Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.108 November 27, 1996 1) Kalekh hakn (Chana and Yosl Mlotek) 2) Kalekh (Johannes Seppi) 3) "Please" and other issues (Joachim Neugroschel) 4) Daytshmerish (Joachim Neugroschel) 5) Vi a toytn bankes (Bob Poe) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 24 Nov 1996 23:00:34 -0500 From: chaniyos@aol.com Subject: Kalekh hakn This is in connection with the song that Leonard Prager [6.100]. Incidentally we read his article on Yiddish Vaudeville in London, which we liked very much. We wanted to inform him and the readers that the song he cites comes from the operetta Hertsele Meyukhes or Taybele by Moyshe Richter (l87l-l939). The play was quite famous in its time - written in l899, performed for the first time in the Thalia Theater in New York. The particular song "Khave Leye - gut-shabes" was sent in to the Perl fun yidisher poezye in the Yiddish Forward in l973. One version that we printed reads: Vi es kumt fraytik in der fri Zets ikh mir nit tsi A bisele optsuruen. Ikh muz in mark araynloyfn Un ales aynkoyfn Akhuts in der shtub tsu tuen. Koyln hakn, bulkes bakn A fish a dikn, tsholnt rukn Shnaydn, varglen, lokshn kokhn Un khreyn darfn shobn Un nisht fargesn di yoykh shoymen Un arbes, tsibeles, fleysh, floymen Far dem alem darft ir gornisht zorgn. Bald nbokh di kugl morgn Vet dos kepele zayn oysgetsvogn Un opgeputst di shikh mit di lates Un ir vet mir ale kenen zogn: Khave-Leye, gut-shabes! We also printed this opening stanza: Der fraytikdiker tog Iz a tsore, a plog Dos veyst dokh ayeder. A tshad, a roykh Men arbet mit koykh Der kop geyt oyf reder Khale bakn Koyln hakn Fish optsushobn, etc. The song can be heard on Ruth Rubin's ethnographic record. I believe its title is Jewish Life in the Old Country. (Bob Friedman, correct me if I'm wrong). Chana and Yosl Mlotek 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Nov 96 22:53 GMT+0100 From: jseppi@xpoint.at Subject: Kalekh [Regarding Kayle Goodman's shayle (6.102):] This "kalekh" is German Kalk, meaning lime. "Auskalken" is German for whitewash. Johannes Seppi 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 17:13:10 -0500 (EST) From: achim1@cris.com Subject: "Please" and other issues Regarding a Yiddish equivalent for "please," I dont think Leah Krikun (6.106) got my point. there are numerous ways of verbally expressing that concept in Yiddish, and there's no need to adopt a new word, especially one that may or may not be understood by all Yiddish speakers. Languages dont have to have exact equivalences to survive and to express the full range of human experience. One language may use a single word, another a phrase or even a long sentence--or simply a gesture or a nod. it makes no sense using English (or any other language) as a standard for Yiddish, let each language develop its own standards and habits. A Yiddish speaker who tells a friend" "ziiiiiits" with his voice shifting a full octave is being just as polite as the Frenchman who says, "Mais assieds-toi, je t'en prie"--each speaker accompanying his invitation with the appropriate gestures of his culture. Anyway: talking about how Yiddish says one thing or another is mere rhetoric if people refuse to speak or write Yiddish or use it in their correspondence. I just received an e-mail from a self-styled Yiddishist, who raved and ranted against the use of alleged "daytshmerizms" like "bitte." His letter was written almost entirely in (awkward) English, and the few Yiddish phrases that he came up with consistently ignored the rules of case, gender, and tense and also contained words that don't even exist in Yiddish. When I first subscribed to Mendele, I stuck to Yiddish in my postings, but I soon noticed that the vast majority of messages were in English--especially from self-proclaimed Yiddishists vociferously advocating the survival of Yiddish. A Yiddish speaker or writer who uses "daytshmerisms" (soi-disants) is at least using Yiddish. someone who objects to "daytshmerisms" but does so in English is not really helping Yiddish in any way. In my private correspondence with other Mendelyaners, I use Yiddish, but in my postings I've switched to English. I would much prefer seeing those who can do so writing their postings in Yiddish. Joachim Neugroschel 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 17:34:15 -0500 (EST) From: achim1@cris.com Subject: Daytshmerish As I've mentioned before, numerous complaints about "daytshmerish" seem to come from people who prefer making their complaints in English rather than in Yiddish. A further problem is the fact that such plaintiffs fail to deal with the purely linguistic and stylistic issues of "daytshmerish." When Max Weinreich wrote "Daytsmerish toyg nisht" he accepted borrowings from modern German if they were used by Mendele--that was his cut-off point. I'm not sure what our cut-off point would be today--especially given the habits of native Yiddish speakers who use many words and phrases condemned in the English-language attacks.... I recall that Shloyme Birnbaum refused to accept even "geshikhte" in place of "historye," etc. I'm not too interested in the ethical questions of German borrowings--I'm much more curious about the way they're used by Yiddish speakers and writers. For instance: German "Monat" became "monat" in Yiddish, which, however, came up with a whole new plural: "monaten" (stress on second syllable) instead of German "Monate" (stress on first syllable). German "Stufe" means both a literal step (in a stairway, etc.), and an abstract level; Yiddish "shtufe" means only the latter and is thus fairly synonymous with "madreyge." German says "die Erlaubnis" (feminine), Yiddish says "dos derloybenish" (neuter). German says: "Er hat Selbstmord begangen"; Yiddish says: "Er _iz_ selbstmord bagangen." Etc., etc. There are probably thousands of such differences between Yiddish and German in regard to modern borrowings from the latter language. and in addition, their uses in Yiddish writers are quite fascinating. Joachim Neugroschel 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 18:01:36 -0500 From: poe@ekbos.com Subject: Vi a toytn bankes On another aspect of this expression: the pronunciation I have heard for "bankes" employs a soft (palatalized) "n", presumably as is present in the Slavic word from which it has been derived. I am wondering how common this phenomenon may be. If the distinction between hard and soft consonants is frequently maintained in Yiddish speech, then I would have expected that it would be indicated somehow in Yiddish writing, either in the formal spelling system or by some informal convention (such as using the apostrophe in transliteration --i.e., "ban'kes"). Is this done? If not, was it discussed as a possibility in the development of the YIVO orthography? And, if the distinction is not phonemic in Yiddish, should one say that Slavic loan words like "bankes" are not completely naturalized? Bob Poe ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.108