Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.342 February 27, 1995 1) Vaybertaytsh (Paul Pascal) 2) Vayzusye's seykhl (Sheldon Benjamin) 3) Anumelt (Bob Rothstein) 4) Jewish Festival of Music (Martin Davis) 5) Gikh (Anno Siegel) 6) Gikher (Bob Rothstein) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 26 Feb 95 12:46:23 EST From: 75332.2735@compuserve.com Subject: Vaybertaytsh Lisa-Leah Jenschke's inquiry about the origins of Vaybertaytsh has prompted a question of my own: I have in my possession a Yiddish volume printed in Zhitomir in 1850, entitled Seyfer Noifess Tsufim. In fact, the title itself already presents a puzzle: while the bulk of the book is in Yiddish, the Russian transliteration of the title is in _Sefardic_ Hebrew, to wit-- Nofet Tsufim. But I digress. The publishers are the brothers Shapira (Shapiro?): Khanina-Lipa, Arye-Leyb, and Yoyshua-Heshl. And let me cut to the chase: I would like to know what sort of book I've got here. I've been told by a rabbinic friend that it might be a Tsenurena, but I personally don't think so. So I will quote, in transliteration, from the opening lines of the first page, and perhaps an apikoyres or two on this forum will recognize something from his (or her!) youth. Before beginning, I want to mention that my Yiddish transliteration is faithful in one respect to the Galitzianer accent--audible on the written page!--namely that melupm vov is clearly meant by the author to be pronounced as a yud throughout; I have transliterated it as such only in places where standard Yiddish would have used a yud to spell the word. On the other hand, I have omitted transliterating the author's yud in places where standard Yiddish omits it. For example, this text uses a yud before the final nun in "bashafn"; I omit it. I have also been faithful to the absence of punctuation, mainly because I was often unsure as to where exactly the periods should go. I'm also not 100% sure of my Hebrew transliteration. Btw, the only samekh that appears--ever--is in the Hebrew quotations; the Yiddish itself renders the s-sound only with a _sin_.). So here goes (non-Hebraicists, I assure you there's Yiddish in among the Hebrew quotations!): "_Breyshis boro eloyhim es hashomayim v'es ho'orets_ Rabi Shimen zogt es shteyt _V'asim dvaray b'fikho uv'tseyl yaday kisisikho lintoya shomayim v'lisoyd erets v'loymer litsiyoyn ami ato_ Fun dem posek lernt men op vi der mentsh badarf oisek zayn in der toyre yomom volaylo den Hakodesh-borekh-hu aleyn hert tsu zeyer kol un fun itlekhn vort vos der mentsh iz m'khadesh in der toyre un in kaboles soydes ha-toyre vert der fun [sic: two words] a bashafn a nayer himl dos heyst _rokiye khodosh_ den mir hobn gelernt b'oysoy sho'o as di divrey toyre geyen aroys fun zayn moyl geyen zey aroyf l'maalo un shteln zikh far Hakodesh-borekh-hu azoy nemt Hakodesh-borekh-hu dem diber un kusht im un kreynt im mit zibetsik kreynen fun di oyres elyoynim un ayn dvar khokhme az es vert banayet geyt dos aroyf un shvebt in zibetsik oylomes shel maalo un baheft zikh in di soydes shel maalo fun Hakodesh-borekh-hu un shvebn in di akhtsn veltn vos zenen far hoyln fun ale bashefenish dos oyf zey iz gezogt gevorn _Ayin loy ro'oso eloyhim zulaskho_ Fun dortn geyen di divrey toyre un shvebn far Hakodesh-borekh-hu un shteln zikh far im b'oysoy sho'o shmekt er zey un es iz tsu im _l'reyakh nikhoyakh_ liber fun alts vos oyf der velt..." This is clearly _not_ vaybertaytsh. But I have never heard of mystical, perhaps Kabbalistic, material written in Yiddish! If anyone can offer any help, I would be very grateful. Paul Pascal Toronto 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 15:13:24 EST From: sbenj@mit.edu Subject: Vayzusye's seykhl With Purim coming, perhaps some Mendelyaner would care to comment on the origin of the expression, "Vayzusye's Seykhl." I understand this phrase to be yet another way of referring to a fool and I take it that it derives from the name of the 10th son of Haman (Vyzota), but what do we know about the 10th son of Haman that led, if the above surmise is correct, to the expression, vayzusye's seykhl. Perhaps Reb Meyshe (Waldoks) can comment? Sheldon Benjamin Boston 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 22:27:08 -0500 (EST) From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: Anumelt Harvey Spiro asked about the etymology of the word _anumelt_ (4.320). According to the _Groyser verterbukh..._ it goes back to Middle High German ie-nuo-mal(t) (circumflex on the _a_). Bob Rothstein 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 26 Feb 95 16:01:26 EST From: davism@cs.nyu.edu Subject: Jewish Festival of Music at "Symphony Space" in Manhattan Beyond Shelter Coalition presents its 3rd annual Jewish Festival of Music with the Rottenberg Chorale, "internationally acclaimed Yiddish folk singer" Adrienne Cooper, and the West End Klezmorim. Symphony Space, Broadway at 95th Street, Manhattan, Monday, March 27 at 8PM. Tickets: $12. Members $9. Seniors/students/children $6. 212-864-5400. Martin Davis 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 27 Feb 95 00:17:31 +0100 From: anno4000@w172zrz.zrz.tu-berlin.de Subject: Gikh Yude Rozof mentions "af der gikh." Current German has a colloquialism "auf die schnelle," meaning "quickly, neglecting thoroughness." It has been in common use for no more than 20 or 30 years, and I have been taking it for an ellipsis from "auf die schnelle Tour" (the quick way). But "af der gikh" makes me wonder if it isn't much older, or if it has made its way, recently someway, from Yiddish to German slang. As for "pameylekh" I have also heard "melekh." This must be related to German "allmaehlich" (slowly, gradually) where "all-" is an intensifier attatched to the near extinct "maehlich." It is interesting that both languages now have a prefix in their standard word forms. What is the general function of the (Slavic?) "pa-" (or "po-")? Anno Siegel 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 23:15:23 -0500 (EST) From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: Gikher I'm probably not telling Mikhl Herzog anything he doesn't already know, but the use of _gikher_ in the meaning 'rather, preferably' (4.327) is paralleled by a similar use of Russian _skoree_ and Ukrainian _skorishe_, both literally meaning 'faster, quicker'. Bob Rothstein ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.342 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. 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