Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 7.035 July 4, 1997 1) Poetry in newspapers (Itsik Goldenberg) 2) a query about two possibly Yiddish phrases (Larry Rosenwald) 3) Yiddish translation of Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience' (Larry Rosenwald) 4) Weinreichs' phrasebook (bob berk) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 3 Jul 1997 10:03:05 -0400 From: "Robert Goldenberg" Subject: Poetry in newspapers In Mendele 7.030(4), Alvin Greenberg laments the days "when newspapers published poetry." In every other issue of Der Forverts, Chana and Yosl Mlotek write a 2-page column in the centrefold called PERL FUN DER YIDISHER POEZYE. Besides selections from the classic Yiddish poets, past and present, they provide interesting historical and biographical material about the poets. This column has been a regular feature of Der Forverts for well over 20 years. For this column alone it is worth subscribing to Der Forverts ( which all Mendelyaner who can read Yiddish should do in any case). From time to time, poetry appears on other pages of Der Forverts as well. So, we need not lament the passing of those times. We still have them, if we read the right newspapers. Itsik Goldenberg 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 03 Jul 1997 14:37:03 -0500 (EST) From: Larry Rosenwald Subject: a query about two possibly Yiddish phrases I'm trying to figure out both the Yiddish equivalents of these two phrases, and also whether they're stock phrases. The first was told to me by a friend in New York, about 30 years ago. He had grown up speaking or at any rate hearing Yiddish, and he said, "well, as they say in Yiddish, where does it say in the Torah that what it says in the Torah is true?" Is that a proverbial phrase, or was he making it up to shock me? The second turns up a lot in Anzia Yezierska's _Bread-Givers_; the heroine, Sara Smolinsky, is always saying, "I want to be a person among people." Again, is that proverbial? Thanks in advance - Larry Rosenwald 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 03 Jul 1997 14:40:58 -0500 (EST) From: Larry Rosenwald Subject: Yiddish translation of Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience' I'm writing an essay about Thoreau's famous essay "Civil Disobedience," and wondered whether that essay had been translated into Yiddish, and if so whether someone could help me to find a copy. This is not an altogether casual request, though I don't think you should drop pressing work to help me; the essay I'm writing is partly about the influence of the essay, and a translation into Yiddish would say something about that influence. Furthermore, I've often found that reading a work you know well in one language in a translation into another language gives you a fresh look at the text, and I'd be interested in seeing how a Yiddish translator rendered Thoreau's sentences and terms. Thanks so much, Larry Rosenwald 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 3 Jul 1997 14:38:17 -0400 From: rci@rci.rutgers.edu Subject: Weinreichs' phrasebook Coincidently, shortly before the brouhaha regarding this phrasebook started (with Al Grand's posting about Michael Chabon's review of same), I had spent an hour or so casually rereading parts of that same book (nevermind why). It struck me then that the book is a nice source of some reasonably idiomatic Yiddish phrases (with English translations, of course) and also a small repository of useful day-to-day words, such as various kinds of foods, (and `ferry' notwithstanding). I think someone wishing to improve their Yiddish could do worse than take a look at this book. bob berk piscataway nj ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 7.035 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) Send articles to: mendele@lists.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listproc@lists.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele mail postpone b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail ack c. To subscribe: sub mendele first_name last_name d. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele Other business: victor.bers@yale.edu Victor Bers iiv@mmlds1.pha.unc.edu Iosif Vaisman nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu Noyekh Miller ****Getting back issues**** 1. Anonymous ftp archives are available. ftp ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files A table of contents is also available, along with weekly updates. 2. Mendele archives can also be reached as follows: via WWW: http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mewais.html (with search interface) in Eastern Hemisphere http://sunsite.sut.ac.jp/arch/academic/languages/yiddish/mendele via ftp: ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/academic/languages/yiddish/mendele