Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.285 March 24, 1996 1) Apple Hebrew/Yiddish software (Morrie Feller) 2) Needed: info on "u"s and "i"s (Yankev Lewis) 3) Roykh and ruakh (Mendy Fliegler) 4) Roykh and ruakh (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 5) Roykh and ruakh (Hugh Denman) 6) Vayomer-dovid-glitshn (Herbert Davidson) 7) Kultur-Kongres premyes (Daniel Soyer) 8) Diminutives (Zellig Bach) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 17 Mar 1996 18:49:21 -1000 From: feller@indirect.com Subject: Apple Hebrew/Yiddish software A word of caution about the new Apple Hebrew software which is supposed to be Yiddish capable. I ordered this package, and after a two-month delay it finally arrived. When I checked the keyboard layout, the only Yiddish key was that of the double yud with a pahtakh under it. There was no sign of any other special Yiddish key such as a fey with the line over it, etc. So I have returned it for credit. I forgot to mention that the price was $100 plus tax and shipping. Now I have received a catalogue from Davka in Chicago which is advertising Nisus 4.1 for the Macintosh which comes with this same Apple Hebrew/Yiddish kit. If anyone has any information which indicates that I have erred in judging this kit, please let me know. Morrie Feller 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 08:09:32 -0500 From: justin.lewis@utoronto.ca Subject: Needed: info on "u"s and "i"s Thanks to Mikhl Herzog for his detailed clarification of the pronunciation of "zun" "zin" and "ziin" in different dialects. Is this kind of information available in print? Yankev Lewis 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 18 Mar 1996 16:21:53 -0500 (EST) From: efliegle@CapAccess.org Subject: Ruakh un royakh un Rikh... Ikh gedenk nor, als kind, az men hot gezukt: ruakh= 'spirit'; royakh iz 'smuk or smoke', and "a rikh zol zey/im/ir trefn " az: May the devil take them/him/her...." Iz dos gerekht?? Mendy Fliegler 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 08:55:51 -0500 From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: Ruakh or rikh Arre Komar heard the expletive as 'der roykh (smoke) zol zey nemen' and Zellig says 'ruakh (meaning wind in Hebrew) zol zey nemen' was the curse. My bobe (she was the hearty one in the meshpokhe who cursed vociferously - my parents were too polite) used to explode, ' a rikh zol im nemen!' ('let the devil take him!') or a 'rikh in zayn tatn arayn!' ('I wish he had never had been born".) How about 'Pu tzu ale shvartze rikhes!' ? Genug mit di rikhes. A zeesn, lebedikn, gezuntn Peysekh aykh alemen. Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 17:37:22 +0000 From: uclhhfd@ucl.ac.uk Subject: Roykh and ruekh Kathleen Rose appears to be falling into the Volksetymologie-trap that constantly awaits the unwary in our field. When I taught Yiddish in Ireland "outreach"-students were often 'discovering' Gaelic words derived from Hebrew (which some regarded as corrobation of their belief that the Irish were one of the Ten Lost Tribes). Appealing as it might be to derive Bavarian 'ruach' from Yiddish or Hebrew, the fact is that the Austro-Bavarian form is a regular derivative from MHG 'ruch' from which comes the cognate NHG 'rauh' meaning 'coarse' or 'rough' [with which it is, of course, also (though more distantly) related]. 'Rauch' and 'roykh' (i.e. 'smoke') are from MHG 'rouch'. This is not, of course, to deny the frequency of convergence phenomena. There exists a way above average number of instances where Yiddish words have double etymologies, i.e. they are simultaneously derived from etyma in more than one component. In such cases it is not fruitful to attempt a determination. The reciprocal reinforcement should be regarded as a further illustration of the fusion character of the language. However, the recognition of this phenomenon does not give us carte blanche to derive words in one component language from another. Hugh Denman London 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 11:57:51 -0800 From: hdavidso@ucla.edu Subject: Vayomer David skating I recall Louis Ginsberg's writing someplace that they would ice-skate with head lowered on the arm and call it the vayomer David maneuver. Herbert Davidson 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 19 Mar 96 19:08:13 EST From: 74212.2700@compuserve.com Subject: Kultur-Kongres premyes Der alveltlekher yidisher kultur-kongres meldet az er vet hay-yor tsuteyln zayne dray literarishe un yidishe kultur premyes tsu di dray yunge yidish-shefers , geboyrene in di fareynikte shtatn un kanade: Dovid Hirsh Roskies, Dovid Elyahu Fishman, un Zalmen N. Mlotek. Di fayerung fun oysteyln di premyes vet forkumen dem kumendikn zuntik, dem 24stn marts, 3:00 nokh mitog in binyon fun arbeter-ring, 45 East 33rd Street, New York. Ale zaynen farbetn tsu kumen. Daniel Soyer 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 23:12:16 -0500 From: zellig@aol.com Subject: Diminutives Jason Payne (5.258,6) asks: "Does anyone know of instances where the diminutive -ele- is used to feminize a male? For example, referring to a male secretary named Moishe as 'Moishele' in order to give [it] a pejorative, decidedly feminine slant." The answer is no. The diminutive _endearing _ suffixes -ele- or -nyu-, as in Yosele or Yosenyu, do not "feminize" the bearer, nor do they in and of themselves carry pejorative intent. Quite the contrary: To have the suffix -ele- added to the diminutive of one's name is an expression of endearment and respect. In an exceptional case, if the man called "Moyshele," in the example above, happens to manifest some effeminate characteristics, he is most likely so called _not_ on account of these particular features. No one could ever imagine that our very own and revered _Mendele_, whose name we proudly bear on the masthead of these pages and as members of the Mendelyaner khavruse, was ever intended to be pejorative. Although as a rule one outgrows the endearing names of childhood and adolescence, and a "Yosele" or "Yosenyu" usually becomes Yosl or Yoysef, an interesting phenomenon in this respect exists in the world of _khazonim_ [cantors]. In many cases the diminutive endearing names remain attached to them throughout their adulthood and careers. For instance: Yosele Rozenblat, or Leybele Waldman. This fact may, in part, be explained that, prior to becoming world-famous khazonim, they manifested their extraordinary musical gifts while still very young children, that is when they quite naturally were known by a child's diminutive, and endearing, name. They usually started out as members of a cantor's choir, soon to be singled out by being entrusted with long and sometimes intricate _solo_ numbers delivered from the choir loft, to the great oyneg fraytic and oyneg shabes delight of the congregations. [Oyneg -- joy.] As they grew up and became full-fledged cantors in their own right, they happily retained their past status with -ele-, with the admiration, approval, and great love of the people. I remember when during an international concert tour Yosele Rozenblat performed, in the 1930's, in Kovne (Kaunas), Lithuania. He was, indeed, very tiny, almost like a child, as befitting his name Yosele, and the thought occurred to me then that if a stage hand had placed him on a chair, as is often the case with a performing child, the audience would have understood and accepted it. But his voice! A divine golden thread to behold in one's mind for almost half a century, a supreme natural phenomenon beyond words of description. The case of the diminutive-endearing name lasting a lifetime is also found in the khsidishe world. Thus we have Reb Aizikl fun Komarne, R' Arele Tversky, R' Itsikl Vurker, R' Borukhl fun Mezbizh, R' Mendele Kotsker, and many, many others. While the love and devotion that khsidim have for their rebes would in part explain their disciples referring to them by the diminutive-endearing names, the dynasty factor may also play a role in such nomenclature, since a rebe's son, if gifted, is often talked about, while still a child, as the heir presumptive. I grant you that the dynasty factor is not a sufficient explanation for the diminutive-endearing names of the khsidishe rebes, but in this case it is more of a speculation on my part. Zellig Bach ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.285