Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.298 January 29, 1995 1) Khaver (Harold L. Orbach) 2) Khaver (Mikhl Herzog) 3) Names and name-pairing (Mikhl Herzog) 4) Even in Orange County, Jewish Tam (Louis Fridhandler) 5) Tifle and tume (Eli Katz) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 29 Jan 95 06:16 CST From: hlorbach@ksuvm Subject: Khaver The various recollections of 'khaver' and its use perhaps don't go back far enough to The Bund in Poland (the source of the Arbeter Ring). This is prior to "comrade" in its specifically Bolshevik usage and refers to the idea of fraternity and "brotherhood" -- a special bonding. As I grew up in a socialist/unionist context, 'khaver' and 'khaverte' were the equivalent of the common trade-union 'brother' and 'sister' as well as having the 'comradeship' connotation. The common form of address in the US [English-language] trade-union was 'brother' and 'sister' as in the Jewish-language unions it was 'khaver/khaverte.' 'Bund' may be due to German influence (listed and detailed in Harkavy in its Jewish-Polish usage). A classic sociological study of "the Bund" as a form of human social relationship treats it as a special form of human bonding and of course it means more generally confederation or covenant as in Bundesrepublik or as in my 1880's German dictionary 'bundeslade' = Ark of the Covenant. In the German-language unions, 'genosse' [genossenschaft] was widely used for 'brother/comrade' rather than the alternative [later?] 'c/kamerad' which came from the French 'camarade.' In Brecht's _Der Teppichweber von Kujan-Bulak Ehren Lenin_ (written before 1933) he uses "Genosse/n Lenin" for "comrade Lenin." Clearly, what Yiddish needs is a dictionary like the OED with citations and dates of usage showing meaning(s) in context. Mendele's learned contributors (unlike linguistically ignorant amateurs like myself) are providing raw material for such a project. Let's hope it gets done. Harold L. Orbach Manhattan, Kansas 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 29 Jan 95 16:57 EST From: zogur@cuvmb.columbia.edu Subject: More on _khaver_ In addition to _khaver_, note the Yiddish variant _khover_ 'Fellow', 'fellowship holder'. As for the political associations of the word, Paul Pascal recalls the feminine _khaverte_ from the political left in Winnipeg. In Toronto, we distinguished the Labor Zionist feminine _khavEYre_, from the non-(originally anti-)Zionist Workmen's Circle feminine _khAverte_. Mikhl Herzog 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 29 Jan 95 16:57 EST From: zogur@cuvmb.columbia.edu Subject: Names and name-pairing Dovid Braun and Khayim Bochner inquire about Shmuel-Zanvl. There are various principles at work in Yiddish name-pairing: I. Etymologically disparate equivalents: a) _Shrage-Fayvl (= Fayvush)_: _Shrage_ = Aramaic 'light' (?) _Fayvush_ (probably = Phoebus(-Apollo), although Latin _vivus_ has also been proposed_. _Fayvush/Fayvl_ is called up to the Torah as _Shrage_. In Israel, today, there is a frequent pairing of _Fayvush_ with _Uri_, instead. Similarly, _Faytl_ [Vital(y), Vidal] is called up as _Khayim_. b) _Dov-Ber_, Tsvi-Hirsh_, Arye-Leyb are of the same order-- translations eqivalents. c) Also, more or less translation equivalents: _Menakhem- Man/Mendl_ involves the misinterpretation of the Hebrew-origin _Menakhem_ as the diminutive of German _Mann_, i.e., _Maenchen_, of which _Mendl_ is the Yiddish equivalent. This may come closest to the pattern of the sought after _Shmuel-Zanvil_. The latter is, I believe, ultimately derived from a German rendition of "Samuel": [Zamuel, Zanuel, Zanvl]. II. Tribe and totem; quite a different pairing of some of the names in b) above: _Naftoli-Hirsh_, _Yehudo-Leyb_, _Osher- Lam/Leml_. III. Traditional pairings for which I don't know the rationale: _Itshe (=Yitskhok)-Mayer_, _Yekhiel-Mikhl_ (not me, by the way; I'm _Yisroyel-Mikhl_), _Yaynkef-Yitskhok_ (pairing of the "fathers", perhaps). I'd be glad to learn of other categories or explanations that any of you can adduce (and the reason for Dovid and Khaim's query). Mikhl Herzog 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Jan 95 14:26:01 EST From: 74064.1661@compuserve.com Subject: Even in Orange County, Jewish Tam Yidishkayt lebt nokh afile in Marants Kaunti, Kalifornie! Nekhtn bin ikh gegangen mit mayn vayb un tsvey tayere fraynd zen un hern klezmorim fun gor a hoykher madreyge, _Brave Old World_. Di shul hot zikh azh gevigt mitn yidishn tam. Ikh volt gemegt shvern az di vent hobn zikh a rir geton ven der gantser oylem hot gepatsht bravo. A sakh Mendelyaner veysn shoyn mistome az undzer khaver-Mendelyaner, Meyshke Alpert, shpilt un zingt un tantst mit der doziker grupe. Yasher koyekh, Stuart Brotman, Alan Bern, Kurt Bjorling, un Michael (Meyshke) Alpert! Louis Fridhandler 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 29 Jan 1995 15:50:55 -0800 (PST) From: katz@sonoma.edu Subject: Tifle and tume A belated contribution to Zellig Bach's discussion of "tifle" and "tume": The Jewish practice of referring to Christian places of worship by derogatory terms ("dysphemisms"?) is very old and continues into modern times. The Cambridge University Library manuscript (Taylor- Schechter 10. K. 22) published by L. Fuks as *The Oldest Known Literary Documents of Yiddish Literature* (1957) dates from 1382 and includes a fragment of an Old Yiddish adaptation of a German epic poem, "Dukus Horant". There already, instead of the anticipated Middle High German "munster", we find "tifle". There is a town somewhere in Ukraine called "Byelaya Tserkve" ("White Church") [Slavicists please excuse or, better still, correct the Russian/Ukrainian]. Jews frequently referred to it as "shvarts tume" or, more accurately in the regional dialect, "shvarts time". My father who lived in Vilne as a child around the turn of the century spoke of a church there that was referred to by Jews as "al di blinde kloyster". His account was as follows [once again I crave indulgence from the Slavicists]: the church was called "wsyech swyati" ("all saints"); this was distorted to "wsyech slyapi" ("all blind") which then became "al di blinde". Eli Katz ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.298 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. 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