Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.114 January 23, 1999 1) geographical adjectives (Miki Safadi) 2) hoyler shed (Joseph Sherman) 3) Aharon Appelfeld on Yiddish (Bob Werman) 4) Rozhinkes mit mandln (Veronica Belling) 5) meaning of "plotz" (Barbara Lamm) 6) Der Fremder in Translation (Adam Whiteman) 7) Kop, moyekh, magister (Perl Teitelbaum) 8) Why not have the Forward Show on the Internet? (Stephen Dowling) 9) Yiddish for a complete beginner (Elan Freydenson) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 14:32:10 -0500 (EST) From: michaela safadi Subject: geographical adjectives ikh volt gevolt vissn, vi ir zetst iber: 1) the American man, 2) the American woman, 3) the American land, un 4) the American cities. Mayn frage iz, tsi men boygt geografishe adyektivn? Weinreich un Katz zogn az neyn, ober Shaechters diskusie in Yidish II vayzt az me beygt azeyne adyektivn. Vi azoy tuen di Mendelyaner? I would like to know, how you translate: 1) the American man, 2) the American woman, 3) the American land, and 4) the American cities. My question is, do you inflect geographical adjectives? Weinreich and Katz say no, but Schaechter's discussion in Yiddish II shows that such adjectives are inflected. What do the Mendelyaner do? Miki Safadi 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 12:01:19 -0500 (EST) From: Joseph Sherman Subject: hoyler shed Towards the very end of Bergelson's OPGANG, when Khaym-Moyshe is holding his last imagined conversation with the dead Meylekh, he tells his friend that Meylekh's committing suicide was an act Khaym-Moyshe describes as "hoyler shed" (shin + daled). Can anyone suggest an apt and exact translation for this phrase, one that does NOT carry connotations of "devils" and/or "demons"? Are there any native speakers of Ukrainian Yiddish out there -- or any one else -- to whom this phrase is familiar, and who might advise on its exact meaning? All suggestions will be most welcome, as will all comment on Bergelson's use of this phrase. Joseph Sherman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 02:53:48 -0500 (EST) From: Robert Werman Subject: Aharon Appelfeld on Yiddish As Herman Taube noted, Aharon Appelfeld indeed reads and enjoys Yiddish. His batchelor's degree from the Hebrew University was in Yiddish, under the late, encyclopediac Dov Sadan. Read his appreciate preface to my wife, Golda Werman's, _The Stories of David Bergelson_ [Syracuse University Press] to see that his knowledge of Yiddish is clearly literary. Bob Werman Jerusalem 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 02:46:42 -0500 (EST) From: "Belling, V, Veronica, Mrs" Subject: Rozhinkes mit mandln On rereading Goldfaden's famous song 'Rozhinkes mit mandln', what I find strange is: I have read that the operetta is set in post-biblical Jerusalem and this song is from the operetta. Although the first verse: 'In dem Bes Mikdash in a vinkl heder, zits di almone bas Zion aleyn" has a post-biblical setting, the song goes on to speak of 'Es vet kumen a tsayt fun ayzbanen', which made me think that it is referring to the child's prospects in America, as railroads are a bit advanced for Jerusalem at that time! Although it could just be poetic licence. Therefore I would like to know, is the popular version of the song exactly that from the operetta, or was there an earlier version that was sung in the operetta and the popular version is his American adaptation. If so it would be very important for me to find the original. I am researching a Hebrew poet/playwright from Lvov, who is said to have translated/adapted the song in Hebrew in the 1890's. My poet would have seen the operetta in Lvov in 1890. It is easy for me to recognise his adaptation of the first verse, but the subsequent verses bear no relation to the rest of his poem. Finally the legend that the operetta is based on. Dov Sadan refers to it as 'Huldah and Bor' also as the 'Faithful Witnesses'. I found a legend on Huldah but not in connection with 'bor' which was only listed as a catagory of talmudic tort i.e. 'pit'. As unfortunately I do not have access to Sadan's article on the legend. Could anybody tell me any more about it? Thanks Veronica Belling Cape Town [Moderator's note: for a discussion on imagery in "Rozhinkes mit Mandlen" see Marvin Caplan, "Raisins and almonds" - Goldfaden's glory, in Judaism, Spring 1993, v42, n2, p193-200, quoted in Mendele, vol. 05.084:1. -iosif vaisman] 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 13:35:59 -0500 (EST) From: Barbara Lamm Subject: meaning of "plotz" Can anyone help me with the proper use of the word "plotz"? I have read that it literally means to "explode" but I have seen it used with other meanings, e.g. collapse or die. Is it wrong to say, "I was so tired I could plotz?" Any advice would be most appreciated. Barbara Lamm 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 19:18:05 -0500 (EST) From: PTAW85@aol.com Subject: Der Fremder in Translation Does anyone know of an English, Russian or Hebrew translation of Mani Leyb's Der Fremder ? Adam Whiteman 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 20:02:41 -0500 (EST) From: PTAW85@aol.com Subject: Kop, moyekh, magister Mayn tate nutst dem oysdruk gor oft, ober er zogt nisht "kop, moyekh, magister" nor "kop, moyekh, magistrat!" My father uses this expression, but the last word is different. Magistrat refers to city government. Der kontekst iz ale mol nokh dem vi er hot epes nisht farshtanen un tsum sof zikh gekhapt. Demolt tut er zikh a patsh in shtern un zogt, "kop, moyekh, magistrat!" Perl Teitelbaum, Queens 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 00:34:21 -0500 (EST) From: STdowling@aol.com Subject: Why not have the Forward Show on the Internet? Why not have the Forward Show on the Internet? In response to Robert Goldenberg's request of a copy of the Forward Show, allow me to give the example of Mark David's excellent radio program, available on his website at: http://world.std.com/~yv It is a good example of how The Forward could make its Yiddish programming available to people outside of the New York area. As a matter of fact, Mark David has a program that Henry Sapoznik did on the Forward Show featuring a recording of Sholem Aleichem. Stephen Dowling Kew Gardens, NY 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 01:15:53 -0500 (EST) From: Elan Freydenson Subject: Yiddish for a complete beginner I want to learn Yiddish. I am asking for some advice from cool list members. What books, audio tapes, video tapes or other media would you recommend to learn Yiddish? I want to pursue self study and learn to speak (more important than read or write, although I can read hebrew already). My grandmother (from Latvia) speaks one dialect and my hasidic friends another. Is there anyway to remedy the situation by learning something so I can communicate with both? I guess I am looking for some overall advice, specific books, audio titles and anything else you would think is useful. Please reply to me personally or to the list if your reply will benefit others. Thanks in advance! Elan Freydenson ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.114 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://metalab.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html