Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.052 July 11, 1993 1) Kurten shpiln (Michael Abramson) 2) Koylech (Pe'rets Mett) 3) Nokh epes wegn epes (Pierre Lewis) 4) OK, I've read it (Khaim Bochner) 5) Don Byron & Mickey Katz (Henry Koretzky) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Jun 28 01:03:18 1993 From: MAC191H@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au Subject: Kurten shpilen Dear Mendelniks, I'm no linguist and have followed the discussion about Wexler's theory that Yiddish is a Slavic language with some disbelief. By the way, who or what is Sorbian? However I can contribute something to Shleyme Axelrod, Hershel Bershady and Jack Feldman's discussion about card playing terms. My father-in-law who was born in Ostrow shpielt kurten religiously - every shabbes!He and his friends use the following names: Bilke = Hearts Shvartz = Clubs Tsaylem = Spades Lekach or Shel= Diamonds Yingl = Jack Maydl = Queen Kayzer = King Toys = Ace No wonder there are so many arguments when Yiddish speakers play together! Zayt gezunt un shpielt gezunt. Michael Abramson 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Jun 28 07:42:43 1993 From: P.Mett@open.ac.uk(Percy Mett) Subject: Koylech (or koyletsh) nu, az men halt shoyn baym koylech hob ikh epes tsu zogn. 1. My recollection is that koylech is used only for a -large- loaf.Can anyone confirm? 2. a gflokhtene khale* verd gmakht fu zeks shtik davke. derbay az nemt tsvey khales tsuzamn hot men 'tsvelef' = yud-beys khales. andere makhen a 'vov' khale d.h. men leygt a lange dine shtik teyg of der khale (eyder men hot es gbakn!) bkhdey di tsvey khales zoln oysze'n vi tsvey vovn (=12). * dakhts mir az of "Western Yiddish" nutst men bkhlal nisht dos vort 'khale'. pe'rets mett 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jun 29 07:27:56 1993 From: "Pierre (P.) Lewis" Subject: Nokh epes wegn epes When I first came across "epes" in Yiddish, I knew I had already seen/heard it in German (and not understood it -- it's not in my dictionaries). So, prompted by Gregg and Ellen, I did a bit more searching. My first hunch was that I had seen it recently in Brecht's Mutter Courage. The folks in this play speak a language which reminds me of Yiddish at times. But after 30 minutes of browsing, I hadn't found one example (although I haven't given up). Then I looked at a few texts I have in Swabian. There I found many examples, including in a lexicon at the end of one book. Most likely then, I've also heard it while I worked there. In "So spricht der Stuttgarter" (azoy redt ...) I find "er thaet sich lieber ..., als ebbes vershenke" = "he'd rather do ... than give something away". In "Plisch und Plum in deutschen Dialekten" I find "ond do hen se aebbes gfonda" = "un dort hobn zey epes gefunen". Different spellings, but same word. Swabian also strikes me as having many traits in common with Yiddish. E.g. "mir" for "we" (as in "ein Bier wie mir" in a beer publicity). Learning Yiddish is improving my understanding of German dialects and older texts! Pierre[le] 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jun 29 11:00:52 1993 From: bochner@das.harvard.edu Subject: OK, I've read it OK, I've finished reading Wexler's paper in IJSL, and I'd like to go on record as another linguist who thinks Wexler's claims are completely unsubstantiated. In brief, I found the arguments even weaker than second-hand reports had led me to expect. I could go into detail, but I think the most generous approach is the one that Ellen suggested way back: polite silence. So, my suggestion is that we go back to discussing Yiddish ;-) Khaim 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jun 29 12:58:06 1993 From: "Koretzky, Henry" Subject: Don Byron & Mickey Katz Subscribers to this list may be interested in a recording I recently picked up. It's a new release called Don Byron Playes the Music of Mickey Katz, or something to that effect. It's a cd on Elektra Nonesuch . Byron is a fine clarinetist, formerly with the Klezmer Conservatory Band . Mickey Katz, for those who may not be familiar with him, was the Homer & Jethro/P.D.Q. Bach of Jewish music. The Prologue and Epilogue of this cd include some of Byron's avant-garde jazz proclivities, but Katz' music is wonderfully and lovingly recreated. Byron's liner notes include a paragraph or 2 on the significance of Katz' use of Yiddish vs. Hebrew. Highly recommended. Henry Koretzky ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.052