Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.199 November 27, 1994 1) Gantsfri (Kayle Goodman) 2) Spelling and phonetics (Rick Turkel) 3) Distinctive aspiration (Mikhl Herzog) 4) Sutskever (Glenn Levine) 5) Call for papers (MaryEllen Read) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 25 Nov 1994 16:15:56 -0800 From: ac939@lafn.org Subject: Gantsfri Bob Rothstein inquires about the expression gants fri etc. My mother only used fortseleranye when she was extremely upset as when we were too tired to get up in the morning to help her but we would get ready in a second if a friend came calling. Most of the time she would use the term "gants fri mit der roschene" The roschene was the early morning rising of the yeast for the bread which was being prepared. Hope this helps a bit. Kayle Goodman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 27 Nov 94 02:33:57 EST From: rturkel@cas.org Subject: Spelling and phonetics In Mendele 4.197, Khayem Bochner wrote: >Similarly, the usual descriptions imply that the word we transcribe as >"shabesdik" should be pronounced as "shabezdik", since the /s/ is >supposed to become voiced before the voiced /d/. I'm fairly sure that's >not the way I usually hear the word pronounced. But then what do speakers >of various dialects actually say? [shabezdik], [shabestik], or perhaps >[shabesdik] with an unassimilated cluster? Instrumental studies would be >the best way to find out for sure. I vote for [shabesdik] (after talking to myself for the past ten minutes). Could the lack of assimilation relate to the fact that it's composed of a Hebrew root and a Germanic suffix? I think [peysakhdik] (vs. [peysakhtik]) and [yontifdik] (vs. [yontiftik] or [yontivdik] would be similar situations, although [peysadik] ( < [*peysardik] < [peysakhdik] ?? ), which I think I've also heard, might argue for voicing before the /d/. Rick Turkel 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 27 Nov 94 10:46 EST From: zogur@cuvmb.columbia.edu Subject: Distinctive aspiration Khayem Bochner: The claim about distinctive aspiration, which you correctly attribute to Weinreich (Atlas, Volume I), Weinreich attributes to Beranek and Guggenheim-Gruenberg. It's hard to assess the reliability of our own data for demonstrating the necessary contrasts. Our only "real" Western Yiddish speakers are from Alsace, Switzerland, Holland, and western Hungary. Elsewhere, our western respondents are German speakers from whom we can elicit isolated Western Yiddish words and expressions. These may be enough to demonstrate, and our field-notes may be adequate to reveal, "same or different" for such pairs as _peysakh_ 'Passover'-- _beyzer_ 'angry man' (p- = b- and -x = -r [realized as gamma]), but I think that Volume V, _Western Yiddish_ will have to rely on instrumental studies if it's to distinguish aspiration in such pairs as words for 'Passover' and 'pepper' ([p-], [ph-]?). By the way, a positional "r/x" merger is also a feature of some Northeastern Yiddish varieties of the [shabeZDik] type, in which _ikh gey_ and _ir geyt_ are distinguished only by the presence or absence of word-final [t]. I suspect that this may also be a factor in the Northeastern Yiddish case merger of _mir/mikh_, _dir/dikh_. In the [shabeZDik] class, also belong such expressions as [voz vilstu?], [gandz gut], and [a hibzh bisl], as well. In my message to Arn Abramson, the other day, I recalled its carryover into Uriel Weinreich's English: [The fagd that], etc. [shabeSDik] and [shabeSTik] also occur. I'm also not a good enough phonetician to tell you whether there is any distinctive aspiration in Eastern Yiddish. I'm not aware of any. If Neil Jacobs is lurking, perhaps he can tell us whether he's encountered it. By the way, where are your parents from? If we have recordings of others from the same locations, we might be able to listen for it. Mikhl Herzog 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 26 Nov 1994 18:05:40 -0600 (CST) From: schmuel@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu Subject: Sutskever [re: Dagmar Mirre's question] You can purchase Sutskever and thousands of other books through the National Yiddish Book Center in Massachusetts . The address is: 48 Woodbridge Street South Hadley, MA 01075 Just write and ask them for their most recent catalog, but because they do not yet have a complete catalog of all their holdings (I'm not sure if they'll ever have this), you should ask for a printout of titles they have by the authors (or in the subjects) you're interested in. Glenn Levine 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 25 Nov 1994 16:46:13 -0500 (CDT) From: mread@creighton.edu Subject: Call for papers ******************************************************** The Eighth Annual Klutznick Symposium September 17-18, 1995 Representation of Jews through the Ages A Call for Papers ******************************************************* Creighton University's Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization and Center for the Study of Religion and Society will host the Eighth Annual Klutznick Symposium to take place in Omaha, Nebraska on Sunday September 17 and Monday September 18, 1995. The theme of the Symposium will be "Representations of Jews through the Ages." Western history is replete with representations of Jews. This symposium will explore those representations in theater, art, music, fiction, political propaganda, religious literature, various forms of popular culture, and any other field of endeavor. The Program Committee is interested not only in what the representations have been, but also in what they tell us about their creators and about the time in which they were created. Those chosen to participate in the symposium will be expected to submit their papers in a scholarly form appropriate for publication. They will also have twenty minutes to present the essential elements of their papers in a manner suitable to an audience comprised of the general public and scholars. Please note that the reading of academic papers would not be appropriate. Subsidies for the presenter's costs of transportation and accommodation will be provided. It is expected that the symposium papers will be published in book form. For further information contact Maryellen Read, c/o The Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization, or Bryan Le Beau, Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society. One page abstracts and vitae should be submitted to either Ms. Read or Dr. Le Beau by April 1, 1995. ******************************************************* * The Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization * (e-mail: mread@creighton.edu phone: 402-280-2303) * The Center for the Study of Religion & Society * (e-mail: blbeau@creighton.edu phone: 402-280-2652) * Creighton University * 2500 California Plaza, Omaha NE 68178 ******************************************************* MaryEllen Read ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.199 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) 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 Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listserv@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele nomail b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail c. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu