______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.279 March 10, 1994 1) No KlezKamp (Henry Sapoznik) 2) Jewish names (H. Davidson) 3) Shneykishn (David Sherman) 4) Various (Bob Rothstein) 5) Introductions (Bobbi and Michael Zylberman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Mar 9 21:35:13 1994 From: sapoznik@aol.com Subject: Re: No KlezKamp The 10th Annual KlezKamp will happen this year from December 25-30,1994 under its new parent organization, "Living Traditions". After 9 years under the sponsorship of the YIVO, KlezKamp has gone independent. YIVO's emphasis on library and archives and its pending move to a new location and KlezKamp's growth as a performance oriented event meant that this was a good time to seek new sponsorship. To that end we founded "Living Traditions" so that KlezKamp -- and other new programs and projects -- could be sponsored by it. To the over 2,500 people who have come to KlezKamp over the last 9 years, look for a membership mailing coming in the next few weeks. To anyone who wants to be on our list send your address to me at sapoznik@aol.com or to our new offices: Living Traditions/KlezKamp 430 W.14th St #514 NYC 10014. Henry Sapoznik 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Mar 9 22:37:09 1994 From: Subject: jewish names there is information on the spelling and hence by implication the pronunciation of Yiddish names in rabbinic writers dealing with correct divorce formulas, e.g., Bet Shemuel on Shulhan Aruk, Even ha-ezer 129, Lebush in his equivalent of Even ha-Ezer 129. H. Davidson 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Mar 9 23:31:20 1994 From: dave@cai.lsuc.on.ca (David Sherman) Subject: shneykishn > Neologisms survive by natural selection. Some--the wonderfully apt, > child-coined _shneykishn_, for example--enter the folksmoyl (!) by > acclamation... What is a shneykishn? snow cushion? David Sherman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Mar 10 00:45:03 1994 From: ROBERT A ROTHSTEIN Subject: Various [Purim song] The text that Dvosye Bilik asked about on behalf of Miriam Isaacs (a hartsikn grus!) seems to be the one included as #545 in the YIVO edition of Y. L. Cahan's _Yidishe folkslider mit melodyes_: A gutn purim, malakh! Vu ikh gey, fal ikh. Di bord iz mir lang, dos vayb iz mir krank; nemt der tate a fayertop un makht der mamen a lokh in kop. Zogn di kinderlekh: oy-oy-oy! Zogt der tate: gut azoy! [Take] Anatole Beck asked about the source of _take_. It probably comes from Czech, where _take'_ (acute accent to designate a long e) means 'also, too' and functions as well as an emphatic particle. [Chekhov's Jewish musicians] The Jewish musicians in _The Cherry Orchard_, cited by Joyce Rappaport, are called simply "a Jewish orchestra" (_evreiskii orkestr_). The ensemble is described as consisting of four violins, a flute and a bass. [Homoseksualist] David Neal Miller argues by analogy (to _tsienist, bundist_) that the Yiddish term _homoseksualist_ denotes (or ought to denote) an advocate of _homoseksualizm_. Based on another analogy (to possible sources like Polish _homoseksualista_ or Russian _gomoseksualist_), I would guess that the term would more likely be used to refer to what David calls "an ontological state" rather than "an ideological commitment." [Kabak] The Russian word _kabak_ (diminutive _kabachok_) 'squash' is indeed of Turkic origin. The homonym meaning 'tavern' is of unclear etymology, perhaps from Low German or perhaps from Turkic. If the latter is true, one suggested connection is with a squash or gourd used as a bottle. The expression that was first cited, _a moshl kabak_, was included in one of the "Shprakhvinkl" columns in the _Forverts_ by the late Wolf Younin. (Someone should collect his columns, which started, I believe, in the _Tog_, and publish them; they are a goldmine of information.) His column of April 2, 1979 provided answers to a reader's question: "Vi drikt men zikh oys oyf eynem vos redt nit punkt tsu der zakh un misht oys verter un gedanken, vos hobn keyn shaykhes nit mit dem vos men redt?" Younin listed the following possibilities: 1. Her a moshl! Vos hot di atereyse tsu der arende? 2. Deriber iz vos? Deriber iz vos? Deriber geyen di katshkes borves un gendz -- naket? 3. A moshl kegn di nekhtike varenikes -- me redt vegn veter, kumt zi arayn mit zoyere ugerkes. 4. A moshl kegn a torbe fleker! Mir redn dokh gor fun hodeven kinder. 5. Eyns mitn dritn iz nit keyn mekhitn. 6. Vos hot (far a shaykhes) a patsh tsu a gut-shabes? 7. Gehert a moshl? --Az tsibele iz tsibulye [Polish _cebula_], iz knobl -- knobulye un Gershn iz Mitrofan. 8. A naye mayse -- az di shtub iz gel gefarbt, heyst di kale meyte. 9. A moshl kabak. 10. Iber dem blozt men Homen un me klapt shoyfer -- hert a moshl. [Di manse mit Walesa] I think it's been pointed out here before, but the nasal vowel in the second syllable of the Polish president's name has nothing to do with the nasalization in _manse_, _Yankl_ etc. In non-technical terms, Polish has two vowel letters with cedilla- like diacritics under them that are read (under certain circum- stances) as nasalized vowels. The "English" spelling "Walesa" omits the hook under the "e" and the slash through the "l". Bob Rothstein 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Mar 10 01:49:29 1994 From: Subject: Introduction We have finally been able to find our way onto the Internet and of course Mendele. By way of introduction, we are both active in the Yiddish community in Melbourne Australia, Bobbi being a Yiddish teacher at the Sholem Aleichem College and also conducts Yiddish adult language and literature courses. I am active in the Bund, SKIF and Yugnt Bund in Melbourne. We are always interested in receiving information and we are happy to pass on this info. to our community. I guess something to do with the tyranny of distance. zeit gezunt Bobbi and Michael Zylberman ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.279 To subscribe, send SUB MENDELE FIRSTNAME LASTNAME to: LISTSERV@YALEVM.YCC.YALE.EDU Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a Subject: line. 2. Sign your article. Send submissions/responses to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Other business: nmiller@starbase.trincoll.edu Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files Mendele: Yiddish literature and language