Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 18.009 September 9, 2008 1) Chava Rosenfarb's honorary degree (Goldie Morgentaler) 2) tsebalevet/Russicisms in Yiddish (Jack Berger) 3) mishebeyrekh in Yiddish (Larry Rosenwald) 4) Translation help sought (Myriam Bryks-Fuchs) 5) kapore (Stephen Stern) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: August 24, 2008 Subject: Chava Rosenfarb's honorary degree I thought Mendelyaner might be interested to know that a video of Chava Rosenfarb's 2006 honorary degree address to the graduates of the University of Lethbridge has been posted on the web. Rosenfarb talks about being the first Yiddish writer to have received an honorary degree from a Canadian university. In the middle section of the address she talks about Yiddish. The video is about 10 minutes long. The link is: http://media.uleth.ca/crdc/convocation_spring_2006/c1/address_rosenfarb.mov>http:// media.uleth.ca/crdc/convocation_spring_2006/c1/address_rosenfarb.mov Goldie Morgentaler 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: August 24, 2008 Subject: tsebalevet/Russicisms in Yiddish [Moderator's note: Jack Berger writes in response to Paul Glasser's assertion in Mendele vol. 18.008 that "Since there are relatively few Yiddish borrowings of long standing from Russian, it is more likely that the etymon is Ukrainian "baluvaty."] When I discovered the degree to which my Yiddish (learned from Byelorussian grandparents) was pervaded with Slavisms, I took the time to go through my Russian slovar to look for them. My list runs to about three hundred items. One of my favorites is my grandfather's question to me when he would come home from Maariv and find me hunched over my homework. He would ask: Nu, Yankl, host du gekontshet dayne zadatshes? Jack Berger 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: August 24, 2008 Subject: mishebeyrekh in Yiddish I was wondering whether anyone could point me to a Yiddish version of the mishebeyrekh prayer, not the one for the sick but the one used for honoring someone. I'm not sure this exists, but if it did, and someone could point me to it, I'd be most grateful! A hartsikn dank, Larry Rosenwald 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: September 2, 2008 Subject: translation help sought I am translating my papa's (Rachmil Bryks) z'l last book, "Di vos zaynen nisht geblibn" and I cannot find definitions for a these few words in any dictionaries. They might also be Polish words. Maybe someone could help me out and I am thanking you in advance der tish iz geven TSUNOYFGEPOGEVET un TSUNOYFGELAMT. a puternize (butterdish or plate) mit margarin in a SHLEDZHIK (herring?) vos iz gelign a gemachter OYLIK (is it a shmaltz herring cut into small pieces?) ikh hob opgekoyft a GROVIN mit shtol, hinter VLIZHIN (VEYZ LAMID YUD ZAYIN SHIN YUD ENDE NUN) ikh vel dos oysgrobn un farkoyfn oyfn kilo in di STALOVNIES Hot Reb Mendl gehat a groyse lanke mit a loyfndikn shmol taykh. Az a yid fun shtetl hot gemakht a simkhe, hot men dortn gekhapt fish un oykh fun de SATSZEVKES (orchards?) fun Reb Mendels ZEMENTOVIA (does it mean cement factory?) un OYKH a feld a hoyz oyfn POSADYE. It means "foundation" but were houses built without foundations in the 1930's? Myriam Bryks-Fuchs 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: September 3 Subject: kapore (Stephen Stern) My question relates to the possible use of the word kapore (kapparah) by Holocaust survivors whose children were killed but who had additional children after the war. My parents lost two children and then gave birth to me and my sister after the war. I recall that my parents called us "their kapparah," meaning their redemption. However, I realize that this usage is unconventional because kapparah implies sacrifice, which my sister and I were not in the literal sense (the symbolic truth, is, of course much different.) I have sked others about my memory of having been called a kapparah but have been unable to receive any confirmation. Now, I am wondering if I imagined being called that. Is there anyone who can help verify or disconfirm what I thought I had heard? Thanks for your help. Stephen Stern ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 18.009 Please do not use the "reply" key when writing to Mendele. Instead, write directly to the person or organization posting the material. Material for Mendele Personal Notices & Announcements, i.e. announcements of events, commercial publications, etc., always in plain text (no HTML or the like) to: victor.bers at yale.edu (in the subject line write Mendele Personal) Material for postings to Mendele Yiddish literature and language, i.e. inquiries and comments of a non-commercial or publicity nature: mendele at mailman.yale.edu IMPORTANT: Please include your full name as you would like it to appear in your posting. No posting will appear without its author's name. In order to spare time and effort, the shamosim request that contributors adhere, when applicable, as closely as possible to standard English punctuation, grammar, etc. and to the YIVO rules of transliteration into the Roman alphabet. All other messages to the shamosim: mendele at mailman.yale.edu Mendele on the web: http://shakti.trincoll.edu/~mendele/index.htm To join or leave the list: http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/mendele