Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.146 October 20, 1995 1) Khapn (Daniel Soyer) 2) Khapn (Eliyahu Juni) 3) Khapn (Moshe Sheskin) 4) A git vinter (Dovid Yosef Herskovic) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 19 Oct 95 18:46:10 EDT From: 74212.2700@compuserve.com Subject: Khapn I recall that Sholem Aleichem used the word "lokkhenen" (or is it "lakakhenen," "lakkhenen,") from the Hebrew lamed-kuf-khes, meaning to take. I think I remember it from Motl Peysi, and as I recall it was a kind of cute euphemism to use when one didn't quite want to say that someone had stolen something, but that is in fact what he/she had done. Daniel Soyer 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 23:26:22 -0400 From: ao107@freenet.carleton.ca Subject: Khap'n, khapts'm and pak'n What with the yontoyvim and enough schoolwork to last a yur in a mitvokh, I'm way way way behind on Mendele, and thus will be writing on some topics which have begun to fade from memory; I'll try to refer to volume numbers where I remember them. Rick Gildermeister (5.139) is correct in surmising that the "ts" in "Khapts-im" is a suffix being added to imperatives; for me, it's not just an addition, but the plural imperative marker, necessary when addressing two or more people, and contrasted with the singular imperative. "Ets tsvay, her owf ts'redn" is anomalous to my ear--it should be "Ets tsvay, herts owf ts'redn". The noun "khapts'm" is Yinglish, not Yiddish--an adaptation of the (formerly) oft-heard cry in the streets of "Khapts-im" (an imperative sentence). The former is used by non-Yiddish speakers, as in "There was a huge khapts'm on Thirteenth Avenue this morning, but the cops came and stopped it." The latter is an imperative sentence, used to rally the troops after a mugger or any other unwelcome element--rarely in Boro Park, more often in Williamsburg. No Yiddish speaker will use the noun--it hasn't made its way back into Yiddish, and would sound very anomalous. I have deliberately distinguished the spelling of "khapts'm" and "Khapts-im", not only because they're grammatically distinct, but because my nose tells me there's a slight differnce in the phonology (actual sounds): the last vowel is articulated in the imperative, but lost in the noun; when the imperative sentence is shouted (as is usually the case), the last vowel is extremely elongated ("Khapts-iiiiiiiiiiiiim!!!"). And the noun can show up as "khapts'n" (possibly a case of homorganic nasal assimilation?). As for other uses of "khapn," one that wasn't mentioned was "khapn shrayim"--when, at a tish, kh'sidim try their best to grab the rebbe's leftovers, which get passed around the table. Also, in yeshives and the lomdishe world in general, to "khap" something is to realize it/understand it/'get' it. e.g. "Demults hob ikh g'khapt far vus der Rashbe hot du arayng'brenkt a toysfes fin zvokhim." (It's used in American Yeshivishese quite a lot, even outside the context of lern'n, e.g. "I don't khap why they didn't have a khapts'm when the shaygets broke the window." It isn't used in Israeli Yeshivishese, possibly because Yiddish agreement suffixes are less similar to Hebrew suffixes than to English ones, so using Yiddish verbs sounds more anomalous in Hebrew than it does in English. Cf. fargin'n, which can be used in Yinglish, but has been changed into Hebrew "l'fargen", as in "Ani lo m'fargen la.") Regarding khap'n and pak'n, I'm familiar with both, but for me, the former is a physical catching, while the latter refers to knowledge, catching someone in the act, finding out/proving what they've done. To wit: "kh'o'g'pakt a ganif in maan shtib in mitn di nakht, ober ikh hob'm nisht g'kont khap'n." ('I caught [i.e. interrupted, espied] a thief in my room in the middle of the night, but I couldn't catch [apprehend] him.') "Di polislayt fin losandzheles hob'n g'khapt Vadzhe Yankel Simpson, ober zay hob'n'm nisht g'kont pak'n--er hot farbrent zayne hentshkes." ('The L.A. police caught O.J. Simpson [i.e. prevented him from escaping], but they couldn't catch him [in a crime, show he committed a crime]--he burned his gloves.') My translations are obviously rather loose, but to me, both those sentences make perfect sense. Do they sound strange to anyone else? (As far as I know, the plural of "politsay" is "politsay", but I've also come across "polislayt;" I suspect it's an Americanism, based on an analogy: yingerman-->yingelayt, ureman-->uremelayt, policeman-->polislayt.) Eliyahu Juni 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 13:00:40 GMT From: sheskin@netmedia.co.il Subject: Khapn I can remember the pawn shop district in Montreal during the 30's and 40's where men were hired to stand outside some of these stores with the sole purpose of enticing pedestrians to come in and buy or "sell". They were called "khappers". Here too, the inference is alike to kidnapping someone or control by great persuasion or mind bending. Moshe Sheskin Hulda, Israel 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 19 Oct 95 19:46:36 EDT From: 100114.750@compuserve.com Subject: a git vinter in der shtibl vi ikh daven hot zikh yeydr gevinchen motse yom tev "a gite vokh in a git vinter". vi vat ikh vays tit men zikh azoy vinchen zvishen haymishe yiden. s'iz do vos laygen zi "in a git yor". a git vinter far ale (a git zimer far di ostralyaner mendlyaner) dovid yosef herskovic ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.146 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) 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 subscribe: sub mendele first_name last_name d. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu ****Getting back issues**** 1. 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