Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.072 September 30, 1996 1) Yiddish is going off the air! (Ruvn Millman) 2) Yiddish is going off the air! (Jeri Fogel) 3) Yiddish is going off the air! (Hershl Hartman) 4) Yiddish is going off the air! (Heynekh Sapoznik ) 5) Curses (Martin Davis) 6) Yinglish or Yiddish? (Bruce L. Gale) 7) Yiddish word processing (Zalman Berman ) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 23:42:15 -0400 From: ruvn@aol.com Subject: Read the English Forward! Mendele members: I hope that, by now, the voices of we Yiddish enthusiasts have reached the management of the Forward Association informing them of our support of Yiddish WEVD radio programs. I am writing because I feel a bit confused by Ellen Prince's post about the possible decision by the Forward Association to cut Yiddish language programming from WEVD. Ellen seems to think that if more people read the English Forward it doesn't matter if there is Yiddish on the air in New York or not. 1. "New York City and its burbs" contains (I believe) the largest Yiddish-speaking population. Not only does NYC have the largest Yiddish-speaking population, it is a major demographic area, period. I believe that _any_ Yiddish language service that serves such an area of prestige is worthy of support by all of us who consider ourselves Yiddishists, Yiddish-lovers or Yiddish enthusiasts. The least we can do is to voice our opinion before it is all over. No matter what the quality of the broadcasts are, WEVD's Yiddish language programs are the _only_ ones that exist in New York. 2. How can we image that eliminating the few existing hours of Yiddish programming on WEVD can save the English Forward? The connection simply does not exist - the two issues are separate. Ruvn Millman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 13:57:16 -0600 From: fogel1@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu Subject: English/Yiddish Forward I saw an article (?) quite some time ago which gave me the impression that the management of the English *Forward* was almost hostile to their older colleagues across the hall putting out the Yiddish *Forverts*, whose circulation has been declining steadily. (When I visited the *Forward* Web Page, my impression was somewhat confirmed. There is no information there even on how to subscribe to the Yiddish language paper.) I think it might do more good to subscribe to the Yiddish paper, if the object is to show that there is support for Yiddish-language programming on WEVD or anywhere. Jeri Fogel 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 18:16:12 -0400 From: hershl@aol.com Subject: Yiddish on WEVD Upon reading Roland Millman's message on Ashkenaz and later on Mendele (6.068) I sent a message to the Forward's newsdesk and received a reply from Patricia A. Kabo (title not given) assuring that "WEVD will continue to broadcast its Yiddish News daily; the Forward Hour & News Commentary in Yiddish every Sunday as is currently being aired." Being somewhat out of WEVD's broadcast range, I can't tell whether the two programs mentioned are all or part of the current Yiddish schedule on the station whose call-letters are the initials of the Socialist and trade unionist Eugene Victor Debs. Can others in NY comment? Hershl Hartman Los Angeles 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 18:29:19 -0400 From: sapoznik@aol.com Subject: WEVD A phone call to Thomas Bird, station manager at WEVD elicited the following information: there are now no plans to curtail the Yiddish programming found on WEVD. That is, the 2 hours of Yiddish language programming now heard weekly (some would say, _very_ weakly) are to continue. (This includes the "Forward Hour" and news in Yiddish read by Miriam Kressyn and/or Moshe Rosenfeld). However, there _is_ a policy of attrition in effect; any show which loses its host due to death, retirement or whatever, will _not_ be replaced (this recently happened with a Yiddish language yeshiva fundraising program whose on-air rebbe died) . These Yiddish shows are the last vestige of the once common practice of "sustaining" programming (shows underwritten by the station itself as a public service and not dependent on a sponsor.) All the other shows currently on the air are paid for in a "lease time" policy. As a former producer/host of the Forward Hour (1990-1995) , I can sadly attest to the enthusiastic disinterest of the Forward Association in seeking out a new and vital listening audience by not allowing the production of shows with both high quality Yiddish content and contemporary broadcasting production values in the style of National Public Radio. (Those Mendlyaner who may have heard my show know exactly what I was trying to do.) The hewing to an antiquated style and poor quality of Yiddish programming has meant that, with the dying off of the generation weaned on Yiddish radio, the disappearance of the Yiddish programs is inevitable. By allowing the Yiddish shows (and other foreign language programs) to die of benign neglect, the station is, for the first time in its history, making a profit. Ironically, as the once-Socialist WEVD is no longer "red" in its outlook, it is no longer operating _in_ the red, either. Heynekh Sapoznik ["Ba'al Radio" WEVD (ret.)] 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 18:03:23 -0700 From: martind@cs.berkeley.edu Subject: Yiddish curses I don't know anything about serious curses in Yiddish. But I find very amusing the pseudo-curses used by women that have the explosive force of a real curse, but the mildest of content. E.g. "du zolst esen kreplakh". Martin Davis 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 08:04:03 -0400 From: vcimis@postoffice.worldnet.att.net Subject: Yinglish or Yiddish? My girlfriend often uses the phrase "s' hitzed" with the meaning "to be upset", "angry", "all worked up over something". I had never heard this word before and looked up what I thougt the verb to be, "hitzen" (hay-yud-tsadik-nun) in Weinreich. Weinreich defines hitzen as "heat, get excited continually; be exited", so this seems to correspond to way I've heard the word being used. However, I don't know why the "S'" prefixed is attached. Is this just a Yinglish adaptation or is it a valid Yiddish prefix. If it is valid, how is it used? Bruce L. Gale 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 08:07:54 +0200 (IST) From: berman@mars.senecac.on.ca Subject: Yiddish word processing I have been using WP 5.1 for four years. It is a Hebrew word-processor and lacks some of the Yiddish characters such as yud-yud, vav-yud, etc. I have developed a number of macros which provide all the necessary Yiddish characters. This version supplies all the standard word-processing functions including the mixing of English with Yiddish and vice-versa. Anyone needing help in setting it up can contact me. Saul (Zalman) Berman ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.072