Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.298 April 7, 1996 1) Perets's essay "Hebrew --and Yiddish" (Leonard Prager) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 06 Apr 96 22:27:22 IST From: rhle302@uvm.haifa.ac.il Subject: Perets's essay "Hebrew --and Yiddish" Introduction: As I indicated in a recent notice, the above essay will be given in Hebrew translation in the third number of _Chulyot_. We can learn a great deal about the budding Yiddishist ideology from this editorial piece written eighty-seven years ago, but here I give the Yiddish text for the narrower purpose of examining the essay's language. Here I also isolate four possibly "daytshmerish" words from Perets's essay that some of today's readers might not want to see used in today's literary Yiddish. Are they all good kosher Yiddish words? Yiddish users will inevitably differ in their views as to what is or is not a "daytshmerizm" and even as to what is or is not a foreignism. The late Yudl Mark had a latitudinarian view of the Yiddish lexicon: any non-quoted lexeme in a running Yiddish text = a Yiddish word. Dovid Katz is considered by some to be "soft" on daytshmerizms and Mordkhe Shekhter, in the footsteps of the Weinreichs, is highly proscriptive in this area. (MEYYED = Weinreich dictionary; AH = Harkavi dictionary; Stutshkov = _Oytser fun der yidisher shprakh_). Note that MEYYED proscribes 1, looks askance at 4 and does not include 2 and 3, thus leaving us in the dark as to how these two words would have been stylistically judged. Glossary 1. _gegenvart_ ('present') < NHG die Gegenwart. MEYYED calls inadmissible in StY and writes See _itstikeyt_ 'the present'. Not in AH. 2. _hantiren mit_ ('use') < NHG. _hantieren mit_ 'work with, handle, operate, wield, use'. Not in MEYYED or AH. 3. _tsershtrayung_ ('dispersal') < NHG Zerstreuung 'scattering, dispersion; diffusion'. Not in MEYYED or AH. 4. _ufrikhtig_ 'sincere' /spelled oyf-/ . MEYYED regards as of doubtful admissibility in the Standard language. AH has _ufrikhtig_ , 'sincere, true; _ufrikhtikkeyt_ 'sincerity' and the verb _ufrikhtn_ 'to raise' 'to comfort'; _ufrikhtn zikh_ 'to rise'; _ufrikhtenish_ 'comfort, happiness' salvation'. There is a large entry on this word in vol. 1 of _Groyser verterbukh_ which removes all doubt about the word's Yiddish pedigree. Neither _gobelinen_ nor _makaten_ are in MEYYED or AH, but the second is in Stutshkov (368). _gobelinen_ ('Gobelin tapestries') is an internationalism, and completely transparent. For Eastern-European Yiddish speakers, the Slavic-orign _makaten_ ('tapestries') (Cf. Polish _makata_ 'tapestry') would be equally transparent. In my romanization I correct the German-influenced old-fashioned spelling of the original. A Germanized spelling does not make a good Yiddish word a "daytshmerizm." Y.-L. Perets, "Hebreish un -- Yudish ," _Di Yudishe Vokhenshrift_ 1-2 Warsaw, (1909), 1-2. "Lomir heren , vu dos folk redt. Hebreish ruft es _Loshn-koydesh_; dos iz fergrayzt fun "Loshn hakoydesh." Dos iz taytsh, nisht di heylige shprakh, nor di shprakh fun di heyligkeyt -- di shprakh fun der bibel -- fun tanakh, vos iz un vet blayben heylig . Ohn der bibel zenen mir parvenis -- ufgekumene nekhtige mentshen , ohn a yerushe fun kultur. Un oyb es iz vikhtig di bibel ibertsuzetsen un tsugenglekh tsu makhen far der yidisher mase, darf dokh yeder yud , vos hot nor di meglikhkeyt, tsu kenen di bibel in original. Di yudishe iberzetsung volt geven fiel nehnter tsum original, als ale iberzetsungen in andere shprakhen . Di bibel liegt dokh in unzer blut, un a menge hebreishe elementen -- in unzer shoden nisht ibergiesen , un der gayst fun kunst-verk fershvindt in der bester iberzetsung. Hebreish virkt oyserdem betsoyberend < > af der yudisher neshome: dos erhaben-gefliegelte vort, zayn metal-reyner klang, di skultptur-artige <-artike> formen -- dos alts, beshtrahlt mit goldine obglantsen fun a shtoltser fergangenheyt , iz ayn eybiger kishef, vos iz nisht fershtendlikh nor fun di, vos hoben di bibel-shprakh fergesen oder nisht gekent. Ober in der bibel-shprakh oysleben konen mir zikh nisht. Hantiren mit bagrifen fun toyzender yohren tsurik, heyst: zikh obzogen fun nayntsig protsent kultur-verten , zikh aleyn feroremen ; veren farben-blind un klangen-toyb un leben mit reyn-atavistishe gefihlen . Araynfiren dos gantsen naye in'm ???? alten ? Oyser der unmeglikhkeyt , dos oystsufihren in der tsershtrayung????, volt es geheysen : avekvarfen a zibenhundert-yehrige yudishe kultur; oysmeken zibenhundert yohr fun yudishen leben , un onheyben af's nay????. Ober nisht d o s iz dos ergste. Es volt nokh geheysen : beshafen a nayem zhargon, far velkhen di bibel vet blayben azoy fremd, punkt vi vayt un fremd zi iz far'n hayntigen . Un es iz nokh a zind derbay; a fershvekhung fun a heyligkeyt . Dos greste grikhishe kunst-verk, di milenishe venus iz oysgegroben gevoren shoyn ohn hend . Der kinstler, vos ferheyligt di kunst, kniet far ihr un fergetert zi. Un vi grob, in estetishn zin, volt geven der, vos volt far der venus bam hayntigen gresten kinstler hent beshtelt . Ayn oysgehakte shoyb ken men mit a shmate fershteken ; alte kinstlerishe makaten un gobilinen veren nor durkh ameratsim ibergefarbt un ferrikht . Un vi ruft dos folk zayn hayntigen kultur-instrument? Yudish ! Es hot amol geheysen "taytsh" (loyt der hayntiger oyssprakh: "daytsh"); dernokh ivri-taytsh, yudish-daytsh un tsund eynfakh: yudish . Un andersh rufen hot es dos folk nisht gekont: es iz dokh zayn shprakh, in velkher er lebt zikh in gantsen oys; a shprakh, vos er hot asimilirt, enderndig di formen, di struktur, un arayngisendig in ihr zayn gantse neshome: zayn tsar un tsorn; zayn benkshaft, hofnung un gebet. Er hot a fremde tsvayg genumen; ober in zayn eygen harts ferflantst , mit eynige treren un blut begosen ... un oysgeshprotst un ufgebliht hot zi af -- "yudish" . -- Di shprakh iz dokh mies?! Far di, far velkhe dos yudishe leben is mies. -- Tsuzamengeshlept fun fershiedene shprakhen ? A "zhargon"? Fun fershiedene alt-shprakhige <-shprakhike> elementen shtamen, ohn oysnahm , ale naye shprakhen , un yudish tsvishen zey. Un gebliben iz yudish a zhargon nor far di, vos zenen vayt fun folk dertsoygen , un kenen ka yudish -- nisht reden un nisht shrayben . Hebreish ferbindt unz mit der fergangenheyt : "Pesik reysho veloy yomus" -- ohn a kop lebt men nisht. Ober yudish fereynigt unz in der gegenvart . Ohn yudish kon ka yudish leben nisht zayn! Obhengig ekonomish un politish, muzen mir kenen fershiedene lands-shprakhen <-shprakhn>; unzer . Un vilt ihr yudish fergesen un di fremde lands-shprakhen <-shprakhn> far eygene makhen , zayt ufrikhtig : zogt ofen , az ihr vilt fervirklikhen dem asimilatorishen troym; dos yudishe folk zol fershvinden un bayben zolen , viefel lender, azoy fiel gemeynden fun mozaisher konfesyon. Dem emes zogt! -- Ober di shprakh iz tsu orem? Orem iz di yudishe kultur. Nisht dos kleyd iz tsu shmol; oysgedart iz dos layb. Di yudishe shprakh kegen andere zeht punkt azoy oys, vi dos yudishe kheyder kegen universiteten , dos yudishe teater kegen teatern fun andere felker. Dos yudishe "shtibel" kegen hoykhen , marmornem kloyster. Vilt ihr nisht groys makhen dos eygene kleyne, nor entloyfen tsu'm fremden groysen , iz afile dos yudishe bes almin tsu kleyn un tsu orem; ergets andersh iz es raykher, fayner, greser .... Vilt ihr ober b l a y b e n b a u n z , virken in y u d i s h e n folk, muzt ihr reden tsu'm folk af z a y n e y g e n e r s h p r a k h un af der, vos lebt! Leonard Prager ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.298