Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.166 December 26, 1996 1) Black English and Yiddish (Aren Portnoy) 2) Mikhnosaim/mikhnatayim (Chaim H. Friend) 3) Mikhnosaim/mikhnatayim (Sema Chaimovitz Menora) 4) Achron's "Stempenyu" (Dan Leeson) 5) How many colleges teach yiddish (Karen Sulkis) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 25 Dec 1996 10:55:10 -0400 From: ep73@columbia.edu Subject: Black English and Yiddish Does the current brouhaha regarding the the Oakland California school board's decision to declare black English a language sound at all familiar to Mendelyaner interested in attitudes toward Yiddish? For those unfamiliar, the school board in Oakland, California, a heavily black district, declared what they called "Ebonics," or, what is more commonly known as black English, a second language, ostensibly to procure federal funding to use it for teaching purposes. Black leaders such as Jesse Jackson and the NAACP have declared that "it is _not_ a language." Jackson went so far to call the decision a "disgrace." From what I understand about black English, in addition to containing unique appropriations of standard English vocabulary, it also employs grammatical structures indigenous to West African languages. I don't know enough about it to determine whether or not it constitutes a "language," however, hearing the news report sure brought to mind attitudes toward Yiddish. Aren Portnoy 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 25 Dec 1996 19:25:54 -0500 From: chfriend@aol.com Subject: Mikhnosaim/mikhnatayim [This thread has been discussed under another rubric, the most recent being 6.162. nm] The reference to the question as to the correct or incorrect way of pronoucing "michnatayim" (the modern Israeli version in popular use), or "michnosayim", (the European version), is _no_ indication of one being, or not being, a "yiddishist". This is a hebrew word brought into the language of yiddish. A true Yiddish linguist would say, "hoyzn", for pants. Right?? Hot mir a guten tog! Chaim H. Friend Walnut Creek, CA 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 25 Dec 1996 15:04:19 -0500 From: lights4607@aol.com Subject: Mikhnosaim/mikhnatayim This is to let Rick Turkel (vol.6.162) know that he's not the only modern Hebrew speaker out there among the mendleyeners. I too was taken aback by Iosif Vaisman's reference to Sholem Aleikhem's mentioning "mikhnatayim" as the modern Hebraist's pronounciation for pants (which is, correctly, mikhnasayim with a samech, not a tof) as opposed to the Yiddishist's use of "mikhnosaim." I tend to agree with Arnie Kuzmack (also vol 6.162) that S.A., in a humorous vein, was mocking modern Hebraic pronounciation of Yiddish words (of Hebraic origins), or even more so, deriding those not so knowledgable Hebrew speakers who might conceivably confuse the samech with the tof(sof). Sema Chaimovitz Menora 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 25 Dec 1996 17:53:22 EST From: leeson@aspen.fhda.edu Subject: Joseph Achron's music with a Yiddish flavor Ron Robboy [6.162] comments on discovering some violin music of Joseph Achron with Yiddish printed within the performance parts. I also had the same experience with Achron, though in a different work. I was once asked to take part in a music festival at which music with a Yiddish flavor was to be the centerpiece. And I chose three works to play. One was Prokoffiev's "Overture on Yiddish Themes" (and that is the correct title, not the often used "Overture on Hebrew Themes") for clarinet, string quartet, and piano. Wonderful piece. I had played it many times but never in the context of a music festival devoted to Yiddish. The tunes sound very Yiddish but are not. They are all composed pieces. And since we had this strange combination of instruments available, I took out a work that I had had for a long time, Joseph Achron's "Kindersuite," a work with a number of short movements with titles in Yiddish. Lovely work. Finally, we decided to use some of the Yiddish songs of Simeon Bellison, one of which ("Bobe mayses") was a perfect encore. But the hit of the evening was, without question, the Achron. It is so rarely played and so very interesting. I thank Ron Robboy for reminding me of that special event. Dan Leeson Los Altos, California 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 26 Dec 1996 08:31:27 +0000 From: karen@edunetics.co.il Subject: How many colleges teach yiddish I don't have a definitive answer [see Stanley Werbow's query (6.163)] for exactly which and how many colleges teach yiddish. I can only offer that U.C. Berkeley does. Or at least it did 10 years ago. Through the Department of German Language and Literature, no less. Hope this helps. Karen Sulkis ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.166 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.cis.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listserv@yalevm.cis.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele nomail b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail c. To subscribe: sub mendele first_name last_name d. 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