Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.080 August 16, 1993 1) Standardized transcription, far vus? (Bob Goldberg) 2) Toi toi toi and evil spirits (Cary Nathenson) 3) -ian and Jan (Beatrice Santorini) 4) Mer take dershinen: E-HUG returns (David Neal Miller) 5) Grubyan, Motl (David Neal Miller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri Aug 13 18:43:23 1993 From: xidak!poseidon!bob@uunet.UU.NET (Robert N. Goldberg) Subject: Standardized transcription, far vus? A few years ago, in MENDELE, I gave as an argument for standardization the ability to understand each other's writing more easily. Since then, I have decided that adherence to the YIVO standardized spelling is also a curse. I belong to a Yiddish singing group. Our lyrics are transcribed in Latin letters to go with the music. As a result of standardized transcription, everyone ends up pronouncing the words in standard Yiddish (but see "oyf" below). There's no way that you can get 20 Jews in a chorus even to agree to pronounce the words differently than the transliteration, let along to REMEMBER when to do so. So we end up singing standard Yiddish. Notice that if all books about yiddishkayt were to adopt the standard, the other dialects would be lost forever to future generations. The problem is that I find speaking or singing the YIVO transliteration somewhat distasteful for for several reasons: a. My grandparents spoke, for the most part, a southern dialect of Yiddish (e.g., "vus id dus" rather than "vos iz dos") and I love its cadence and sound. b. Standard Yiddish pronunciation sounds too much like German to me, and thus has unpleasant associations. c. Rhymes in the songs often get ruined. For example, 'Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn': Std. Transliteration Southern Dialect -------------------- ---------------- TITLE: Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn TITLE: Ba Mir Bisti Sheyn ... ... Bay mir bistu gut Ba mir bisti git Bay mir hostu 'it' Ba mir hosti 'it' It's obvious the song was not intended to be sung in standard Yiddish. d. The pronunciation in the Yiddish Theatre (which spawned many of our songs) was a "southern dialect" Yiddish, so emulation of old recordings of the songs is a challenge. e. Our chorus has been pronouncing the "oyfn" in "oyfn pripitshik" as written, instead of as "afn". I tried to get them to change, based on Weinreich's dictionary entry, but at least one member insists that her Yiddish-speaking grandmother from Russia always sang the song as "oyfn" and not "afn"! (My grandmother might say "gey kakn afn yam"!) So the YIVO transliteration standard threatens to silence the very Yiddish subculture that produced many of these songs. I understand that someone wrote down standard transliteration rules for the Yiddish Theatre, which I'd like to get ahold of. Does anyone know where to find it? Bob "Nissen" Goldberg 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat Aug 14 00:02:07 1993 From: Cary Alan Nathenson Subject: toi toi toi and evil spirits Could anyone please comment on the custom (at least on Devon Ave. in Chicago) of making a spitting noise three times to ward off evil? In German (and I hope you're not getting sick of these comparisons with German, but I learned it before Yiddish), "toi toi toi" (sans spit) means "good luck" or "right on!" In the Yiddish movie "Di Dibuk" (sp?), a Cabalist rabbi blesses his student by spitting three times and, for extra protection, I guess, licks him across his forehead. Fortunately the latter practice seems to have died out. A schaynen dank! Cary Nathenson E-Mail: canathen@artsci.wustl.edu 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat Aug 14 14:50:41 1993 From: Beatrice Santorini Subject: -ian and Jan this is in response to Dagmar Lorenz's speculation about the etymological link between the "-ian" of "Grobian" and "Jan". I would be surprised if there were such a link; I think it is much more plausible to assume that "-ian" is the same Latinate suffix that we find in English in "Christian", "Oxonian", etc. Beatrice 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun Aug 15 23:43:10 1993 From: David Neal Miller Subject: MER TAKE DERSHINEN: E-HUG RETURNS Patriotn of Yiddish word processing will be delighted to learn of the reappearance, after a too-long hiatus, of Ari Davidow's E-HUG, "The Hebrew [sigh] Users Group occasional electronic newsletter." This is an invaluable resource edited by an eydl and immensely knowledgeable sometime electronic typographer. The list server is LISTSERV@DARTCMS1.BITNET, Ari's own e-mail address ari@netcom.com. David Neal Miller miller.3@osu.edu 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Aug 16 00:04:21 1993 From: David Neal Miller Subject: Grubyan, Motl Though I've nothing to contribute the recent discussion of the word _grubyan_, I thought to take the opportunity of recalling an underappreciated Soviet-Yiddish poet by the name of Motl Grubyan. In 1975 or so I published a translation of one of Grubyan's poems (from _Sovetish heymland_), a strong and understated Holocaust poem, which translation appeared--to my horror--in a special issue of a literary journal dedicated to the memory of Ezra Pound. I seem to recall reading (also in _Sovetish heymland_?) a notice Grubyan's death. The _Leksikon fun der nayer yidisher literatur_, 2 (New York: Alveltlekher yidisher kultur-kongres, 1958), 368, has the following (unsigned) entry on Grubyan: Grubyan, Motl ( - ) -- Sovetish-yidisher shrayber. Shtamt fun Vaysrusland. Ongehoybn drukn lider in di yugnt-oysgabes in Vaysrusland, in di onheyb draysiker yorn. Mitn oysbrokh fun der sovetish-natsisher milkhome, 1941, avek oyfn front, iz dray mol farvundet gevorn. Hot zikh bateylikt in di shlakhtn far Stalingrad. In bukhform: _Fun keler oyf der zun_ (lider), Minsk, 1935, 79 z'; _Lirik_, Minsk, 1940, 60 z'; _Gezang vegn mut_, Moskve, 1947, 144 z'. "In Grubyans bukh (_Gezang vegn mut_) farnemt a hipsh ort tragishe motiv-lider vegn der oysrotung fun der yidisher bafelkerung beys der daytsher okupatsye. . . . Di greste tsol lider iz farbundn mit eyn lirisher geshtalt--mitn poshetn folks-mentshn" (Rivke Rubin). Voynt in Moskve. [Reproduced without permission: zayt-zhe moykhl, khosheve koleges fun K"k!] David Neal Miller miller.3@osu.edu ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.080