Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 2 no. 02 May 18, 1992 1) Nokhamol Internatsional (Eli Katz) 2) Mendele on the mind (Bob Werman) 3) Translation assistance (Cal Pryluck) 4) Ketchup (Yitzhak Kertesz) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 8 May 92 10:09:33 PDT From: katz@Sonoma.EDU Subject: nokhamol internatsional Shloyme Axelrod hones in on the syntactic problem with the Yid- dish Internatsional that has been bothering me for forty years. The punctuation in my version represents my own solution to the problem, one, however, that does not completely satisfy me. Axelrod is surely right in considering that 'muz' is a noun, although this is a rather anomalous for Yiddish. But then a problem remains with the verb 'lebn' which ought to agree with 'ir' (lebt) but instead agrees with 'shklafn'. This is not altogether exceptional, given the well known tendency to have a finite verb agree with the nearest preceding noun rather than the actual subject. (I was once told that the text was translated into Yiddish by Leivick, but I never confirmed this. If so, he should have known better.) If my analysis is correct, then the translation into English would be something like: "Arise all you, who like slaves, live in hunger, [stark] necessity, and misery." Eli Katz 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 9 May 92 20:37 +0300 From: RWERMAN@HUJIVMS.HUJI.AC.IL Subject: Mendele on the mind Once again, reading Friday's newspapers, I was reminded that Mendele still lives. He has now, according to the paper, moved to a white [Byelorussian?] suburb. When I last saw evidence of his activities, he showed that his literary touch was still intact when he announced - on separating from his wife - that he still loved her but would not live with her. Of course I am talking about the South African Black [I certainly cannot say African American, can I?] leader, Nelson M., no relation to our patron. The Hebrew mem-nun-dalet-lamed-heh reads Mendele to me, what can I do? Actually, I understand that the Yiddish flavor of his name is indicated in Hebrew by a final yod instead of the heh, but I would likely read that Mandalay, as in song I was forced to hear in Junior High School [On The Road To ...] when the disciplinary teacher, an Irish tenor, would give forth at school assemblies. Shavu'a tov, all Mendelites, .... and I do not mean geneticist followers of Austrian monk Gregor. __Bob Werman rwerman@vms.huji.ac.il Jerusalem 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 17 May 92 00:30:09 EDT From: Cal Subject: translation assistance My wife and I have a knowledge of Yiddish that draws upon sixty year old memories of our first language. Our recent activities have revolved visiting various physicians for various ailments. She asked me to ask you for a translation of a word she thinks is "ubbergechalished" or "ibbergechalished." "It explains how in Yiddish how I feel -- but I don't think I'm translating it accurately." The general domain has to do with weakness, exhaustion, fatigue, etc. But none of these seem to her as descriptive as "ubbergechalished." Although Naomi is a devout technophobe, she is a devoted reader of MENDELE in hard copy translation. Thanks. Cal Pryluck 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 18 May 92 08:27:51 PDT From: Evelyn Ehrlich Subject: Ketchup Being out of touch with my computer, and out of the country for 3 weeks meant, that I had 20 issues of Mendele waiting in addition to lots of other mail for the past weekend. So, I would like to recycle a few issues from the past 3 weeks. (1) gut-morn, gut-yor If you, unlike Harshav, accept the fact that the Mosaico- Talmudic religion had an influence on Yiddish, the the issue may originate with the principle "Hameshiv kofel hashalom". (Kofel = to double) This has several aspects and related issues, one entry point to it is Gittin 62b. Related is the response to Borchu in the liturgy, which adds leolam vaed; or the zimmun (Invitation to a bench) Nevarekh */borukh *, where uvetuvo is added. The principle has implications to conduct with gentiles, see Yoreh Deah 148,10. Somewhere along the line the generic gut-yor will also show up, first in Hebrew/Aramaic, then in Yiddish. The entire issue is confusing and mysterious, so i recommend to consult a competent orthodox rabbi for a full explanation. Rwerman is correct (1.228) that among our competition (Ladino speaking Mendelniks) the response to Shabbat shalom is almost mandatory sh. sh. umevorakh. (2) shalom alekhem (1.236) The phrase appears in the Kiddush levono (in Polish: Chiddush levono). To find out when it got there one would have to check old manuscripts. If sbd. is inclined to do, i would like to commission him to check "Siman tov umazal tov" in the same prayer. Reasons for the reversal are given in a mysterious book called Taame haminhagim on p. 502, extremely difficult to figure out. (3) Priluki (1.233) This is an easy one, and i was disappointed that fellow librarians did not jump in to help, especially because it was the last days of Pesach (remember Red Sea?) There are three places listed as Priluki, all in the Ukraine, quite near each other. I do not have financial interest in promo- ting this source, but it is very useful in locating and identifying Jewish settlements in Eastern and Central Europe. Mokotoff, Gary; Sack, Sallyann Amdur: WHERE ONCE WE WALKED. Teaneck: Avotaynu Inc., 1991. Yitzhak Kertesz (bm.lbh@rlg.bitnet) ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 2.02 If your message is intended for MENDELE, please write to: mendele@vax1.trincoll.edu If you want to discuss personal business or have a shmues with the shames, please write to: nmiller@vax1.trincoll.edu Please sign your articles.