Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 1 no. 184 February 22, 1992 1) Klafte (Nicholas Eshelman) 2) 'Skotsl kumt (Mikhl Herzog) 3) Frekh (Yude-Leyb Proger) 4) Klafte (Bob Werman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 21 Feb 92 16:30:41 CST From: Nicholas Eshelman Subject: Klafte Yude-Leyb Proger noted that _klafte_ was used by speakers of Jewish German to refer to a bossy wife. My mother and Grandparents (from Jablonec and Liberec, Czechoslovakia) who are German speakers, recently used the word to refer to an officious nurse who was tending to my Granfather. They also speculated, "She's probably German." So, for them a _klafte_ is one who possess certain personality traits associated (stereotypically) with both nurses and Germans. What a combination. I would love to hear some remarks on the subject of Jewish German, if anyone has the time or inclination. Nicholas Eshelman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 21 Feb 92 22:56 EST From: ZOGUR@CUVMB.BITNET Subject: RE: Mendele Vol 1.183 plausible-shmosiblele, but is it "true"? Bravo Berl Hoberman: Berl, I'm still waitying for your mailing address so that I can send you the book I promised. I'll be away till Feb 29, but I'll send it immediately after that if vyour address is waiting for me. Meylekh: Sorry, I didn't mean to sound dismissive. You and Harkavy are closer to the "truth" than any "cat" explanation. skotsl kumt, said by both male and female in the East, was apparently said only by women in Western Yiddish (in place of Sholem Aleykhem). Origin? MAYBE a medieval expression involving "Got" and "Wilkommen". A dependable source, which I'm trying to follow up, has suggested an alternative in a Northern German form (something like "skohsl" meaning something quite different. Does this ring a bell for anyone out there? Mikhl 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 21 Feb 92 17:42:07 IST From: YUDE-LEYB Subject: FREKH- Mikhl: MEYYED has it with one of those down-pointing arrowheads that means 'inadmissable in the standard language', but of course, in a more objective view of the Yiddish lexicon, it would have to be included. The word is clearly from German _frech_ with the exact meaning of 'impudent'; however, in Israeli informal Hebrew it has developed several original nuances. A _freycha_ in BenAmots/Beb Yehuda 1972 (p. 244) is a derogatory term for an unattrractive female. It is interesting that there is no comparable form for males! Could this have been influenced by H. _parech_, a term of contempt for males? Today one hears _frechit_, which is close to the Yiddish _frekh_ . The meaning seems to be 'cheap, tawdry, sleazy woman'. It carries a class and ethnic bias -- cf. _shvedit_ "North African (woman). The question of determining what is a word is a complex one in every language, especially in a worldwide fusion lang. lik e Yiddish. Be well. Yude-Leyb 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 22 Feb 92 18:57 +0200 From: RWERMAN@HUJIVMS.BITNET Subject: RE: Mendele Vol 1.182 In Mendele Vol 1.182, Moishe-Nussen Eytan writes: As for the aramaic origin of 'klafte' I am not so sure, .... Moreover in `Had Gadyah, the dog is 'kalba' (terminal letter: aleph): "dehikkah lekalba, denashakh leshunra, etc". ************ May I point out that the kalba here is with an aleph at the end, often the form of the definite article in Aramaic. Thus, kalba in _had gadya_ would be "the [male] ^^^ dog," while female dog would be rendered kalba [with a "he" at the end] or kilbiya or klabita or klavta [all with final alephs]. There are, just to make life complicated, many Aramaics. Or Yiddishes. __Bob Werman rwerman@hujivms.bitnet rwerman@vms.huji.ac.il Jerusalem ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 1.184