Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 2 no. 80 October 11, 1992 1) Helf/helft (Zev Bar-Lev) 2) Helf/helft (Moshe Taube) 3) Tshuves (Yitzhak Kertesz) 4) Nimes umoes (Eli Katz) 5) Nimis und muvis (Ruvn-Mendl Turkel) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 11:10:33 -0700 From: zbarlev@sciences.sdsu.edu Subject: Helf/helft re: Shleyme Axelrod's question: > Got vet helfn--vi helf nor Got biz Got vet helfn. ^^^^ > translated for Ayalti by I. Goldstick as "God will > provide--if only God would provide until he provides." > Nu, gut. But why is it "helf" rather than "helft", the > regular 3rd person singular present of helfn? Is there a > tense (or mood or aspect or whatever) here that I never > learned? Or could this be a misprint? My assumption is that this is a subjunctive -- without having at hand any exact description of its forms and use in Yiddish. After all, such forms occur sporadically and relictally (in subordinate clauses of various kinds) even in English! Zev Bar-Lev 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 09 Oct 92 13:24:57 EST From: Moshe Taube Subject: Helf/helft On vi helf nor got: Surely enough this is a vestige of modal verb forms, surviving only in formulaic expressions, like: got helf, bay im blayb es, loz er nor pruvn, etc. a gut yor, M. Taube 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 07:40:15 PDT From: Yitzhak Kertesz Subject: Tshuves (1) Shloyme Axelrod asks about a Yiddish proverb: Got vet helfn - vi helft nor Got biz Got vet helfn. ^^^ This is how it appears in Bernstein's collection (#668), the source for Ayalti, as well as for all other collections. Ayalti, in his usual sloppy style dropped the -t. Bernstein's collection of Yiddish proverbs, the most comprehensive such work, will be reviewed soon by Dave Sherman. (2) Incidentally, the above mentioned Bernstein has (#3030): "Er iz a zwei-un-funfzignik", and the explanation is that he is a dog (kelev = 52) (3) For H. Bershady, about "nimis un muvis": Hebrew nim'as = disgusting. mavet = death. (4) Regarding the name "shpetter": There is a new book published by Ktav, compiled by Heinrich Guggenheimer. It is supposed to be the most comprehensive work on Jewish names. Our copy hasn't arrived yet, but perhaps one of my fellow librarians on Mendele might want to check it. Yitzhak (getting ready for sigges) Kertesz 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 10:51:13 -0700 From: katz@Sonoma.EDU Subject: nimes umoes Harold Bershady's NIMIS UND MUVIS in Standard Yiddish is NIMES UMOES, which means something like 'boring and disgusting beyond endurance.' In many contexts 'es iz mir nimes umoes' is felicitously translated by 'I'm sick of it.' Eli Katz 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 17:06:15 EDT From: rmt51@cas.org Subject: NIMIS UND MUVIS Hershel Bershady asks in Mendele Vol 2.79 about the two title terms. I never heard the expression, but 'nimis' must be from the Hebrew 'nimas' (nun-mem-alef-samekh), meaning 'contemptible, abhorrent, despised.' 'muvis' is most certainly from Hebrew 'maves/mavet' (mem-vav-tav), and means 'death.' I can easily see how they would be used together for emphasis. Rick (Ruvn-Mendl) Turkel ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 2.80 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.