[Mendele] Mendele: Yiddish literature and language

Victor Bers victor.bers at yale.edu
Tue Dec 21 07:59:25 EST 2010


Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
____________________________________________________

Contents of Vol. 20.011
November 18, 2010

1) New digitized Yiddish books in JNL (Josh Cappell)
2) befoyr (Marc Caplan)
3) befoyr (Leyzer Gillig)
4) befoyr (Hershl Hartman)
5) "Internatsyonal" (Nikolai (Kolya) Borodulin)
6) kushers (Sema Chaimovitz Menora)
7) horse thief (Evan Fishman)
8) Contemporary Jewish writers from Central, Eastern Europe (Gerben 
Zaagsma)
9  Local expressions Aubrey Jacobus


1)----------------------------------------------------
Subject: December 7
Date:  New digitized books in JNL

The National Library of Israel (NLA, until recently the Jewish National 
and University Library or JNUL) has, at my request, added  several more 
Yiddish books to their on-line digitized book collection. The most 
recent additions are translations of Arthur Conan Doyle's  Sherlock Holmes 
stories into Yiddish.  These may be suitable for older  children or 
students learning Yiddish looking for practice material. (Incidentally, 
IB Singer mentioned them as among his earliest sources of literary 
inspiration). They are also among the few famous literary works that 
Haredi Yiddish readers may find acceptable. (I am a pediatrician with many 
exclusively Yiddish-speaking patients and was looking for material I can 
share with    them). They had earlier included two translations of 
Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper," one  heavily abridged (good for 
younger children), the other full length (by Zalman Reyzen, no less). 
These are distinct from the one NYBC posted at archive.org (which was by 
Wendroff, also a major figure in Yiddish, of course). These were also not 
among those included in the online Yiddish children's library of 
Florida Atlantic University nor of YIVO.

Please spread word among anyone who may be interested.  Obviously, the 
more downloads there are, the more they will feel it was the right 
decision to include secular Yiddish works as well (most of the digital 
library is religious material in Hebrew).  The more popular it is, the 
more apt they are to add other Yiddish titles.  My hope is that in the 
future they will include all Yiddish books of which they have copies but 
NYBC doesn't.  Also, hopefully, they will similarly expand the 
collection of online-available digitized "historic Jewish press," which 
currently includes several languages but Yiddish itself is not among 
them.

zay azoy gut mefarsem tsu zayn di folgende:   di national-bibliotek fun 
yisroel (bakant mit di roshe-teyves NLA, nor vos getoysht funem 
frierdiken nomen yidishe natsionale un universitat-bibliotek oder JNUL) 
hot letstns, af mayn bite, tsugeleygt nokh etlekhe yidishe bikher tsu 
zeyer internets-zamlung.  di anumlt ongeshlisne bikher zaynen yidishe 
iberztsungen fun Arthur Conan Doyles mayses vegn Sherlock Holmes.  ken 
zayn az zey zaynen pasik far gresere kinder oder far talmidim vos 
lernen zikh yidish un zukhn materiel far praktik.  (agev, Bashevis hot 
dermont di dozike tsvishn zayne frierste literarishe inspiratsyes).  zey 
zaynen oykh fun di    veynik algemeyne literarishe verk vos zaynen pasik 
farn khareydishn yidish- redendikn    tsiber. (ikh aleyn bin a 
kinder-doktor mit a sakh patsienten vos redn nor yiidish, hob ikh 
gezukht azelkhe materiel). di bibiotek hat frier tsugegebn (oykh af 
mayn bite) tsvey iberzetsungen fun Twains "prints un betler," eyne 
zeyer gekirtst (gut far kleyne kinder), di tsveyte a fule oysgabe 
(ibergezetst durkh zalmen reyzen!).  beyde zaynen andersh fun di vos NYBC 
hot geshtelt af archive.org (un vos iz fun Vendroff, oykh a barimter 
yidishist). zey zaynen oykh nisht in di "online" zamlungen fun 
kinder-bikher fun FAU oder funem YIVO. Bite dersteyl yeder vos zol 
zikh farinterisirn mit dem. berov am hadres meylekh vayl vos mer me 
nutst es, alts mer vet es barekhtikn dem bashlus ayntsushlisn yidishe 
bikher  un zey veln moysef zayn nokh merer (atsind zaynen kimat ale 
andere bikher in der zamlung sforim). Ikh hof az in der tsukunft veln 
zey araynnemen ale bikher vos zey hobn yo ober NYBC hot zey nisht un 
oykh ale historishe yidishe tsaytungen.  (zey hobn shoyn an "online"- 
zamlung fun historishe "yidishe" tsaytshriftn ober biz yetst keyn eyn 
yidish-shprakhike tsaytung iz tsvishn zey nisht faran, mishteyns 
gezogt).

A freylekhn khanuke, hag hanuka sameah,

Josh Cappell

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: November 20
Subject: befoyr

Noyekh Miller questions the usage of "befoyr" (more likely "befor"?) in 
the 1932 novel Yoshe Kalb, stating "the novel was published in 1932, some 
years before Singer came to     America." Leaving aside the uncomfortable 
fact that it was Israel Joseph Singer, not Isaac Bashevis Singer, who 
wrote the novel, the novel was written in and of Eastern Europe, and 
the borrowing of "befor" most likely comes not from English, but German, 
"bevor," which indeed is used similar to the Yiddish "eyder." So the 
usage is neither in error nor an appeal to an American readership, but 
good, not-yet old-fashioned Daytshmerizm.

Marc Caplan

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: November 20
Subject: befoyr

"bevor" (pron. Before) is a kosher German word. I know an old woman 
in Hungary who speaks only Hungarian and Yiddish, and is thus not 
influenced by English, who uses the word "Befor" (she pronounces it be-FUR 
- but not befoyr) instead of "eyder." I used to hear Hungarian 
Holocaust survivors use "beFUR" as well, but I had thought at the time 
(the 1970-s and 80-s) that they were using an Americanism. We 
"Galitsyaners" said "eyder." I think it is probably a dialectical 
variation.

Leyzer Gillig

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: November 20
Subject: befoyr

While I cannot provide a definitive answer to Noyekh Miller's inquiry 
about Bashevis' use of "befoyr," I would submit that its use in the 
1932 novel --before Bashevis' immigration-- does not, in itself, 
foreclose the possibility that is was "a gelumpert transcription."

In my many translations of handwritten letters from der alter heym, dating 
as far back as the very early 1900s, I have often encountered words 
apparently learned from letters received from here (or, perhaps, from 
returnees). Among them: "piktshe," "miting," "strayk," etc. Also, in 
my childhood I noticed that many conscientious Yiddish speakers 
would, inexplicably, use "befor" rather than "eyder." It's not too much of 
a stretch to expect that U.S.-based letter writers had written some 
variant of  "befor" so often to their relatives that it entered some 
level of  discourse in Bashevis' varshe.

Hershl Hartman

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: November 24
Subject: "Internatsyonal"

This is in response to Gilda Brodsky's request:

Di dozike tsvey shures zaynen fun "Nayland himn" - der himn fun yidishn 
kemp "Kinderland", vos zey hobn gezungen in 1920er loyt der melodye 
funem "Internatsyonal":

Der arbet iz dem togs gezangen

Der ru, di troymen fun der nakht.
Gebentsht di zun, vos bakt di zangen,
Gebentsht di levones shtile prakht.


O, Nayland, land fun glaykhe brider
Fun frayhayt, libe, freyd un glik.
Tsu arbet shpanen mir mit lider,
Mit lider geyen mir tsurik.

Oyf zayn plats yeder eyner
Un far alemen plats.
Di erd halt greyt far ale
Ir brokhe un ir shats.

Al dos guts!
Nikolai (Kolya) Borodulin

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: November 21
Subject: kushers

Martin Jacobs asks about the orgins of the word "kushers" used in the 
Tarnogrod Memorial book to describe those who gather and bind wood 
bundles. Could "kushers" possibly come from the Hebrew "Likshor," to 
bind, to tie together?

Sema Chaimovitz Menora

7)----------------------------------------------------
Date: December 15
Subject: Horse thief

Hi,

Is there a specific, one-word term in Yiddish for "horse thief"?  Thanks.

Evan Fishman

8)----------------------------------------------------
Date: November 30
Subject: Contemporary Yiddish writers from Central, Eastern Europe

Dear Mendelyaner,

I received the following question from a colleague of mine: "we are 
preparing an  anthology of contemporary writers from Central, Eastern 
Europe. We wonder whether you would know contemporary writers writing 
in Yiddish and living in Eastern Europe?" Any suggestions would be 
much appreciated,

best wishes,

Gerben Zaagsma

9)----------------------------------------------------
Date: December 18, 2010
Subject: Local expressions

My father was from Skierniewice near Lodz, Poland. Some of his especially 
odd Yiddish expressions were

If someone thought he or she was clever, he would say

"klug vi Rokhes ferd"

or if someone made a poor deal, he would say

"Toyteles geshaft"

Were these shtetl characters ?

Also, all the well known characters in the our area (London) were never 
referred to by their known real names but by a soubriquet, e.g. The 
baker was "Der grula" (Gorilla ?) swarthy complexion and the 
waiscot maker (male) was "Di madona"!! My sisters also had 
unflattering nicknames (never used to their face) but cruelly fitting to 
their characters.

Di Jubba ( Frog ? ) - ready to jump down one's throat
Di Shlung   ( Snake ?) - very secretive

Can't vouch now for the grammar.

Most amusing was the name given to a workman with a thick brogue. He was 
called Yarragey Farragey."

Aubrey Jacobus

______________________________________________________
End of Mendele Vol. 20.011

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