Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 07.174 March 18, 1998 1) openers (David Sherman) 2) openers (Harvey Spiro) 3) openers, adar, grayz (Shaya Mitelman) 4) openers (Martin Dworkin) 5) nasality in Yiddish (Wolf Krakowski) 6) Medoe fun rosheshone-numer (Leonard (Yude-Leyb) Prager) 7) Odem a mentch un katchke rik zich (Ben Fogel) 8) mir/mikh (Morrie Feller) 9) vyomer-dovid glitshn (Andrew Cassel) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 12:43:52 -0400 From: "David M. Sherman" Subject: openers / replies to "vos makhstu?" Here's a twist: if I'm cooking or baking in the kitchen, and one of the kids, wanting to know what I'm making, asks "vus makhsti?", my answer is "borekh hashem". They hate it. David Sherman Toronto 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 09:51:26 -0500 From: Harvey Spiro Subject: Openers Another standard response to "vos makhst du" is: "Ikh makh mit di hent." A slight variant on Mel Goldstein's father's response (Mendele 7.165) does not rely on the advanced age of the respondent, but may simply be a statement of relief, or perhaps even frustration: "Keyn kinder makh ikh nisht." Harvey Spiro Vienna, Virginia 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 23:58:51 -0500 From: Serge Mitelman Subject: A.Openers, B.Adar, G.Grayz. Olef. Openers: -Vus ert tsikh? 1. -Me gult tsikh yn me shert tsikh. Yn se vakst nokhamul. 2. -Me zugt a lign yn me shvert tsikh. Beys. Nothing about Uder actually. About Shvot: Khomeshuser biShvot, Ver farkoyft, - der ot! This saying is without any specific sense, I assume - just for the purpose of rhyming. Giml. From the spoken language I know the word grayz ( as 'graz') only in the sense of a written mistake or error, i.e. 'shraybfeler'. Why is that? Shaya Mitelman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Mar 98 17:05:03 CST From: Martin Dworkin Subject: Playful openers A colleague sent me a copy of "playful openers upon meeting a fellow Jew". I wish to add the followig: A friend of mine, when asked by me "Vus makhstu?" replied "Fun a lefl a kritchik". I puzzled over this until I encountered a colleague named Krzyzek (pronounced "kritchik). It is a Polish name and means "cross".So - "Vus makhstu?". "A cross from a spoon." Martin Dworkin 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 14:04:47 -0500 From: "Kame'a Media" Subject: nasality in Yiddish Can any Mendelyaners tell us about "nasality" in Yiddish. What are the origins of the words (twangy) and (nasal). is not found in Weinreich. To me the word sounds like a vernacular onomatopoeic for (nasal). Does anyone claim to know? Is there a relationship between nasal speech and: 1) Regional dialects 2) Working-class or rural speech Zol zahn mit mazl, Wolf Krakowski 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 22:03:30 +0200 From: Leonard Prager Subject: Medoe fun rosheshone-numer Naye shriftn tsum nayem yor: "The Mendele Review" un "Der Bavebter Yid" prezentirn a b|shutfesdikn numer fun naye yidishe shafungen Rosheshone tshn"t / sept 18-20, 1998 Shikt shoyn tsu ayere nisht-gedrukte manuskriptn: lider, ertseylungen, eseyen, zikhroynes. Manuskriptn veln derhaltn vern bizn 1tn yuli. Refoyl Finkel un Sholem Berger, Der Bavebter Yid Leonard (Yude-Leyb) Prager, TMR 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 16:04:19 -0500 From: bfogel@juno.com (Benjamin Fogel) Subject: Odem a mentch un katchke rik zich Sarah Faerman asks if anyone is familiar with "Odem a mentch un katchke rik zich" and "Shoyne chasene gemacht". My parents came from Brezine in Poland, close to Lodz. Quite a distance from her people's biirtplace. Still I was very familiar with both expressions and agree fully with her translations. I want to thank her for reviving these expressions for me which I have not heard in probably 50 years. It has brought back many kind memories. Ben Fogel 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 17:48:46 -1000 From: feller@indirect.com (Morris Feller) Subject: mir/mikh In response to Sam Kweskin (07.171), the verb "answer" is not a transitive verb in the phrase "answer me". The phrase really is "answer to me" with the "to" understood. It, therefore, takes the dative form for "to me" which is "mir". Morrie Feller Phoenix 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 23:11:40 -0500 From: "A.W.Cassel" Subject: vyomer-dovid glitshn I'm extremely grateful to Meyer-Leyb Wolf for his reply to my question regarding vyomer-dovid glitshn, not to mention impressed with his dogged determination and/or memory (depending on whether he actually spent two years researching it, or recalled it after happening on the reference.) As the moderator pointed out, it once again underscores the Mendele khavershaft's remarkable tenacity. All that being said, however, I remain unclear about one thing: just what was the point of "glitshn zikh zitsndik, onshparndik beshas-mayse dem kop af der hant" ? Skating sitting down, resting the head on the hand? I skated quite a lot as a kid, but I'm afraid I still can't see it ... Andrew Cassel ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 07.174 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