Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.226 February 13, 1997 1) Yiddish books on tape (Stephen Dowling) 2) Tevye's quotations (Louis Fridhandler) 3) An onion and a feather (Sarah Kozodoy Penso) 4) Mezinke/mezhinikel (Bob Rothstein) 5) New publications (Zachary M. Baker) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 18:57:19 -0500 (EST) From: stdowling@aol.com Subject: Yiddish books on tape Yankl Sachs asked about Yiddish books on tape. The Jewish Public Library in Montreal has a large collection. At one point, the National Yiddish Book Center had announced that it would sell the recordings in the U.S. I haven't heard anything lately. They do sell copies directly. The collection includes entire books of material, read by native speakers. At one point, I believe Zachary Baker had something to do with the project. For those planning to take advantage of the Mame-Loshn '97 early-bird price, time is running out! Reservations have to be received by the end of February. Prior attendees will have additional time and will receive a flyer shortly. Stephen Dowling Queens, NY 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 20:03:18 -0500 (EST) From: lfridhan@aol.com Subject: Tevye's quotations (see Shul memories) David Herskovic (6.224, 1) quotes Tevye who quotes Rashi (in the first of three) then challenges anyone to find the Rashi citation. Although I know nothing of Talmudic scholarship, I suspect it's like going on a mission to find a left-handed teacup. Tevye was prone to make up citations to fit his jocular mood, or even an aggressive mood to addle his competitor in a debate. The first of Tevye's quotations comes from the second Tevye story, "A Boydem" (Ale Verk fun Sholem-Aleykhem, Folksfond Oysgabe, New York: Vol. 5, Gants Tevye der Milkhiker, 1918, p.51): begapoy yovoy begapoy yeytsey, az me leygt arayn a krenk nemt men aroys kadokhes. David had Tevye's Yiddish (mis)translation the other way around, but it sounds just as good. The third of Tevye's quotations comes from the same volume, but it's on page 185 in the story entitled "Tevye Fort Keyn Erets-Yisroel". There he was making up a blend of syllables, some from Yiddish, that sounds Aramaic. He bamboozled a Jewish ignoramus who, through his money, was trying to lord it over Tevye. I can't find the second quotation given by David Herskovic. Where is it? Louis Fridhandler 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 13 Feb 97 08:09:00 PST From: skpenso@nightingale.org Subject: An onion and a feather Regarding Mikhl Herzog's "homework" question in 6.223: "Why do German Jews hang an onion and a feather in the _suke_?" Onion = batzal (Hebrew) B'tzel k'nafekha = in the shade/protection of Your wings (Divine protection is recalled by the shelter of the sukkah). A German Jewish friend's account of this pun once inspired us -- this was almost ten years ago -- to attach paper wings to an onion before hanging it in the Harvard Hillel sukkah. Sarah Kozodoy Penso 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 09:24:27 -0500 (EST) From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: Mezinke/mezhinikel In 6.224 David Lidsky asked about a word that he transcribes as _mezhinikel_. Weinreich offers _mizinik_ 'youngest son; pinky' and _mizinke_ 'youngest daughter'. Both are from Slavic: cf. Ukrainian _myzynka_ 'youngest daughter'; _myzynets'_ 'youngest child; pinky'; Russian _mizinets_ 'pinky; youngest son; younger brother'. Friend Lidsky's form is presumably an example of Litvak hypercorrectness. Knowing that those speakers of Lithuanian Yiddish who manifest _sabesdiker losn_ pronounce [z], [s] etc. instead of [zh], [sh] etc. (e.g., _fis_ for _fish_), one might assume that _mizinik_ is dialectal for the "correct" _mizhinik_. Such hypercorrectness can probably be found in every language. Note, for example, English "between you and I" from speakers who feel that "between you and me" must be wrong since they've been told that one should say "it is I" and not "it's me." In Polish, where there are dialects with a phenomenon like _sabesdiker losn_ (called _mazurzenie_ from the northeastern region of Mazury), the older word for a heron, _capla_ [tsapla], was replaced in standard Polish by the hypercorrect form _czapla_ [chapla] (cf. Russian _tsaplia_), whence perhaps the family name Chaplin. Bob Rothstein 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 10:38:40 -0500 (EST) From: yivo1@metgate.metro.org Subject: New publications Since my name has been raised in a bibliographical connection, I would like to say that I will be glad -- on an occasional basis (as in the past) -- to inform Mendelyaner of new publications in or about Yiddish, as they cross my desk. Here are two new (or newish) titles: (1) Sutzkever, Abraham. Laughter Beneath the Forest: Poems from Old and Recent Manuscripts. Translated from the Yiddish by Barnett Zumoff; with an introductory essay by Emanuel S. Goldsmith. Hoboken, NJ: KTAV Publishing House, 1996. xix, 179 p. ISBN 0-88125-555-6 (sorry, I do not have price information) The poems, which originally appeared in Sutzkever's book, Fun alte un yunge ksavyadn (Tel-Aviv: 1982), are in Yiddish and English (facing pages); the introduction and translator's preface are in English. (2) La Rassegna Mensile di Israel, vol. 52, no. 1-2 (Gennaio-Agosto 1996) [special issue, entitled]: Il mondo yiddish: saggi. A cura di Elena Mortara Di Veroli e Laura Quercioli Mincer. 503 p., illus. Publisher's address: Unione delle Comunita Ebraiche italiane, Lungotevere Sanzio 9, 00153 Roma, Italy. The issue includes 27 essays, 19 in Italian (by both Italian and foreign scholars, including some of the most prominent specialists in the Yiddish studies field) and 8 in either English or French, on the following topics: La letteratura yiddish antica; Cultura e presenza yiddish nell'Italia rinascimentale; La letteratura yiddish moderna in Europa e negli Stati Uniti; Ritratti d'autore; La tragedia della Shoa; Cinema e mondo yiddish; Incontri e testimonianze; Situazione contemporanea: in Francia e in Israele; Lo sguardo di fine secolo. Zachary M. Baker ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.226 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. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu ****Getting back issues**** 1. Anonymous ftp archives are available. ftp ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files A table of contents is also available, along with weekly updates. 2. Mendele archives can also be reached as follows: via WWW: http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mewais.html via gopher: gopher://sunsite.unc.edu/11/../.pub/academic/languages/yiddish/mendele via ftp: ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/academic/languages/yiddish/mendele