Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 2 no. 139 January 17, 1993 1) Reversals (David Sherman) 2) Our busy readers (David Sherman) 3) Sforim in Yiddish (David Sherman) 4) Kleyt and -khe (Mikhl Herzog) 5) Sneezes and ... Philologos (Mark David) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Jan 93 0:10:56 EST From: dave@cai.lsuc.on.CA Subject: RE: Mendele Vol 2.128 [Apropos Seymour Axelrod's post..] > Subject: Chagall-llagaCh > ... > 2. Still more: This label is written from left to right, > so that a Yiddish or Hebrew reader would read LAG<>Sh. .. the following article recently appeared on Usenet: From: jbm@hal.trl.OZ.AU (Jacques Guy) > Jack Sarfatti mentioned in one of his postings that his > name was derived from the Hebrew "tsarfati" ("French", from > "Tsarfat = France"), Italianized. > > "Tsarfat" is, in fact, probably derived from "France" > itself, backwards: > > ts-a-r-f <-- f-r-a-n-ts (with regular loss of "n" [note]. > The ending -at of "Tsarfat" does not belong to the root, > it's simply a feminine suffix. "Ts" is a single letter in > Hebrew). > > If that is indeed the true etymology of "Tsarfat", it would > be the only case I know of (and I'm into comparative > linguistics) where a word has been borrowed backwards. A > most serendipitous patronym, shouldn't you think, for > someone who says that causality can go *backwards*? > > Roots of coincidence! > > [Note] Hebrew loses the nasal dental "n" preceding another > dental. See, for instance, tarngol hoddu "turkey" > literally, "hen of 'Hoddu'" <-- hindu "India", and the > paradigm of the verb "to give". David Sherman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 Jan 93 23:37:51 EST From: dave@cai.lsuc.on.CA Subject: Our busy readers Further to the "our productive members" thread in November, the reason I've been so silent on MENDELE for the past few months is that I've been busy being productive. David M. Sherman, "Income Tax Research" (Toronto: De Boo, 1989, 179 pp.) -----, "The Practitioner's Income Tax Act" (De Boo/Carswell). 1st edition, July 1991; 2nd edition, March 1992; 3rd edition, October 1992, 1600 pages. (4th edition in production) -----, "Canada GST Service" (looseleaf service dealing with the Goods and Services Tax, 6 volumes, updated every 2 weeks, 1991-93; Carswell) ----, "The Practitioner's Goods and Services Tax, Annotated" (Carswell), 1st edition, March 1991; 2nd edition, October 1992, 1000 pages. 3rd edition in production. -----, "Income Tax Act: Department of Finance Technical Notes" (De Boo/Carswell). 1st edition, 1989; 2nd edition, 1990; 3rd edition, 1991; 4th edition, 1992, 1540 pages. -----, "Quebec Sales Tax Service" (Carswell). 2 volumes, looseleaf, updated monthly, 1992-93. (I won't bore you with the rest. Nothing in Yiddish unless you count my article in the current issue of Yugntruf on raising children in Yiddish.) By the way, do you know of anything written in Yiddish on the subject of income tax (presumably U.S.)? David Sherman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Jan 93 0:05:00 EST From: dave@cai.lsuc.on.CA Subject: Sforim in Yiddish > From: hbershad@sas.upenn.edu Wed Dec 16 23:04:44 1992 > ... I was excited to learn that there is a Yiddish > translation of the Old Testament available by Yehoash. I'm > sure you knew this, but do all Mendelnikim know this? Aside from what's available from the NYBC, if it's seforim you want, there are lots of options if you go to the right places -- seforim or Judaica stores, especially on 13th Av. in Boro Park (Brooklyn). I have a complete set of the Beys Yehuda, which is a "Mikraos Gedolos" style chumash (five volumes), plus another 10 volumes of Nakh (the rest of what you call the "Old Testament"). Each page of the chumash has the text; the onkelos (Aramaic); Rashi; the Beys Yehuda, which is the Rashi repeated and translated into Yiddish after every few words; Peyresh L'Toyras Avraham, which is a straight Yiddish translation of the text; three other commentaries in Hebrew; and one other commentary in Yiddish. My 8-year-old daughter uses the Beys Yehuda when she's doing hew chumash homework (at an Orthodox day school, but one where no Yiddish is spoken -- my kids are the only ones in the school who are fluent in Yiddish). If she's having trouble understanding a word or understanding the Rashi, the Yiddish is right there to explain it. I find it a great help myself, since my Hebrew vocabulary isn't that extensive. For a 15-volume set that fills a shelf, it was surprisingly inexpensive. Of course, it an uncopyrighted commodity that many in the Chassidic world buy and use for regular learning, so the price is for the paper, printing and binding. I forget how much I paid for the set, but I think it was about US$80. Don't overlook the stores in Boro Park for other Yiddish materials, including cassettes, children's books and adult books. Of course, most (but not all) are religious in content and orientation. David Sherman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Jan 93 18:34 EST From: ZOGUR@CUVMB.Columbia.edu Subject: Kleyt and -khe "kleytl" dimin of "kleyt" which is the largely SEY word for 'store' (elsewhere, "krom" and "gevelb"). "-khe": for feminine derivatives largely of masculine proper names. Thus He is "Leyzer" and his wife is "di Leyzerukhe"; He is "Ber", his wife is "di Berikhe". Mikhl Herzog. 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1993 19:09:35 -0500 From: mhd@world.std.COM Subject: Sneezes and ... Philologos Our mysterious friend and fellow mendelnik, Philologos, cites Mendele, and a number Mendelniks personally, for their contributions to the subject of what one says after a sneeze. As always, an enjoyable article. See the English Forward, January 15, 1992, page 11. Thanks, Philologos, wherever you are!!! Meyer (Mark) David ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 2.139