Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________
Contents of Vol. 22.008 November 8, 2012 1) frand (Dina Levias) 2) frand (Hershl Hartman) 3) frand (Leyzer Gillig) 4) Yoshke Pandre (Bennett Muraskin) 5) Findjan (Helene B. Katz) 6) Yiddish: A New Arab-Jewish bridge? (Hershl Hartman) 7) Tfise-lid (Jane Peppler) 8) Translation help (Ruth Murphy) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 14 Subject: frand My untutored guess would be that the writer meant "fraynd", i.e. friend. Probably, not having mastered Yiddish, the writer used "frande" to address a woman under the impression that this was the feminine form for fraynd and therefore an appropriate way to address his female correspondent. Dina Levias [Moderator's note: Similar responses were received from Barry Goldstein, Lena Watson, and Stephen Berr, who adds, "I would, however, have written "fraynt" not "frande." The structure of the greeting and closing is quite standard."] 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 16 Subject: frand I'm sure I won't be alone -- or even the first -- to assure Martin Jacobs that the salutation and signature lines of the letter he's dealing with refer to "friend" Madam Berman and "friend" Bibi. It's also possible that difficult penmanship may be obscuring "frayndine," the feminine form. Hershl Hartman [Moderator's note: a similar response was received from Zulema Seligsohn.] 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 17 Subject: frand "Ayer frande Bibi"...It would appear to me from the context that the person was merely misspelling "fraynd," friend. The "ay" diphthong when pronounced by tsentral-yidish reders indeed often sounds more like "a." The "e" at the end - fraynde as opposed to fraynd - might be a daytshmerizm or a kosher dialectical variant, since Bibi is apparently a single individual. Leyzer Gillig [Moderator's note: similar responses were received from Maurice Wolfthal and Tom Wisniewski.] 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 14 Subject: Yoshke Pandre Pandre or Pandera was, according to Jewish sources, the last name of Joseph, the father of Jesus--or in some sources, the name of a Roman soldier who was supposedly the father of Jesus. Bennett Muraskin 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 4 Subject: Findjan Dear Mendelyaners, We just released a new page in the website "yidlid" at the address: http://rama01.free.fr/yidlid/chansons/findjan.htm but I have a couple questions unanswered still and I thought somebody here might know about this song's history. The questions are: Who is the author of the Yiddish version of this song? and Is the Yiddish version anterior or posterior to the Hebrew one? Zayt gezunt! Helene B. Katz 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 16 Subject: Yiddish: A New Arab-Jewish bridge? Check out this story from Al-Monitor, a new publication covering the Middle East: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/culture/2012/10/the-surprising-students-of-the- c.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Hershl Hartman 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 31 Subject: Tfise-lid (Vet shoyn do undzer keyver zayn) Hello friends, Does anybody have a tune for this song? First verse: Vet shoyn do undzer keyver zayn Zenen mir shoyn do farloyrn Zen veln mir nisht mer di likhtike shayn Farsholtn zenen mir fun geboyrn refreyn: Farlirt keyn mut nisht bruder Der goyrl undzer iz shoyn aza Shaynen vet di zun far undz nokh vider Dinen zol undz di fray... Second verse: Dort gelozn froy un kind Bay "nash brat" iz dos tayer... Do muz men zin flogn erger vi hint Brenen zol es vi a fayer... Jane Peppler 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 30 Subject: Translation help Dear Mendele List, I need some help please with a Yiddish poem I am translating. I have two questions: one concerning the eighth line and a more general translation question. The poem is "Viglid" by Eliezer Shindler. Here are the first eight lines, so you can see the context. I've italicized the parts I have questions on: Shlof mayn kind un hob hanoes, Iber dir di himlen bloe: Zilber-volkn sheyn geshlifn, Shvimen shtolts vi vunder-shifn. Firn oystres gold fun ufir Un meshiekh's geule-shoyfer. Tsederbeymer fun levonen, Mastn far di (khores? kheyres? khet-resh-vuv-sof) -fonen. (combination word khores/kheyres-= fonen). Here is my iberzetsung thus far (very rough, not the final copy): Sleep, my child, and be happy Above you are the blue skies Beautiful silver clouds so polished Swimming proudly like wonder-ships. They carry golden treasures from Ophir And the meshiekhs geule-shoyfer. Cedar wood from Lebanon, [Masts of (?) for (?) the kh ores/kheyres-flags.] My questions are, please: I am having a hard time with the last line shown. I think he means masts as in masts of ships, but I am not sure. I know cedar was used for that purpose. The word khey-resh-vuv-sof I could not find in any of my Yiddish or Yiddish- Hebrew dictionaries, but I saw in an online Hebrew dictionary that it can mean "independence" or also "engraved, embroidered." I have no idea what the author is saying. If you have some ideas, and/or can speak to the imagery he is using so beautifully, that would be really helpful to me. The author uses the term "hob hanoes" and also "shlof mayn kind mit groys hanoes." I know that phrase as "enjoy, etc." I am having a hard time to translate it into something in English suitable in a lullaby. To me, you would want to say something soothing: a version of "Good night, sleep tight." You would want them to be peaceful and think happy thoughts as they drift off to sleep, the blue skies and silver clouds above them. Can anybody please tell me about different ways to use the phrase "hanoes hobn" that would fit here, perhaps slightly different meanings from the more standard ones? I can send you a .jpg of the entire poem in the original Yiddish if you like. I welcome all comments and thoughts, positive or negative. I am just learning how to do this, so any and all ideas are very much appreciated. Please feel free to reply through the list or email me at [email protected]. A gute vokh aykh, Ruth Murphy __________________________________________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 22.008 Please do not use the "reply" key when writing to Mendele. 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