Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 7.007 May 22, 1997 1) More on romanization (Bob Poe) 2) Yiddish literature in romanized form (Klaus Woerle) 3) What's that song? (Lisa Tomlinson) 4) Versions of "Papirosn" (Lisa Tomlinson) 5) Lufmentsh and Menakhem-Mendl (Louis Fridhandler) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 17:27:51 -0400 From: poe@ekbos.com Subject: More on romanization Now that this issue has been reopened again (and addressed by Zellig Bach), I would like to push it just a bit farther. I am not trying to challenge the YIVO system here; I would just like to understand the origins of the system a bit better. The immediate focus here was the suggestion to write "ah", etc., instead of the standard "a". The argument was that this spelling would appear more phonetic to an English-speaking reader, who (without the "h") might mispronounce "shames", for instance, as "sheymz". I agree that this argument should be rejected, on the grounds that English spelling conventions have no bearing on Yiddish. In fact, I doubt that the inventors of the YIVO system even considered this argument. On the other hand, it was once common to insert the "h" in Yiddish Romanizations, on the model of *German* spelling. In fact, the whole apparatus of German spelling conventions has been used for Yiddish, probably on the basis of the close historical origins of these two languages. But here too the practice should be (and was) rejected (along with "sch-" and all the other Germanisms). After all, Yiddish has its own spelling conventions that evolved over centuries in the Hebrew alphabet and are quite independent of German. Nonetheless, the German "h" after a vowel serves a useful purpose: to distinguish long vowels from short. Wasn't it once common, prior to modern spelling reforms, for Yiddish writers to use the Hebrew letter hey in just this way? Now the standard spelling, in both alphabets, is based on the standard pronunciation, which (from what I have read on this list and elsewhere) is somewhat synthetic, but largely based on the NEY (litvish) dialect. Now I am not very familiar with that dialect, but I know that the short-long distinction is quite important in CY (Polish) and SEY (Ukrainian) dialects. So I have always been quite surprised that the standard spelling does not make this distinction. For example, "zun" is spelled the same, whether it's "der zun" or "di zun". So my question is: is the short-long distinction really lost in NEY, as spoken colloquially by native speakers? Or was it simply ignored in the definition of the standard language? And was there controversy over this question at the time? Bob Poe 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 15:34:44 +0200 From: klaus.woerle@klinik.uni-regensburg.de Subject: Yiddish literature in romanized form As a novice to the subject, I would like to know whether there is any Yiddish literature (especially poetry) available in romanized form (Latin characters). Any hint to books or Internet ressources is highly appreciated. Thank you very much for your help! Klaus Woerle 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 02 Apr 1997 10:03:26 -0700 From: ltomlins@direct.ca Subject: What's that song? In the movie "Yidl mitn Fidl" immediately following the wedding scene, there is a scene where the escaping bride performs with the musicians. The words of the song are something like (please forgive all the errors): Oy, hert zikh ayn mayne libe mentshn Oy, hert zikh tsu atsinder, tsu mayn troyrik lidl Fun ale mentshn zog ikh, aza groysen veytik In aza kleyne, kleyne fidl. Does anyone know more about this song? What is its name? Is it a well known folk song or was it written specifically for the movie? If it is original, who are the writers? Our band, Macedonian Mazl-Tov is interested in recording a version of this song and we need to find out as much information about its source as we can. Please help. Many Thanks. Lisa Tomlinson 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 02 Apr 1997 10:09:01 -0700 From: ltomlins@direct.ca Subject: Versions of "Papirosn" We are trying to track down some information about the famous Yiddish song "Papirosn". Apparently the song is based on some Russian folk melody, which one? We think that a famous Yiddish actor, Yablokoff, brought it to America. But then, did he also write the Yiddish lyrics (A kalte nakht...)? Are there alternative Yiddish lyrics to this song? Our search through SOCAN (the Canadian Composers association) shows 4 public domain versions of Papirosn and 2 versions licensed to Yablokoff. Which is which? Can anyone shed light on the history of this song? Many Thanks Lisa Tomlinson 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 12:04:44 -0400 (EDT) From: lfridhan@aol.com Subject: Lufmentsh and Menakhem-Mendl Mechl Asheri (7.005, 1) claims that the name Menakhem-Mendl was not associated with the idea of the luftmentsh. For readers of Sholem Aleichem, since 1892, more so in 1903 until now (but not in 1888), the name Menakhem-Mendl evoked the archetypal luftmentsh. I was obviously talking (7.004, 5) about the world of Yiddish literature (rarely discussed, it seems, these days in Mendele), while (I assume) Mechl Asheri wrote of the world of Lubavitch and other religious movements. I must accept his facts as correct no doubt, but they hardly relate to my subject matter. Incidentally, I suggest to him we owe each other the common courtesy of spelling each others' names correctly. Mine is spelled Fridhandler. Louis Fridhandler ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 7.007