מענדעלע

Hi

I posted a query about this some years ago, and got a very helpful response from Judith Nysenholcz; I'm taking the liberty of posting it again, since I can state the query more precisely, and since there are many more subscribers than there used to be. A sheynem dank in advance for any suggestions or ideas.

I'm writing a book on how American literature represents encounters and differences between one language or dialect and another - I've written a sort of general manifesto on the subject, plus essays on how James Fenimore Cooper represents the relations between English and Native American languages, on how Alfred Mercier (a 19th-century French novelist from Louisiana) represents the relations between Standard French and Louisiana Creole, and on how a 1882 German play from St. Louis represents the relations between German and English among German emigrants.

I have in mind to write something about how American Yiddish-language literature represents the relations between Yiddish and English (as well as how American English-language literature represents those relations), and I'd be grateful for any suggestions of Yiddish texts that might be interesting in this connection. The ones I already know of are these: Sholem Ash, "Der Amerikaner" (a sketch I'm trying to locate the publication for); Moshe Nadir, "Mayn ershter depozit"; and a fair amount of Sholem Aleykhem, including "Mister Grin hot a dzshob," "A mayse mit a grinhorn," _Motl Peysi dem Khazns_, and the play "Mister Boym in klozet." I've also read Kenneth Wishnia's very interesting article, "'A Different Kind of Hell': Orality, Multilingualism, and American Yiddish in the Translation of Sholem Aleichem's Mister Boym in Klozet," AJS Review XX:2 (1995), and the works of scholarship he cites there.

So if anything of interesting comes to your mind, I'd be most thankful.

Zayt mir ale gezunt un shtark, Larry Rosenwald

[Fun der "Forverts"-redaktsye:]

Vi ir hot avade bamerkt, kumen di letste etlekhe khadoshem for in undzer "Forverts" farsheydene enderungen: di tsaytung hot zikh gebitn grafish, mir hobn ayngefirt naye rubrikn un der iker, es hobn zikh bavizn af di shpaltn naye nemen fun shrayber fun eltern un yingern dor. Baym hayntikn tog shraybn farn "Forverts" iber 70 mekhabrem.

Kedey vayter farbesern undzer arbet un zikh nenter bakenen mit aykh, khosheve leyener, hot di redaktsye un di farvaltung fun "Forverts-asotsyatsye" bashlosn durkhtsufirn an oysfreg tsvishn a geviser tsol leyener.

Der doziker oysfreg vet durkhgefirt vern telefonish bald nokh sukes, af yidish oder english, loyt ayer eygenem farlang. Der shmues vet doyern nisht mer vi 25-30 minut un vet zayn, farshteyt zikh, af undzer kheshbm. Deriber betn mir aykh: ver s'iz greyt zikh tsu bateylikn in der vikhtiker unternemung, zol zikh farbindn mit undz (telefonish, shriftlekh, oder elektronish), iberlozn zayn/ir telefon-numer, vi oykh onvayzn di tsayt, ven s'iz im/ir bakvemer tsu entfern af undzere fragn.

telefon: (212) 889-8200 x 1406 post: The Yiddish Forward, 45 East 33rd St., New York, NY 10016 USA elektronish**: bergez01@med.nyu.edu

**Oyb elektronish, git on in der teme-shure ("Subject") di teme "Forverts-oysfreg." In brivl aleyn git on ayer nomen, telefon, un di pasikste tsayt farn oysfreg.

Zayt azoy gut, SHIKT DI O MELDUNG IBER ayere fraynd un mitarbeter.

Sholem Berger far der "Forverts-redaktsye"

I apologize to all those who were inconvenienced by the long interruption in the Mendele archives search service.

The archives of Mendele are now searchable using new state-of-the-art Ultraseek 2.0 search engine (http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mendeles.html). Ultraseek is an extremely fast engine with advanced natural language processing capabilities based on Xerox Lexical Technology. Simple and advanced search interfaces are available with extensive on-line help.

The queries can be composed in plain language (English or Yiddish), or using boolean operators, or using multiple options of the Advanced Search interface.

Mendele volumes 1-7 are currently searchable, vol 8 and vol.1 and 2 of The Mendele Review have been added to the database and will be indexed in the near future.

Iosif Vaisman

These names are derived from the German town of Speyer on the Rhine. By the way another nearby town is called Heillbron, another well-known Jewish name. Other variants of the name are:Spier, Saphir.

Mark Shenken

1. Ellen Cassedy (08.062): The names S(ha)piro are probably derived from "Ashpira" the preexisting Latin name of the Rhineland city "Speyer". Similar cases: The name Dreyfus from "Treves" (now Trier), and family names based on the city name "Vermayze"/"Germayze" (now Worms).

2. Jane Rothstein (08.062): A classic rendition of the song "Rumeynye" can be had on a recording of Aaron Lebedov/Lebedef??? Even in the days of Ester Hamonica and the Starr report, I'm not sure I'd want to teach a class of 6th graders the lines "Er trit (= Eng. 'treat) zi tsu an ays-krim sode (= 'ice cream soda'), Un kvetsht es oys tsurik." Would you?

Mikhl Herzog

Deena H. Mersky asks about words to a song about "Der Rebe tut vunder." I happen to have it here in a book of songs for Jewish members of the Armed Forces. My mother, who worked at a V.A. hospital, brought it home for me, and I remember once asking her if she knew the song, and she sang it. The title is given as "Nisim V'niflo-os." The words are as follows

Der Rebe tut vunder hob ich aleyn gezeyen, Geht arain in vaser un kumt arois a naser Oy, oy, oy, oy, oy, oy, oy Nisim v'niflo-os Oy, oy, oy, oy, oy, oy, oy Nisim v'niflo-os.

Der Rebe tut vunder hob ich aleyn gezeyen, Geht arain in blote, un shmirt zich oys dei kapote. Oy, oy, oy, ...etc.

Der Rebe tut vunder hob ich aleyn gezeyen, Geht arain a blinder, macht er ihm tsu gehen.

Der Rebe tut vunder hob ich aleyn gezeyen, Kumt arain a toiber, macht er ihm tsu seyen.

A. Joseph Ross

Hello

I would like to know how could I obtain a list of Colleges in the United States and if possible international colleges that teach yiddish.

Thank You

Christian Ferman

[Moderator's note: one of such lists is available in Shtetl at http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/school.html -i.v.]

harkavi brengt dos vort shmaje(shin, mem, jud,jud,ajen)un fartajtsht es foam, scum. der ojsdruk shmajen mejnt to be very busy.

eidelgepatchit is - lojt majn mejnung - a kombinirt vort fun eidel=noble un gepatschket=ojsgeshmirt, un es sol klingen "eidelgepatschket", a pejorative vos mejnt ejnem vos halt sikh grojs(eidel)ober in der emesn is er gepatschket (farshmirt).

ale mendelianer-a khsime toive,

itzik shteyn

While I do not know the etymology of the word, I do know the meaning (at least as used by my mother, who spoke a smattering of Yiddish learned on the streets of London.) It meant to wander around browsing, as for example at a mall, or shopping district/department store. I would be interested in the etymology, and also of a couple of other words that she and my maternal grandmother used. My favorite was

lobes

which meant something close to 'couch potato', and was used in the following (British) rhyme:

The boy stood on the burning deck His mother called him a lobes Because he would not shine his shoes Or wash his neck on the Shabbos.

(I'm not using the correct romanization here, but the rhyme should make things clear.)

A sheynem dank.

Geoffrey S. Nathan