Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.217 January 15, 1996 1) Yugntruf Aktivitetn: Yanuar (Ruvn Millman) 2) Katz-Philologus (Keyle Goodman) 3) Yiddish use by the Haredim (Steve Jacobson) 4) Farpotshket (Shleyme Axelrod) 5) Farpotshket (Bernard S. Greenberg) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 00:29:40 -0500 From: ruvn@aol.com Subject: Yugntruf Aktivitetn: Yanuar Yugntruf Activities for January..................... The Yiddish Discussion Group is inaugurating a new series: _The Older Generation Reminisces_ Our first speaker will be Dr. Mordkhe Schaechter, devoted researcher and teacher of mame-loshn. he will speak in the Southern Yiddish dialect of his native town, Czernowitz. Come and hear his stories! Sun., Jan. 28th at 2:pm at Beit Ephraim, 535 W. 112 Street (btween Amsterdam and Broadway) in Manhattan. Refreshments will be served. Admission: Yugntruf members $2; non-members $3; all students $1. RSVP by Jan. 27th to Brukhe Lang (212) 280-1168. *** Yugntruf's Yiddish Writers' Circle will meet Thurs., Jan 25th, 6:00pm in our office at 200 West 72nd St. #40. Come and read your latest poem or short story, or just come and listen. *** Come and join in a game of Basketball in Yiddish! Yugntrufistn (and some) play most Wednesdays at 8:00am. For further detail call Ruvn Millman (718) 237-0961 or ruvn@aol.com. Do You Know of an Indoor Basketball Court Where We Could Play? If so, please contact Ruvn (number above)! *** *** *** *** *** Der shmueskrayz firt ayn a naye serye: Der Elterer Dor Dermont Zikh Der ershter bal-zikhroynes vet zayn d"r Mordkhe Schaechter, forsher, lerer un libhober fun mame-loshn. An opshtamiker fun Tshernovits, vet er redn af zayn heymishn durm-Yidish. Kumt hern zayne zikhroynes!! Zuntik, dem 28stn yanuar, 2:00 nokh mitik in Beys-Efrayim, 535 vest 112te gas (tsvishn Amsterdam un Broadway) Manhattan. Me vet derlangen kibud. Arayntrit: Yugntruf-mitglider $2; nisht-mitglider $3; ale studentn $1. Entfert, zayt moykhl, bizn 27stn yanuar: Brukhe Lang (212) 280-1168. *** Der Yugntruf-shraybkrayz treft zikh donershtik, dem 25stn yanuar, 6:00 nokh mitik in undzer byuro (200 vest 72ste gas, numer #40). Kumt leynt fir ayers a lid, tsi an esey, tsi a detseylung, oder hert zikh nor tsu vi andere leynen. *** Kumt nemt onteyl in Yidish-Koyshbol!!! Yugntrufistn (un andere) shpiln (kemat) ale mitvokh, 8:00 in der fri. Vayterdike protim: Ruvn Millman (718) 237-0961 oder ruvn@aol.com. Tsi kent ir a drinendikn koyshbolplats, vu me volt gekent spiln? Oyb yo, zayt azoy gut un klingt Ruvnen (number oybn)! Ruvn Millman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 08:49:27 -0800 From: ac939@lafn.org Subject: Philologos Zachary Baker hot geshribn vegn Dovid Katz entfer tsu Philologos en der "Forverts" (6 yanuar). Efsher iz es meglekh tsu shraybn dem artikl oyf mendele. Oyb s'iz tsu lang, efsher ken er ibershraybn der tamtses fun dem artikl. A dank foroys. Keyle (Kay) Goodman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 08:38:01 -0900 (AKST) From: ffsaj@aurora.alaska.edu Subject: Yiddish use by the Haredim Does anyone know of any accurate research concerning the true extent of the use of Yiddish as a vernacular among the Haredim? What I have read here on Mendele or elsewhere always seems very impressionistic and the reports are very much at odds with each other. Some people say that Yiddish is _the_ everyday language of the ultra-orthodox in the US, Israel and elsewhere, and that since these groups have a high birthrate the number of Yiddish speakers is ever increasing (even if we secular Yiddish lovers don't exactly approve of the people who really speack the language all the time every day). Others say that even among the ultra-orthodox the land language, English in the US, Hebrew in Israel, is gaining ground as a vernacular and the the Yiddish which is still spoken shows certain signs of decay (impoverished vocabulary, etc.), so that the last sizable bastion of first-language Yiddish use is declining despite high birthrates. I suspect that the true situation is somewhere between these two views, but I would like to see some accurate statistics. Two questions along this line. Are there any Haredi subscribers to Mendele who might be able to give a real insiders view, even if only another impressionistic view? And, is it true as it appears to me, that there are no ultra-orthodox or even not-so-ultra orthodox Yiddish newspapers in Israel? (There are three such in the US, Der Yid, Di Algemeiner Zhurnal, and Di Tsaitung, but I know of none from Israel where there are several Hebrew newspapers associated with the religious parties, despite the common assertion that the Haredi in Israel use only Yiddish for mundane matters rather than the Holy Tongue). Steve Jacobson 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 14:10:54 -0500 (EST) From: ptyaxel@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu Subject: Farpotshket Daniel Bugel (5.214) forwards an inquiry to a translators list, in which " 'farpotshket' (Yiddish)" is glossed as 'Something that is all fouled up, especially as the result of an attempt to fix it...." The inquiry goes on to identify "to farpotshket" as a transitive verb. As Mr Bugel suspects, "to farpotshket" is impossible as a verb; so is "farpotshket" as a noun. No doubt the root of the word is _patshken_ 'daub, smear, scribble, scrawl'; --_patshken zikh (mit)_ 'bother with (something messy)' [Weinreich (1968), who also gives _onpatshken_ 'make a mess; scribble (perfective)']. For _patshken_, Harkavy (1928) adds 'to dirty, soil', which he also gives as the gloss of both _farpatshken_ and _onpatshken_. So I suppose _farpatshket_ can by easy extension mean 'fouled up as a result of an attempt to fix'. _ongepatshket_ is often used to mean 'excessively/tastelessly/confusingly tricked-out or ornamented or furnished'; maybe _farpatshket_ can mean the same thing, without necessarily implying "all fouled up" in the sense 'rendered inoperative or impossible to repair.' Shleyme Axelrod Buffalo, New York 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 12:25:42 -0500 From: bsg@basistech.com Subject: Farpotschket Daniel Bugel [5.214] asks: Can the transitive verb "to farpotshket" be counted upon as the one million and first word of the English language? The underlying verb, as far as I know, is "potschke(n)", which means, as far as I know, to mess around with, to tinker with, usually either idly or incompetently. These are the kind of uses I heard as a child: "Don't potschke with the TV; let's call Freddy who can fix it." (I got an EE degree anyway:) "Stop potschke'ing with the thermostat, you'll break it." I have never heard a past, participial use (farpotschket) as you site, but my mom's vernacular was not the definitive authority. I am very curious about the etymology of "potschke(n)". More usual for "fouled up" (in the sense of Ger. "kaputt") was "farblonget", as far as I know. Bernard S. Greenberg ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.217