. If they suggested this, they are asking you to cover the expenses for the book. RS uses the identical template for all of its languages. The exact same cookie-cutter form for French is used for Hebrew and Chinese. Ironically, the Chinese edition never mentions tones without which one cannot be understood in Chinese. I wouldn't pick RS if I wanted to teach Yiddish. Harold Goodman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 16, 2008 Subject: bartyarn The word about which Viola Hoell is inquiring [17.017.8] is simply a Yiddishized adaptation of the Polish word 'batiar'/ 'baciar' meaning 'street-urchin.' Hugh Denman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 16, 2008 Subject: bartyarn In 17.017 Viola Hoell asked about the term "bartyarn" that occurs in a 1939 film about Jewish life in Lwow. The term should probably be "batyarn," from Lwow Polish "batiar" - "street urchin," "gamin," often with a very positive emotional coloring as "citizen of the streets." It could also be used negatively in the sense of "wise-guy" or "hooligan." It comes from Hungarian "betyar" - "tramp," "vagabond," "vagrant." Bob Rothstein 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 16, 2008 Subject: Yiddish names for plants According to Mordkhe Shekhter's book, Horn poppy = ho'rnmon Gold poppy = mo'nrendl Poppy = mon California poppy = kalifo'rnyer mo'nrendl Asia poppy = reme'rye Corn flower = bloko'rn-shve'sterl Coltsfoot = po'dbyal Box elder = amerika'ner klyon Elder = boz, buzi'ne Refoyl Finkel 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 18, 2008 Subject: Yiddish names for plants The best place to consult Yiddish terms for plants is the book written by my father, Mordkhe Schaechter, called "Plant Names In Yiddish: A Handbook of Botanical Terminology" (in paperback). You can order it from www.leagueforyiddish.org/publications. As for the "refue" for parkh, I know someone who knows a good deal about Jewish folk remedies. You can email me at rukhls@gmail.com to get his contact info. Kol tuv, Rukhl Schaechter 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 18, 2008 Subject: Spelling on gravestones Yosl is a Yiddish name and that's why it's spelled in Yiddish, as are the names Gitl and Feyge. But Avrum is a Hebrew name and needs to be spelled in Hebrew, even though it has a Yiddish pronunciation. Rukhl Schaechter 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 19, 2008 Subject: plant and remedy names/spelling on gravestone 1) According to Mordkhe Schaechter's "Di geviksn-velt in yidish" (YIVO, 2005), cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) is "(blo) korn-shvesterl" and coltsfoot (Tussilago) is "podbyal"; common coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) is "muter-shtifmuter." There is no listing for yellow poppies, but poppy (Papaver) is, of course, "mon" and Asia poppy (Roemeria) is "remerye"; there is no listing for horse elder, but elder (Sambucus) is "buzine" or "boz." 2) I'm sure the spelling of "Avrum" would have been loshn-koydesh, since that spelling is pronounced /avrum/ in Yiddish - no need to transcribe it phonetically. "Yosl," having a different morphological structure from its loshn-koydesh, cannot be spelled the same way as "Yoysef," so the two examples given are not quite analogous. Paul (Hershl) Glasser 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 4, 2008 Subject: "Yidvokans" The Soviet-period choral group "Evokans" (Jewish vocal ensemble) was known in Yiddish as "Yidvokans." But what was its full name in Yiddish? Was it "yidisher vokal-ansambl"? "Yidisher vokalisher ansambl"? Something else? Can someone provide it? Thanks! Private replies to will be fastest, I think. Paula Eisenstein Baker ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 17.018 Please do not use the "reply" key when writing to Mendele. Instead, choose one of these, as appropriate: Material for postings to Mendele Yiddish literature and language: mendele@lists.yale.edu Material for Mendele Personal Notices & Announcements: victor.bers@yale.edu (in the subject line write Mendele Personal) Other messages to the shamosim: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu To signoff from the list, email to listproc@lists.yale.edu with the following request: signoff MENDELE or unsubscribe MENDELE Mendele on the web: http://shakti.trincoll.edu/~mendele/index.htm