Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 1 no.29 June 20, 1991 1) A group query (Noyekh Miller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 20 Jun 1991 From: Noyekh Miller (nmiller@trincc) Subject: Query A phrase from I.J.Singer has raised a question, about which more in a moment. The phrase goes: '[eyner] vos es geyt im nisht in lebn'. The phrase was read to the group of elderly Yiddish-speakers with whom I have been meeting for the last 2 years at the local Hebrew Home for the Aged. They are mostly women, American born. Some speak Yiddish quite well. Most of us thought we understood the phrase but there was sharp disagreement whether this was the negative form of 'es geyt im in lebn'. A second question was whether any or all of these is correct: 1. Es geyt mir in lebn. 2. Es geyt mir nisht in lebn arayn. 3. Es geyt aykh in lebn. 4. Vos geyt es aykh in lebn? 5. Vos geyt es aykh on? In short, clarification is urgently needed. And now things get more interesting. I mentioned to my friends that I wasn't sure of the answers but that I had about 40 friends who knew everything and that I'd be glad to ask them. How? they asked. I told them about Mendele. Great curiosity. B'kitser, I promised to bring along a portable computer to our next session and would play back to them all of the answers received by June 27. Great excitement. Khavertes un khaverim! Zayt zikh matriekh un shikt vos gikher ayere tshuves. Idish, English, es makht nisht oys, abi geentfert. A shaynem dank. Noyekh ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 1.