Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.325 April 21, 1994 1) Lernen et al (Yankel Ekhoyz) 2) Sholem Aleichem Letters (Louis Fridhandler) 3) Retonde or rotonde (Louis Fridhandler) 4) Retonde/rotonde (Shleyme Axelrod) 5) Telzer yeshiva (Vulvush Lazer Gershgorn) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Apr 20 19:35:36 1994 From: eckhause@sas.upenn.edu Subject: lernen et al AL KHET! Mr. Arnemann is correct regarding lernen, although I am not entirely incorrect. "Lernen" means both to "teach" and "Lernen/Lernen zikh" means "learn". Eg. "Lernen a blat gemore." Also, I erred in saying that German "kochen" equal Yiddish "kuchen" and German "Kuchen" equals exclusively the Yiddish "Lekekh". In fact, although Yiddish has "Kukher" for German "Koch"(a cook), the verb is "kokhen"(in German, "kochen"). In addition, Yiddish has "Kukhn" as well as "Lekekh" for "cake". One place I did not make a mistake, however, is "kaken". What is the origin of "kaken" which means... Does German have such a word? Yankel Ekhoyz PS. "oyslernen" in Yiddish can mean either "to learn" or "to teach" according to Weinreich. According to my German dictionary, "auslernen" means "to complete one's apprenticeship". Again, sorry for speaking prematurely. 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Apr 20 19:56:50 1994 From: 74064.1661@CompuServe.COM Subject: Sholem Aleichem Letters Here is the final installment of my translation of Sholem Aleichem's letters to Mordecai Spector about the preparation of the first Tevye Story. Letter six was sent the same day as letter five, Nov. 7, 1894: Sholem Aleichem addressed it to the typesetter of Hoyz-Fraynd giving detailed instructions on the desired appearance of the type faces and page ornamentations. Letter seven Kiev, November 10, 1894 Dear Colleague M. Spector! Greetings! Reb Tevye has arrived!... Mazl tov! At last I send you, with God's help, the rest of the yarn. I don't want to hold on to it any longer, otherwise I might begin to look it over again. A hunger to revise it will seize me; actually, I will yearn to redo the whole thing. Now, let us hear what you think of Tevye. You are the first to meet him. Please excuse this meager offering. [in Russian] What we have, we give. A good day, and a good eternity, Your best companion and best friend, Sholem Aleichem Letter eight Kiev, November 24, 1894 Dear Brother! Here are the corrected proofs. There are quite a few misprints; but it is the first set of proofs. Compared to proofs from Berdichev, it must be considered good [Spector's printer was in Warsaw]. Fix the errors as I indicate without fail. It is hard to get approval of proofs from the Kiev censor, and I don't have a clean copy of the manuscript. Let the Warsaw censor deal with it. I received the proofs at dusk. Now, ten o'clock at night, they are already on their way to you. So, what else do you want from me? Please, don't be too upset about your critical opinion of Tevye. The world of Yiddish readers is sure to like him. Either that world has better judgment than you do, or no judgment at all. Your Sholem Aleichem. These are all the published letters I know of re: the preparation of the first Tevye piece. In my next post, I will send a paragraph from this original 1894 version which does not appear in the revised 1918 Folksfond Oysgabe (New York) version which appeared first in 1903 (Warsaw). As most Mendlnitses and Mendlnikes might know, the title was changed from Tevye Der Milkhiker (1894) to Dos Groyse Gevins (1903). Louis Fridhandler. 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Apr 20 21:00:36 1994 From: 74064.1661@CompuServe.COM Subject: Retonde or rotonde In response to Elyet Gertl's frage on behalf of someone reading Motl Peysi dem Khazns: Reading Yiddish in Malaysia? Wonderful! Alexander Harkavy's dictionary does not list retonde in the main part. However, the section with additional words lists retonde and tells you to see rotonde (p. 578). There it is defined as "round cloak." Okay, but mit vos est men a round cloak? Harkavy knew, I suppose. In any case it is some kind of cloak. A little bit of help. Thanks for calling on me, Elyet. Leybl, aka Louis Fridhandler. 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Apr 20 22:04:18 1994 From: PTYAXEL@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu Subject: retonde/rotonde Mistame hot men avekgeganvet di "rotonde", vos Harkavys verterbukh fartaytsht "cope, rotonde (kind of cloak". --Shleyme Axelrod 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Apr 21 07:29:03 1994 From: MGAYNOR%JHUHYG.BITNET@JHUVM.HCF.JHU.EDU Subject: Telzer yeshiva I believe they refer to themselves in english script as the "Telsher" Yeshiva. I've never understood this. Do any Mendeleniks know if this is a regional pronunciation, or if it is simply a slippage in translitera- tion? Martin Gaynor (Vulvush Lazer Gershgorn) ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.325 A Table of Contents is now available via anonymous ftp, along with weekly updates. Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files Archives available via gopher on: gopher.cic.net Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line. 2. Sign your article. To subscribe, send SUB MENDELE FIRSTNAME LASTNAME to: LISTSERV@YALEVM.YCC.YALE.EDU Send submissions/responses to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Other business: nmiller@starbase.trincoll.edu