Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.060 July 13, 1993 1) Eppes unt nit kayn sof! (Cary Nathenson) 2) Andrew Cassel (Ellen Prince) 3) Kafakal(e) (Khaim Bochner) 4) Noch eppes (Yankel Lantz) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Jul 12 18:40:05 1993 From: Cary Alan Nathenson Subject: Eppes unt nit kayn sof! Pardon my transliteration, I play by ear. I German friend of mine tells me that eppes is heard in the Rhineland and can be attributed to the dialect of Cologne, "Koelsch." Given the probable origins of Yiddish, it's not surprising that this word should appear in Western Germany. As for gonof or "Ganove," I would guess (but only guess) that it entered German through Yiddish. The non-Jewish Germans that knew any Hebrew in earlier centuries tended to be limited to its use in bible translations, whereas less intellectual German-speakers who encountered Jews in daily life could have been exposed to Yiddish. My own experiences in Vienna and the wealth of Yiddish/Hebrew words in the dialect of that city's working-class seem to be evidence for this pattern. A dank! Cary Nathenson canathen@artsci.wustl.edu 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jul 13 00:00:59 1993 From: "Ellen F. Prince" Subject: andrew cassel hi, andrew. are you the andrew cassel that writes for the inquirer in philadelphia? the one that did that lovely piece on bob and molly freedman's yiddish record collection? it would make perfect sense if you were, given your grand- father's legacy of an interest in yiddish folk music, but i have a different email address for the inquirer andrew cassel, is why i ask. happy to meet/see you, either way! ellen prince 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jul 13 09:55:37 1993 From: bochner@das.harvard.edu Subject: kafakal(e) Neakh/Norman Zide writes: > No replies yet to my question about Kafekal. Well, the first thing that came to mind was kafakale, the name of one of the tortures a sinful soul may be subjected to oyf yener velt. (Spivak & Bloomgarden explain: "basteyt in dem vos zi [di neshome] vert arumgeshlaydert fun beyze gayster hin un her.") But I didn't speak up, because you were looking for a place name ... Since you asked again, however, I've looked into it, and found that Weinreich translates kafakale as "limbo, purgatory", so it is a place name after all. And while I knew it only with an -e on the end, all the dictionaries allow the pronunciation without that. In fact, that's the only form Harkavy gives, so that's probably the real Yiddish pronunciation. And Harkavy translates "geyn in kafakal" as 'to go to hell'. Does that fit what you've heard it used? By the way, the spelling is: kof (not kuf), langer fey, dash, hey, kuf, lamed, ayin. (But Harkavy leaves out the ayin.) Khaim 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jul 13 21:33:40 1993 From: rwl@world.std.com (Robert W Lantz) Subject: Noch eppes I have here beside the keyboard a thin volume of poetry in Mainzer dialect. The title is "Ebbes vum Hebbes." Hebbes is a mythological character in Mainz am scheenen Rhoi. "Ebbes" is, of course, "eppes." During the 70's, I lived in Grosz-Winternheim, a small town near Mainz. Contrary to what I had been told in college, dialect is alive and well in Germany. After I finally figured out what the people were saying, I was struck with the similarities between the local lingo and Yiddish. The Rheinland-Pfaelzer even use the word "shikse." (Please, no flames.) Unaware of the political incorrectness, they employ it to mean "a woman of slightly loose morals." Helau. Yankel ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.060