Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________
Contents of Vol. 19.015 November 13, 2009 1) Looking for Yiddish for Joseph Rolnick poem (Leah Zazulyer) 2) rinshtok (Jack Berger) 3) cancer (Leyzer Gillig) 4) ayngeshtelt in firlekh/pirlekh (Roberta Newman) 5) ayngeshtelt in firlekh/pirlekh (Yale J. Reisner) 6) "Unter dayne vayse shtern" (Michael E. Kovnat) 7) "Unter dayne vayse shtern" (Moyshe Toybe) 8) "Unter dayne vayse shtern," cancer, ayngeshtelt in firlekh/pirlekh (Sholem Beinfeld) 9) Yiddish in movies (Simkhe Frydrych) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 2, 2009 Subject: Looking for Yiddish for Joseph Rolnick poem I do not know the title, or the full length of the poem, and certainly not the actual words, (nor where or if this was ever published in a book). The opening stanzas were translated into English by his widow in this manner late in her life: There are those special poems That nestle in your breast You hesitate to entrust them To pen and paper test. Not white enough the paper Not fine enough pen's stroke; For them you wish your fingers would turn to wisps of smoke.. Thank you, Leah Zazulyer 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 1, 2009 Subject: rinshtok To the extent I have heard the word "rinshtok" used, I get the sense that it was an open street gutter. I particularly conjure up the phrase, "es hert zikh vi fun a rinshtok." Loosely translated, it means that it stinks like a sewer. I think this is less likely to have been applied to a rain gutter or something attached to or part of a building. The image of the beehive doesn't ring true with me. Jack Berger 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 2, 2009 Subject: cancer A grus fun frankraykh It is interesting that people in the Orthodox community who actually use Yiddish in day to day conversation NEVER refer to "cancer" by any term. It is called "yene makhle" or "yene mayse" so as not to offer the malekh-hamoves an "in " The word that I have heard used on very rare occasions is "rak," which is the Russian word for cancer Leyzer Gillig 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 7, 2009 Subject: ayngeshtelt in firlekh/pirlekh Might "pirlekh" be a variant of "por" (pairs, couples)? The translation of the sentence would then be something like: You had to run, two abreast, and whoever couldn't keep up or who stepped out of the rows was immediately shot. Roberta Newman 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 1, 2009 Subject: ayngeshtelt in firlekh/pirlekh Tayere fraynt: In response to Martin Jacobs' question of 29 October, I would suggest that the correct reading is indeed "firlekh." It appears to me -- and the context seems to support this -- that the Jews being abused here are made to run in rows of four, i.e. as a column with four people to a row. They were first made to stand (ayngeshtelt) in this manner (in firlekh) by the Germans and then forced to run. The later reference to anyone falling out of their row being shot underscores the fact that they were running in rows and not randomly. Hence, "ayngeshtelt in firlekh" would be "lined up in fours" or "lined up four by four." This kind of scene sounds terribly familiar from other Holocaust-era accounts, though the number of people to a row varied. A hartsikn grus fun varshe, Yale J. Reisner 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 1, 2009 Subject: "Unter dayne vayse shtern" Response to Wolfgang Schulze about the verse from "Unter dayne vayse shtern": Nemen usually means "to take"; here it means "take to chasing" or "to start to run or chase (after something) or to start to chase regularly or habitually." Mikh means me (accusative). Your verse might mean: getting used to being chased is strange to me, stairs and courtyards uninhabited. or possibly: getting used to being chased, to me strange or possibly: starting to be chased is strange to me or possibly: staring to chase, strange to me or disregard the "nemen" and write: being chased, to me strange. Michael E. Kovnat 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 1, 2009 Subject: "Unter dayne vayse shtern" Concerning Wolfgang Schulze's question in Mendele Vol. 19.014, item 7: nemen here is an auxiliary signifying "begin" with infinitive, hence: "begin to chase me madly" gevoy is an abstract from voyen "howl," hence: "with a howl." Moyshe Taube 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 1, 2009 Subject: "Unter dayne vayse shtern," cancer, ayngeshtelt in firlekh/pirlekh In reply to Wolfgang Schulze: In Sutzkever's "unter dayne vayse shtern," "nemen yogn mikh" means "begin to chase (or hunt) me." "gevoy" may be Sutzkever's own creation, or at least a rare Yiddish word, but the meaning is clear: "howling," from "voyen," to howl. In reply to Arnold Wishnia: "Krebs" may mean both "crab" and "cancer" in German, but in standard Yiddish "kreps" can only mean "crab"; when used to mean "cancer," it is daytshmerish. The accepted term for "cancer" is "rak," of Slavic origin. (In Russian, "rak" means both "cancer" and "crayfish"; in Polish, it can mean "cancer" "crayfish" and "crab.") In reply to Martin Jacobs: In the text you quote, "in firlekh" cannot mean "in little carts," as the victims clearly are on foot. It seems to me that the author means "in groups of four," which makes sense in the context of being forced to run to the train. Sholem Beinfeld 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 31, 2009 Subject: Yiddish in movies I have seen two movies on the Turner Classic station this week, "Bed of Roses" (1933) and American Madness. In both movies several lines are spoken in Yiddish. The lines are wonderful and unexpected. Jimmy Cagney also spoke Yiddish lines in "Taxi" and "The Fighting 69th." Does anyone know of other examples in the era prior to Mel Brooks? Simkhe Frydrych ___________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 19.015 Please do not use the "reply" key when writing to Mendele. Instead, direct your mail as follows: Material for Mendele Personal Notices & Announcements, i.e. announcements of events, commercial publications, etc., always in plain text (no HTML or the like) to: [email protected] (IMPORTANT: in the subject line write "Mendele Personal") Material for postings to Mendele Yiddish literature and language, i.e. inquiries and comments of a non-commercial or publicity nature: [email protected] IMPORTANT: Please include your full name as you would like it to appear in your posting. No posting will appear without its author's name. 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