Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.016 June 8, 1994 1) YIVO: The Name & The Move (Zachary Baker) 2) Der Nister (Aryeh-Leib Cammy) 3) Der Nister (Delphine Bechtel) 4) Der Nister (Mitchell Brown) 5) Pronouncing vav ("and") before bilabials (Zev Bar-lev) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jun 7 12:52:44 1994 From: BM.YIB@RLG.Stanford.EDU Subject: YIVO: The Name & The Move Gregg Kinkley asks (MENDELE 4.014), "What does YIVO stand for (not politically; acronymically)?" The answer is: YIdisher Visnshaftlekher institut. (The alef in "institut" is in this case read as "O" -- perhaps our founders regarded "YIVO" as more euphonious than "YIVI" [which in any case could not have been spelled tsvey-yudn, tsvey-vovn, alef] or "YIV'.") It would be interesting to learn when the acronym actually came to be pronounced "YIVO." Pre-WWII documents and books from the Vilna YIVO are stamped "tsvey yudn, tsvey vovn, [shtumer] alef." When the YIVO logo was adopted in the 1930s -- that circular bit of Polish Yiddish deco that most MENDELnikes presumably recognize -- it included a komets under the alef, indicating that the acronym was pronounced "YIVO." Old-timers put the stress on the second syllable; in the U.S. the first syllable is usually stressed. And speaking of stress, in lieu of a formal press release, I would like to bring MENDELnikes as up to date as possible, on the status of YIVO's move. 1048 Fifth Avenue, which has been YIVO's home since 1955, has been sold to the Serge Sabarsky Foundation, which will renovate and remodel the building and turn it into a 20th century art gallery. YIVO is in the process of buying a much larger building near Union Square, and the expectation is that we will be joined there by other Jewish research institutions. Discussions are ongoing with an organization that is involved in the documentation of Central European Jewry, another organization that specializes in Judaica Americana, and a small Judaica museum. Any or all of these could join us (as partners), but it is premature to broadcast this over the net -- even if the names of the institutions are not exactly a secret. Because of the terms of sale and the extensive renovations that will be necessary for the downtown site, YIVO will be relocating to an interim site for perhaps as long as two years. The offices and part of the library and archival collections will most likely be located on West 57th Street; most of the collections will however be in a nearby warehouse. Library and archival services will be somewhat limited during the interim period, but we will continue to be open to the public. Classes and public programs will continue, perhaps on a somewhat expanded scale. The most immediate detail is that YIVO's Library and Archives will be closing to the public circa July 1, 1994 and will reopen at the interim site in the Fall, probably after the High Holy Days. I will keep MENDELnikes posted regarding precise dates, addresses, and partners. Zachary Baker, YIVO Library 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jun 7 14:21:17 1994 From: jcammy@husc.harvard.edu Subject: Der Nister Adam Weisberger asked recently about English translations of Der Nister. You may want to look at: 1) Family Mashber (Mishpokhe Mashber). Trans. Leonard Wolf. New York: Summit Books, 1987. 2) I believe that one or two Der Nister short stories may appear in Irving Howe and Eliezer Greenberg, Treasury of Yiddish Stories. Aryeh-Leib (Justin) Cammy 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Jun 8 07:24:29 1994 From: BOULANGER@MESIOB.OBSPM.FR Subject: Der Nister in English To Adam Weisberger: You will find English translations of Der Nister's tales in: _Ashes out of Hope: Fiction by Soviet Yiddish Writers_ ed by Irving Howe and Eliezer Greenberg, NY: Schocken, 1977, which contains the story "Under a Fence: A Review", but you should warn your students that the main character is called in English a "scholar" in that translation, while the original Yiddish word, "nozir", should rather be translaated as "hermit" Other stories, (where lots of hermits appear as well) can be found in : Joachim Neugroschel, ed and trans., Great Works of Jewish Fantasy, also under a different title: "Yenne velt...", various reeditions. Last but not least, the story "From my Estates" can be found in _an Anthology of Modern Yiddish Literature_, Mouton: The Hague, 1974, ed. Joseph Leftwich. For an extensive interpretation of the tales, you could have a look at my book: Delphine Bechtel, _Der Nister's Tales 1907-1929: A Study of a Yiddish Symbolist_, Bern-Frankfurt-NY-Paris: Peter Lang, 1990. There is also a translaation of Der Nister's novel _The Family Mashber_ by Leonard Wolf, with an introduction, NY: Summit Books, 1987. I wish you good luck in teaching this fascinating author Delphine Bechtel 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jun 7 13:42:33 1994 From: BROWN.MITCHELL@tntv7.ntrs.com Subject: DER NISTER in English About 5 years ago a translation of his novel THE FAMILY MASHBER came out to much acclaim. I am sure that it is still available. Mitchell Brown 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jun 7 17:29:46 1994 From: zbarlev@zeus.sdsu.edu Subject: Pronouncing vav ("and") before bilabials in hebrew (especially formal style) this pronunciation of vav before all labials (NB: all labials, not just bi-) indeed obtains, e.g. u-faratsta "and you will break through" < ve-paratsta. in modern hebrew, this has begun to be ignored, especially with names: u- pesahh (or even ve-pesahh) instead of u-fesahh, u-pariz, ve-pariz instead of u-pariz "and Paris". i wouldn't expect such a subtlety to transfer to a second language (yiddish) -- but that's really up to speakers of the language. similarly, we can say cherubim in english, but cherubs sounds fine too. zev bar-lev ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.016 A Table of Contents is now available via anonymous ftp, along with weekly updates. 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