Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 07.161 March 5, 1998 1) More Yiddish linguistics and etymology (A Manaster Ramer) 2) kurve (Edward L. Keenan) 3) kurve (Lance W. Garmer) 4) Strange Kind of Woman (Shaya Mitelman) 5) kurve (Irv Young) 6) kurve (Henry Zalkin) 7) Ode to Joy (Maynard Wishner) 8) openers (Harvey Varga) 9) "fartaytsht un farbesert" (Leonard Prager) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 15:46:03 -0500 (EST) From: manaster@umich.edu Subject: More Yiddish linguistics and etymology A recent Jerusalem Post (2/21 I believe) features a column by Moshe Kohn about the etymologies of the name Yente and the words shlimazl and shlemil. In the discussion he mentions correspondents who referred him to some Hebrew and German etymological dictionaries which are supposed to derive shlemil from the Hebrew she-lo mo'il, and he also a mentions a "Yiddishist" from Petah Tikva who told him that shlimazl comes from the Polish adjective szlamazarny 'careless, negligent'. These proposals, which Mr. Kohn, to his credit, does NOT endorse seem to me to be instructive examples of how NOT to do etymology and their particular failings may be useful to analyze here, because they are quite common in this kind of work. The first principle of a putative etymology must be that it not be based merely on similarities of sounds between the attested word and its proposed source, but rather that the sounds correspond according to the formulae that have been worked out, based on ALL words in the language, for how its sound have evolved. The formulae for the correspondences between Yiddish and (ancient or medieval Hebrew were largely worked out by Birnbaum in the 1920's, with some refinements added by Bin-Nun, Beranek, Weinreich, and perhaps others, and are not (aside from a few small points) controversial (so have the correspondences between Yiddish and medieval German long been known; here the fundamental work was that of Gerzon, Sapir, Bin-Nun, Weinreich, et al.). According to what I understand of these formulae, we would expect shelo mo'il to give something like *shloyml or *shlemoyl (the asterisk is used to indicate a form that does not exist). Since that is NOT what we find in Yiddish, the etymology in question cannot be accepted. Of course, as in any science, we could always find that our formulae are inadequate and have to revise our ideas, so I will not say that this proposed etymology is impossible. Rather, it seems to be inconsistent with our whole understanding of the way Hebrew words come out in Yiddish garb, and unless that whole understanding is shown to be inadequate, we cannot accept the proposal. The operative concept here is that there is no such thing in modern linguistics or philology as an isolated etymology of a single word. Every etymology is a part of a complex theory we have regardingthe whole evolution of the language, and it can only be evaluated as part and parcel of that theory. The idea that shlimazl comes from Polish szlamazarny is also difficult to accept, and this time for even more fundamental reasons. Again, the theory we have of the historical development of any one language (e.g., Yiddish or Polish) does not stand alone; it is part of our theory of how languages evolve in general (for experience has shown that Hopi, Polish, Chinese, Yiddish, and every other language studied in detail to date evolve in the SAME general ways). Based on our understanding of how languages change, it would be unusual for the noun (shlimazl) to occur in the recipient language and for the adjective (szlamazarny) to occur in the donor lg. What I mean is that szlamazarny consists of a root szlamaz- and a sequence of suffixes -ar-n-y, and it would be strange if Yiddish were to extract that root and make it into a noun. But it would be perfectly commonplace for Polish to borrow a Yiddish noun and stick its suffixes on to that. In addition, if the Polish form were the source, it should have an etymology in Polish, but I am not aware of a good etymology for it. Finally, there is a little detail. In Polish the word in question is pronounced by some (e.g., by me-- I happen to be a native speaker of Polish) not with the sound written sz but with the one written s' (s-acute). Now, Polish has two different shibilants neither of which is the same as a Yiddish or English sh. In fact, a Yiddish or English sh sounds to a Polish ear as something in between our sz and s' (and I think the precise acoustic and physio- logical descriptions of these sounds would bear our that there is an objective basis for this feeling), so that it makes sense for Yiddish word with sh to beborrowed into Polish with both sz and s'. In addition, it is a frequently observed fact that in many languages words of foreign origin exhibit variations in sound which native words do not (I do not know who first discovered this, I think I learned of this from the writings of the Czech linguist Mathesius), so the mere fact of such variation in the Polish word would immediately suggest that it might be of foreign origin. In sum, given the lack of a Polish etymology (unless the Polish linguists know something; I am not able to check any Polish etymological works at present), the variation between the sz and the s', AND the fact that Polish has this word only inthe form of an adjective with a bunch of suffixes while Yiddish has it in the basic noun form, all this would indicate that in all likelihood the direction of the borrowing would be from Yiddish into Polish. When we add to this the fact that shlimazl is found in Yiddish dialects of Western Europe (which as a rule have no borrowings from Polish whatsoever), the case becomes pretty much closed. I would argue that it is the emphasis on every etymology being part of the overall theory of the evolution of the language in question, which in turn has to be part of our overall theory of the evolution of ALL languages, that distinguishes the modern "scientific" approach to language (dating to the early or mid-19th cent.) as opposed to the older approach, which goes bacl at least to Plato and which prevailed in European scholarship through the beginning of the 19th cent. and then very quickly receded into the background BUT which continues to be the prevalent, maybe the SOLE, way of thinking about language which is taught to the public at large. This antiquated approach of course is the one where every word and every language is treated individually, atomistically, without any constraints or rules save those of the author's individual imagination for what sounds alike or what meanings seem related to what other meanings. I do not know, nor have I ever seen any study on this, why the breakthroughs of the early 19th century scholars of language have never become part of elementary curriculums in the Western world and why instead we still allow almost everybody to be taught the earlier, atomistic, view of language. But the evidence against the older and for the newer approach is overwhelming, and in academic circles there has not been any dispute over it for over 100 years, except that during Stalin's reign, for a time, modern linguistics was banned in Russia and a philologist named Marr was allowed to create a "New Science of Language", which actually in all but name represented a particularly crazy form of something much like what Plato may have believed. Yididsh is actually a wonderful example of how the one approach fails and how the other works, and it is to be hoped that more lovers of Yiddish will treat its history as more than a collection of anecdotes, and recognize the achievements of the relatively few scholars who laid the foundation for our understanding (still very partial, I might add, and in need of more work) of where Yiddish comes and how it got here from there. A Manaster Ramer PS. I keep citing Plato (spec. his Cratylus), but I believe that some specialists suspect he was not really endorsing the incorrect etymologies given there but rather trying to make fun of them. If so, he would have been a millennium and a half ahead of his time, for the fact is that the atomistic approach to etymology and to language generally prevailed into the early 19th cent. 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 14:39:26 -0500 (EST) From: keenan@fas.harvard.edu Subject: kurve Presence in all Slavic languages, and plausible etymology within Slavic, lead one to think that some one or combination of them must be the source of both Yiddish and Hungarian words. Etymologies: Vasmer favors *kur ("chicken, rooster") > kury >kur"ve; Preobrazhenskii *hure (whore)." V. seems to have the better case. Edward L. Keenan Cambridge, MA 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 15:24:35 EST From: LWG34 Subject: "Kurve" If "kurve" is from Hungarian, then that is quite a coincidence, as the word in Polish is an established (and extremely offensive) one. In Polish, it is spelled "kurwa," and does indeed mean "whore" or "slut," although the word "dziwka" (also very strong) is much more common used when referring to such women. "Kurwa," on the other hand, has become a general, all-purpose shock word in Polish, being more or less equivalent to the "f word" in English. Lance W. Garmer 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 19:58:29 -0500 From: Serge Mitelman Subject: "Strange Kind of Woman". It's not true that kurve cannot be found in dictionaries. Here are but two examples off-hands: 1) Complete Yiddish-Hebrew Dictionary, AKA - Fuler Yidish-Hebreisher Verterbukh fun M.Tsanin, H.Leyvik-farlag, 1982, reads: "kurve (s) - zona, yatsamit; kurvish - shel zona, shel yatsamit"; 2) Thesaurus of the Yiddish Language, or Der Oytser fun der Yidisher Shprakh fun N.Stuchkoff, YIVO, 1950, p.692 (among other entries): "kurve, kurvenik, kurevnik, and a kurve iz a ganef". It is slowly percolating onto the literary pages as well, see for example Kobi Veytsner's "Dire Gelt" (Di Pen, N.21, April 1996), - not without criticism, though (see Lilke Meizner, Di Pen, N.27, Oktober 1996). This word might have some Yiddish connotations in the Romanian language, but not so in its Moldavian dialect, - where " kurva" is the only slang word to reflect the meaning. In Russian is it used figuratively even more than literally (e.g.: "skurvit'sya"(a verb) - to become corrupt). I find another word to refer to this strange kind of woman even more intriguing, namely: khune, khune-beyle, and the local expression - khune-beyle de la yash (i.e. "fin Yos" in Moldavian). It has been even more commonplace on the Bessarabian streets and in our scattered "diaspora" now, and can also be found in Stuchkoff's. The fact that it is onomastic leads me to believe that it might stem from some sort of folklore. To illustrate this I will render the following punning anecdote (only between us, di mendelyaner, of course, because the topic is taboo!): Se geyen tsvey shvester, yn bageygenen a ingermon. Freygt er di eyne: -Ir zent, dakht tsekh, Khunes tokhter? Entfert di tsveyte: -Take yo. Mir zenen beyde khunes! Can anybody clarify the issue as to where this latter word comes from? Shaya Mitelman. 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 23:40:37 EST From: YOU 2 IG Subject: "kurve" I can't contribute anything sensible to the quest for the derivation of the word "kurve". However it does provoke nostalgia in recollection of the mirth generated on some seemingly interminable car trips when the double entendre of road signs such as SLOW CURVE & DANGEROUS CURVE was seized upon for humorous (?) exploitation. Just another example of the saturation of our lives by Yiddish tam albeit sometimes on the bawdy side. Hoping this is not too devoid of tam -- geyt gesuntehaid. Irv Young Isles of Capri, FL 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 04 Mar 1998 18:08:02 +0000 From: Henry Zalkin Subject: Kurve The word is the same not only in Hungarian, but also in all Slavic languages (well, it is very rare in Russian) as well as some Finnish dialects. Leo Rosten's _The Joys of Yiddish_ suggests it might be of Hebrew origin, but I dare to doubt this. After all, the English word _whore_ is of the very same root. Henry Zalkin 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 20:43:34 -0500 From: mwishner@jon.cjfny.org Subject: Ode to Joy There (is) another verse to the Ode to Joy recalled by Deenah Mersky [07.159] Oikh ain gott hot zai bashafen. Un ain Fotterland di velt. Aleh mentshen zainen brider Dos iz shoin fest aingeshtelt Maynard Wishner 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 02:49:26 EST From: Varga96 Subject: openers I remember growing up in Brooklyn in the 50's that when my father used to bump into some one he knew, when asked "vus hert zich", his response was a playful "me gult zich un me shert zich" or maybe "fun oyvn mult zich, fu hintn shit zich". I remember that there were more of these responses that he and many of his friends used. They tended to establish the level of humor or seriousness the coming interaction would have. Do any of you out there use these, or remember what they are? Please post. I also have noticed that only men tend to answer this way; that possibly some of these were too coarse to be used by women. Efsher s'zennen etleche vos vern genitzt nor by froyen. Not being of that ilk I don't have first hand knowledge. My father was a very playful and gregarious man and it might be that this is something more in keeping with a character type than any other factor. Comments anyone? Harvey Varga 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 04 Mar 1998 11:45:48 +0200 From: Leonard Prager Subject: "fartaytsht un farbesert" A few days ago I received the following email letter from an old friend, Benny Dorfman (whom some of you may know from his and his wife, Rivka's, writings on East European synagogues) and I want to share my reply with Mendelyaner. I also want the help of Mendelyaner in putting this hoary matter to rest. It should not prove as testy as, say, the etymology of _tsholnt_. Hi, L.: I know the expression "fartaytsht un farbesert" is occasionally used on the flyleaf of books translated into Yiddish, but I wonder if you could tell me how the phrase got to be there. Is it likely that translators frequently made real contributions to the content of the books they translated? Regards, Ben-Zion -------------- Dear Benny: I am assuming you are not being facetious. I will be sober, hopefully not forbiddingly so. The phrase "fartaytsht un farbesert" is supposed to have appeared on the title page of a translation of one or more of Shakespeare's plays into Yiddish or on billboards advertizing the production of Shakespeare plays in Yiddish. The story is repeated as a joke at the expense of the Yiddish publisher or producer who out of sheer ignorance and perhaps a modicum of bravado could claim to have "improved" Shakespeare. But the entire tale may be apocryphal or if true may have another meaning. I have to confess that I don't recall actually having seen a translation with that title page phrase. Have you? Has anyone? Perhaps as a recoil from the hoary joke you have asked me to comment on, I repressed the memory of having seen it -- years ago I looked at most of the published editions of Shakespeare in Yiddish. A publisher could have quite mechanically put the phrase on translated works or it could simply mean that an earlier translation has been "farbesert" in the sense of 'corrected'. It is not absolutely clear that what is meant is that the Shakespearean work has been improved; the intent could simply be that the text of that work has been corrected (of printing errors, etc.). Or, if the phrase appeared as part of the promotion of a stage version, the implication is that the stage version has been improved -- a legitimate claim for a producer to make, since all actual productions of Shakespeare make alterations in the received or disputed text. Even in Shakespeare's time, "bad" quartos of plays were sometimes followed by "good" ones. But if that is all that is meant by "farbesert," it would of course not be funny and it would not able one to laugh at the Yiddish primitives who perpetrated the expression. It is true that the earliest translations and theatrical scripts of Shakespeare's works in Yiddish were horrendous, the products of untrained individuals working under impossible conditions and serving a largely uneducated audience. On one occasion following the playing of _Hamlet_ the audience is reported to have applauded vigorously and to have called for the author. This story is almost certainly true and I have always taken it to be a tribute to the audience rather than a joke at their expense. And while there may be some truth to the "fartaytsht un farbesert" story I always winced when I heard it. The anecdote has frequently masked a stereotypic view of Yiddish culture and a condescending attitude towards an unschooled immigrant generation. I think it would be a good idea if I put your question and my answer into _Mendele_ just to see what other readers and some librarians with immediate access to Yiddish translations of Shakespeare think of this matter. Where in print does the phrase "fartaytsht un farbesert" exist on title pages/theater posters? It should be possible to establish the facts. _Mendele_ exists to settle such questions. It is the "shayles tshuves" of matters Yiddish on the internet. Yours, L. Benny has since assured me that he was not being in the least facetious and looks forward to the discussion in _Mendele_. He also adds: "It's interesting that you ascribe the _fartaytsht_ exclusively to translations of Shakespeare. I would have thought it could apply to almost any work. In any event, one might have expected that in the interest of clarity and avoidance of ambiguity, that the flyleaf could have announced: _A farbeserte fartaytshung_." Leonard Prager ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 07.161 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu Mendele on the Web: http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html