Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.068 October 5, 1998 1) Reverse words (Dan Leeson) 2) Palindromes (Victor Bers) 3) Palindromes (Andrew Cassel) 4) Palindromes (Khane-Faygl Turtletaub) 5) Palindromes (Ruben Frankenstein) 6) Palindromes (Feygl Infeld Glezer) 7) loz or zol (Feygl Infeld Glezer) 8) Polindromen (Feygl Infeld Glezer) 9) Palindromes (Mendy Fliegler) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 17:11:50 -0400 (EDT) From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@admin.fhda.edu" Subject: Reverse words Morris Feller asks about words that make sense from right to left as well as from left to right. He asks is there is a special name for this phenomenon. There is an analogous word that describes a similar but not exactly identical thing: PALINDROME. That describes a word that is the same backwards and forwards. Whole sentences exists that read the same backwards as forwards, for example (as attributed to Napoleon): ABLE WAS I ERE I SAW ELBA And I live right down the street from a sign that says: "EVA AVE." The fact that a word from left to right also happens to be a word from right to left is so common in English that no name exists for it. For example "dog" and "god." Are there palindromes in Yiddish? What would the Yiddish word for palindrome be? Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 17:41:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Victor Bers Subject: Palindromes Dan Leeson, responding to a question of Morris Feller's, refers to a similar phenomenon, the palindrome. Leeson then asks "Are there palindromes in Yiddish? What would the Yiddish word for palindrome be?" I don't know any Yiddish palindromes, but can offer a translation of the term into mameloshn. *Palindromos* is a classical Greek word (I should add an *attested* Greek word, not a pedant's neologism) meaning "running backwards." So maybe we should call it a "zurickleyfer." Leeson's example, "Able was I ere I saw Elba" reminds me of what has been called "the longest Jewish palindrome": "*Un*able was I ere I saw Elba. Nu?" Victor Bers 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 21:22:15 -0400 (EDT) From: "A.W.Cassel" Subject: Palindromes Actually, the longest Jewish palindrome I've ever heard, which I suppose must have come from an early Zionist tract, is: Are we not drawn onwards, we Jews, drawn onward to New Era? zayt gezunt Andrew Cassel 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 00:12:46 -0400 (EDT) From: stanley turtletaub Subject: Palindromes Hin un krik zats oder hin un krik vort klingt mir beser. Khane-Faygl Turtletaub 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 06:28:48 -0400 (EDT) From: frankens@uni-freiburg.de Subject: Palindromes A Palindrome, dos hejst a vertl oder a zats vos men leyenen ken ahin un aher, ahin un zurik, hejst af yidish a "hin-un-krik-vertl" (oder zats). Ich wejs a sakh azelkhe verter in semtlichen leshoynes un hob aleyn etlikhe mekhaber geven. Di shejnste zenen ober fun Rashi un fun Abraham Ibn Ezra. Nor in yidish wejs ikh nit kejn Palindrome akhuts "Bobe ze bob" (Grandmother, look, a bean!). Hot nit amol Al Grand dos englishe hin-un-krik-zats geshribn: "Are we not drawn onwards, we Jews, drawn onward to a new era?"? Vu zayt ir ojsgefinerishe Mendelyaner? Strengt aykh on un trakht nokh yidishe "hin-un-krik-vertlakh"! Gmar khsime toyve! Ruben Frankenstein 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 11:39:10 -0400 (EDT) From: yiddish1@juno.com (Feigl I Glaser) Subject: PALINDROMES I would simply refer to palindromes in Yiddish as "PALINDROMEN". In our Yiddish Day School in Poland, we refered to a 'film projector' as "EPIDIASCOP" - also a word from the Greek EPIDIA SCOPE. I believe that the same word was utilized in Polish. "Nu - un" is far from being the longest Yiddish palindrome. I just spent a short time on it and came up with the following list: NEM - MEN, BAYL - LAYB, BOYT - TOYB, BIL - LIB; FOYL - LOYF ,GOR - ROG, MOYZ - ZOYM, KOP - BOK, ZOYL - LOYZ, GROB - BORG, KUSH - SHUK, DER - RED, DEM - MED, DOS - SOD, KEP - PEK, TIFUS - SUFIT, NEYG - GEYN, GROZ - ZORG, DIL - LID, TOG - GOT, TORT - TROT, FISH - SHIF, TSEN - NETS; If you are willing to ignore the sound of Hebrew/Aramaic elements and the traditional spelling (dem traditsyoneln oysleyg and only think about the sound), we could add the following words: ARUM - MOYRE (mem vov reish hey), FIRT - TREYF (tes reish yud fey), SHUK - KUSH, FUS - SOF (samekh vov fey), ROD - DOR (daled vov reish) SHER - RASH (reish ayen shin), FIRT - TREYF (tes reish yud fey). The Yiddish school I attended was named "MEDEM" SHUL (after VLADIMIR MEDEM). The name read and was pronounced the same way from left to right and from right to left. Also, our Hebrew teacher in the ghetto said once: "SUS AHER UN SUS AHIN IZ A FERD". So, I am also providing a small list of such YIDDISH words (I do not know what the linguistic term for such words is): NEMEN, MEM, MUM, NEYN, REDER, RIR, RER, TOYT, TAT, KUK, NUN Ikh halt az onshtot tsu farbrengen di tsayt oyf kritikirn dem fraynd Feller fun phoenix, volt geven shener ven mendlyaner/kes gibn zikh op mit farlengern di oybn-oysgerekhnte listes fun tsurikleyendike verter vos vern genutst in der Yidisher shprakh. Es zaynen do oysdrukn vos griltsn in di oyern, ober "loz" un "zol" zaynen beyde onnembar in klal Yidish. "Lomir lernen Yidish". Let's try to learn, improve and share our knowledge; not critisize the others. I personally, usually use the "zol". Nokhamol a gut gezunt yor! Feygl Infeld Glezer 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 02:37:37 -0400 (EDT) From: yiddish1@juno.com (Feigl I Glaser) Subject: LOZ OR ZOL Ikh hob zikh batrakht az in dem hayntikn oyf der gikh aroysgeshiktn elektronishn briv tsu Mendelyaner/kes hob ikh gemakht a nit-noytike bamerkung. Emes, az ikh volt gevolt az vos mer mentshn zoln redn yidish un me zol zey nit bindn di tsinger; emes az LOZ un ZOL zaynen beyde onnembar in Klal-Yidish; ikh fil ober az mentshn vos zaynen noent mitn fraynd Feller fun Austin hobn yo gehat rekht oyfmerkzam tsu makhn az "zol"[zayn] klingt beser vi "loz" [zayn]. S'IZ A FRAGE FUN FAYNSHMEKERAY. Bet ikh aykh mekhile far may meglekhn baleydikn imetsn fun aykh. Feygl Infeld Glezer 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 00:22:29 -0400 (EDT) From: yiddish1@juno.com (Feigl I Glaser) Subject: POLINDROMEN Khosheve Mendelyaner/kes: Baygeleygt gefint ir a liste fun 78 Polindromen. Its iz tsayt az ir zolt zikh sharfn di kep. 1. AHA -- AHA 2. ARUM -- MOYRE (mem vov reish alef) 3. ASH -- SHA 4. AYKH - KHAY (khes yud)) 5. AYZ - ZAY 6. BAYL - LAYB 7. BER - RED 8. BIL - LIB 9. BIR -- RIB 10. BIZN - ZIBN 11. BOB -- BOB 12. BORG -- GROB 13. BOYT - TOYB 14. BROK - KORB 15. DEM - MED 16. DER - RED 17. DIL - LID 18. DOS - SOD (samekh vov daled) 19. DRUK - KURD 20. ERE -- ERE 21. ETAT - TATE 22. EYN - NEY 23. FALSH - SHLAF 24. FIRT -- TREYF (tes reish yud fey) 25. FISH - SHIF 26. FOYL - LOYF 27. GER (giml reish) - REG 28. GEYN - NEYG 29. GOR - ROG 30. GOT -- TOG 31. GOY -- OYG 32. GROZ - ZORG 33. IM - MI 34. IZ -- ZI 35. KEL - LEK 36. KEP - PEK 37. KHAL - LAKH 38. KHELEM - MELEKH 39. KHUSH - SHUKH 40. KOL - LOK 41. KOP - POK 42. KREM - MERK 43. KUK -- KUK 44. KUSH - SHUK 45. LOM - MOL 46. LOYZ -- ZOYL 47. MARSH - SHRAM 48. MAT - TAM 49. MEDEM - MEDEM (nomen fun a yidishn firer) 50. MEM - MEM (der os) 51. MOYZ - ZOYM 52. MUM-- MUM 53. NAYN - NAYN (numer) 54. NEM - MEN 55. NEMEN -- NEMEN 56. NEYN - NEYN 57. NETS -- TSEN 58. NUN -- NUN 59. OHO -- OHO 60. PUTS - TSUP 61. RADAR -- RADAR 62. RASH - SHAR 63. REDER -- REDER 64. RIR - RIR 65. RER -- RER 66. RETER -- RETER 67. ROD -- DOR (daled vov reish) 68. ROT - TOR 69. ROV - VOR 70. RU - UR 71. RUT - TUR 72. SHIT - TISH 73. TAT -- TAT 74. TIFUS - SUFIT 75. TORT - TROT 76. TOYT -- TOYT 77. TUT -- TUT 78. ZEK - KEZ Feygl Infeld Glezer 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 17:09:58 -0400 (EDT) From: emms2@juno.com (mendy fliegler) Subject: Palindromes In response to Victor Bers 'un' Dan Leeson: S'iz mir take 'ible baym hartzn!' Mendy Fliegler Huts ir ale take a zis Nay Yur..:)) ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.068 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