Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.032 June 20, 1994 1) Introduction (Stephen Walter) 2) Introduction (Jonathan Decter) 3) Shabbatai Zvi (Kathrrynh Hellerstein) 4) Shlimazl (Meyshe-Yankl Sweet) 5) Shlemiel and shlimazl (David Sherman) 6) Shlemiel and shlimazl (Rick Turkel) 7) Shlemiel, shlemazel, gonif, khilek (Arre Komar) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Jun 20 09:23:49 1994 From: stephen.walter@contraxx.com Subject: Introduction I grew up in Munich; relax - I am Italian; I cannot help to notice how much Yiddish resembles the Bavarian dialect, more so than high-German. Since I attended the Volkschule and was immersed in that dialect many years ago, I couldn't help notice the phonetic resemblance. Anyone else can relate to that or give me some feedback? I find it utterly delightlful being able to understand so much Yiddish, I almost feel right at home! ...Stephen Walter (Serra) 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Jun 20 11:21:58 1994 From: DECTER@LOGOS.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU Subject: Introduction; Jewish film My name is Jonathan Decter and I am writing to introduce myself to mendele. I will be starting a PhD program at JTS next year in Medieval Jewish Studies but am primarily writing about my current place of work, which I am trying to bring into the world of modern telecommunications. I work at the National Center for Jewish Film which is a unique archive/distribution center for films of Jewish content. I imagine a number of you are familiar with us and our work already. The Center was established 18 years ago to restore a collection of about 40 Yiddish feature films. The Center is now the largest archive of Jewish film material outside of Israel. We distribute films and videos and have lots of information on the material and the people who made it. For more info on any of this, please respond. Also, we are always looking for relevant film material and information concerning it. If you have any film rotting away, of Jewish rituals, holidays, Israel, etc., we'd love to know about it. Jonathan Decter 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun Jun 19 17:30:33 1994 From: khellers@sas.upenn.edu Subject: Shabbatai Zvi The query about Shabbatai Zvi in Yiddish literature -- has anyone mentioned Isaac Bashevis Singer's novel, "Satan in Goray" (translated by Jacob Sloan, pub. by Avon, 1966). Now out of print, but I've found copies in libraries and used bookstore. Originally published in Warsaw in 1933, I think. The Yiddish is very difficult. The translation is good, although Seth Wolitz has written an essay on the Yiddish text, to the detriment of the translation. Kathryn Hellerstein 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun Jun 19 15:36:01 1994 From: msweet@facstaff.wisc.edu Subject: Shlimazl How can anyone doubt that shlimazl, however that be correctly spelled in German, was a borrowing from a Jewish language--the word "mazl" is undeniably of Hebrew origin, and would hardly have been taken from German into Yiddish? It is also a colloquial Dutch word (mazzel), meaning good luck, doubtless also from Western Yiddish. Incidentely, do any of the Dutch speakers out there know of a book about Yiddish influences in the Dutch language? Meyshe-Yankl Sweet 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun Jun 19 19:44:11 1994 From: dave@cai.lsuc.on.ca Subject: shlemiel and shlimazl Yitzhak Kertesz refers to Mark Devlin's "Chuzpe, Schlamassel, Schlemiel" and says: > what is your proof that the last two were borrowed Y>G and not G>Y? Am I missing something here? shlim+mazl=shlimazl. "shlim" could be German or Yiddish, meaning "bad", but "mazl" is unquestionably Yiddish (from Hebrew), not German. And shlemiel is from the Hebrew shlumi'el (ben tsurishadday), one of the Bnai Yisroel tribal princes in the Chumash. How could either of these gone G>Y? David Sherman 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun Jun 19 22:21:13 1994 From: rturkel@cas.org Subject: shlemiel/shlimazl In mendele 4.031 Yitzhak Kertesz questions the direction of borrowing of shlemiel and shlimazl between Yiddish and German. My understanding of the etymology of shlimazl is shlim + mazl, i.e., a person with bad luck. Since the second element of this word is of Hebrew origin, it's pretty clear that the borrowing was from Yiddish to German, not the other way around. Similarly, I think that shlemiel is somehow related to the Hebrew name shlumiel, leading to the same conclusion for this word. When I studied German in college, I remember reading a book or story (I can't recall which) containing the following quote: "Bist du meschugge, Mensch?" Since meshuge, too, is a Yiddish word of Hebrew origin, I inferred that there was a small but significant level of borrowing from Yiddish into German, most likely as a result of the sizeable prewar population of Jews in Germany who were more assimilated into the mainstream culture, where they would have the potential to affect the language. Similarly, any good Polish dictionary also contains a small number of words obviously derived from Yiddish, which I assume got there via the same mechanism. Rick Turkel 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Jun 20 14:02:10 1994 From: komar@yu1.yu.edu Subject: Shlemiel, shlemazel, gonif, khilek The Yiddish roots of shlemazel seem clear in the last syllable, Mazel, however the first syllable, shlim, is clearly of germanic origin, although it is also a perfectly good Yiddish word. Hence overall I would rate shlemazel as Yiddish to german rather than contrarywise. Shlemiel iz eppis an andere zakh. I was always puzzled by the name of the classic work of von Chamisso, "Peter Schlemihl", an early Faustian legend. There was nothing particularly Jewish about it. Could anyone shed light on the relationship, if any, to the current Yiddish (and German) usage of the word? Another Yiddish intrusion into German to be noted is found reasonably commonly in Austrian pulp detective fiction and slang: Gonif. Ober tayere khaver Mikhl Herzog, vos far a Yiddishe vort iz khilek? Ven men meynt untershied farvos zogt men nisht untershied? :-) Arre Komar ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.032 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. Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu