Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.140 October 12, 1995 1) Standards and dialects (Rick Gildemeister) 2) Newly published books (Zachary Baker) 3) Dialects and Khsidim (David Herskovic) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 95 09:13:18 EDT From: eeglc%cunyvm.bitnet@yalevm.cis.yale.edu Subject: Standards and dialects I've read the discussion on Standards and Dialects. I remember Zellig Bach's admonition that speaking or learning a standard is a matter of self-respect. People have said that Yiddish will wither away as a natural spoken language except in certain closed section like the khsidim, and the language that will remain among the nit-khsidishe yidn will be the klal shprakh (hope I interpreted that correctly). The klal shprakh was put together and is to a large extent a language that is no one's native tongue. I believe Masha Leon of the Forward said she grew up it Warsaw but used the klal shprakh (by which I assume she means in her family they said puter, shutef, meshune, and not piter, shitef, and meshine). I understand what Khayem Bokhner is trying to say about if you're going to speak a dialect, speak the "whole" dialect consistently. However, as Ellen Prince discussed once on the "Forverts shu" (oops! I mean sho), once a person speaking a non-standard dialect moves, he/ she may undergo dialect shift. What I'm trying to add to Khayem's idea is that you can take a snapshot of a dialect many times over a long period, and if it is influenced by another dialect, you'll often find changes. Social factors have a lot to do with it. For instance the litvish custom of saying s instead of sh, originated somewhere and spread, then if I recall my source correctly its territory began to shrink because of the stigma it bore. What needs to be added is social class. The balebatim in a community may speak one way and the proste yidn another. Only in America! (where everyone is part of the amorphous, spurious middle class). Rick Gildemeister 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 95 09:46:24 PDT From: bm.yib@rlg.stanford.edu Subject: Newly published books I would like to bring to the attention of Mendelyaner (Mendelayt?) two newly received books in German: Israela Klayman-Cohen. Die hebraeische Komponente im Westjiddischen am Beispiel der Memoiren der Glueckel von Hameln. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag, 1994. viii, 204 p. Vol. 4 of the series "Jidische schtudies." ISBN 3-87548-076-7 W. B. Lockwood. Lehrbuch der modernen jiddischen Sprache; mit ausgewaehlten Lesestuecken. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag, 1995. xiii, 249 p. ISBN 3-87118-987-1 The Lockwood book contains dedications to his father-in-law, Josef Schwarcz, and his daughter, Vera Lockwood Baviskar (who participated in work on the Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry, who died in 1987, at the age of only 41). Zachary Baker 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 12 Oct 95 13:38:38 EDT From: 100114.750@compuserve.com Subject: Dialects and Khsidim As a member of one of the khasidishe communities I must admit to finding the debate over 'correct' dialects slightly droll and quaint. I am sure many khasidim given the chance would share my views. An Oxford don using the kind of English found in 18th century novels or in the King James Bible would rightly be considered an old fogey. This is because languages are living organisms that change and adapt rather than museum exhibits. It is one thing to study the usage of language in times bygone. It is quite another to suggest that that is the only authentic version which must withstand sociological and geographical changes. The khasidishe and ultra frime communities are the _only_ communities where yidish continues to be mame loshen in the true sense of the word. There are thousands of boys and girls who know no other language. While this may be lamented from an educational point of view (mendele would definitely not be happy) it is they in the end who carry the language forward. I sense a certain imfarginekhz in the the haughty manner yidishisten sometimes look down at these groups. After all it is the secularists and apikorsim who built the medine and in a ruthless way tried to annihilate and obliterate any mention of yidish while it is their ultra-orthodox brethren, so often the subject of scorn and ridicule, who have steadfastly stuck to yidish as if it were given on barg sinay. The subject of 'correct' dialect therefore carries no weight with us. My father happens to be a minkacher and speaks a karpatisher yidish while in khayder and yeshive I mixed with kids from ingerishe, poylishe and galizyane backgrounds. Nobody ever mentions the slight differences for the simple reason that nobody cares. I am a Londoner and speak in that accent. When I switch on the radio and hear a Scottish presenter I may note the difference with which he or she pronounces various words the first time but after that he is just speaking English. Besides, because of the nature of languages the accents and dialects are categorised more as londener, antverpene, vilyamsburge, boro parker or benay beraker and yerisholaymer. One can still detect the parents background but this is gradually disappearing. One must also remember that whole passages in some of the works of mendele are almost rendered incomprehensible because of their Russian content. Though sholem alaykhem is not as 'bad' he still makes constant use of Russian words that were used in those days in conjunction with yidish. Nobody however calls it ridish or yussian. Payshe motels mother who is the most obstinate of the family in sticking to yidish also uses voken for gayn and other words, towards the end. I admit that papers like 'der yid' are not up to scratch but that has as much to do with the fact that many of their journalists, if we can call them that, can't write as with their command of the full vocabulary of the language. Has anyone here heard of Yom-Tev Erlikh? His yiddish is up to scratch his accent is a saftige Russian-litvish resulting in 36 cassettes which are a nakhes to listen to. One more point if I may. The beauty of yidish literature and language IMHO lies alot in the intertwining of psikim of tenakh and pieces of gemore and rashi. Take that out and it loses much of it's spark. Mendele knew this. So did sholem alaykhem, peyrez and yizkhok bashevis. (I don't know about khaym yankel :-). This kind of yidish still exists in khasidishe communities where kids learn little else but khimish mishnayyes and gemore. The yidish of those unfamiliar with these great works unfortunately lacks this essential ingredient. Just to give a small example. es kimt mir a mazel tov. s'iz ba mir geboyren gevoren a yingel. der bris is geveyzen eyrev sikes in ikh hob em a nomen gegeyben yisroel yakev. rifen vet men em sruli. yisroel is nokh a zayde in yakev is rayshis kol val es is ayns fin de shpizen ober okh val der kharakter fin yakev gefelt mir shtark. er is azoy vi der yid fin der shteytel imer optimistish afili in shark negative umshtanden. al kol ponim fratik zi nakhts hob ikh gemakht a zokher vi men get far di gest arbes. shabes zifri kimt zi mir zi a yid nokhen davenen in freykt mir "nu, men ken zogen loy nishar arbe eykhod? azons ken nor freygen a khayder graduate! David Herskovic ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.140