Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.023 June 3, 1993 1) Yiddish clubs (Allan Blair) 2) Yid(d)ish Vokh and standardized transcriptions (Bob Hoberman) 3) A bibliografishe bakawshe (Mark Pinson) 4) Moscow Yiddish Program (Stanley Werbow) 5) Rosl, roizl (Katriel Leibovic) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Jun 2 13:35:20 1993 From: Allan E Blair Subject: Yiddish clubs Tayer Khaverim: I have just returned from "The First International Conference on Yiddish Clubs" which was put on by the Greater Washington Yiddish Clubs. There were about 145 participants from all over the United States, Canada, and even Argentina. Not only was the program excellent, but it was wonderful just to associate with Yiddishe mentshen for three days. We all felt very strongly that we should meet again - every two years. Sites considered were: Canada (Montreal or Toronto); Columbus, Cleveland; Los Angeles, Miami, etc, etc. I thought the Mendele would be a good vehicle to spread the word. I enjoyed the conference so much that I wanted to share it with as many as I could as quickly as I could. I'd like to hear from as many of you as possible about this. Ikh vil gibn dir alle mayn vrt az ikh vil shik matn nextn briv ahf Yidish. Ikh vuntch dir alle a gutn tog un a gutn vokh. Zayt azay gut, los mir fun dir herren vegn dos Allan (Avrom Yitzkhok) Blair 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Jun 2 13:37:42 1993 From: Robert D Hoberman Subject: Yid(d)ish Vokh and standardized transcriptions I was one of those people who put in a word for not mixing standard YIVO transciption with informal popular transcription. Now I lean toward a little more flexibility. If participants in the Yiddish week program are going to call it, WHILE SPEAKING ENGLISH, by its Yiddish name more or less, pronouncing the first word like the English word "Yiddish" (with its flapped "d"), then maybe the way it should be written IN ENGLISH is: "Yiddish vokh". A good discussion of all these issues is contained in the booklet _How DO You Spell Chanukah? A General-Purpose Romanization of Hebrew for Speakers of English_ by Werner Weinberg (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1976). ("Romanization" is pretty much the same as "practical transcription".) Weinberg's lucid reasoning about most aspects of transcription, though not all the details of his proposed transcription system, were adopted by the Library of Congress and the American National Standards Institute. On p.30 he has a section entitled "Will Options and Exceptions not Further Disunity?" He writes: In the course of these explanations the romanizer has been given options in five cases: ... Furthermore two exceptions have been stated: ... The question may be asked why options are given and exceptions allowed when a new system is to be introduced. Will they not open the door to arbitrariness when the very purpose of the system is unification? But it is rather absolute decisiveness and rigidity, in cases which by their nature allow for more than one possibility, that encourage deviation and with it breakdown of the system. Romanization must not be stricter than national orthographies [i.e. ordinary spelling of languages in their usual scripts] and these allow for options and exceptions." The heading of a poster or flyer that is otherwise written in English seems to me to be just the kind of situation that calls for an exception: Yiddish Vokh. (But never Woch!) Bob Hoberman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Jun 2 14:41:21 1993 From: PINSON%HUSC3.bitnet@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu Subject: A bibliografishe bakawshe Perhaps some one can help me get the exact source and quotation. I have a vague (possibly incorrect) recollection that one of leading Yiddish scholars, possibly Weinreich, once said something like: The difference between a language and a dialect is that the former has a government and an army.... Any suggestions? Mark Pinson 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Jun 2 16:32:54 1993 From: glaa273@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu (Stanley Werbow) Subject: Moscow Yiddish Program Does anyone have a mailing address for Touro College's Judaic Studies Program in Moscow, which was featured in an article by Natasha Singer in the English language Forward of April 30, 1993, p.12? Stanley Werbow: GLAA273@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu Stanley N. Werbow 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Jun 2 16:55:45 1993 From: BPHKNL@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu Subject: rosl,roizl yitshak kertesz writes that rosl is not the same as roizl or rozl, and that transliteration can lead to ambiguities.granted that brine does not smell the same as a rose and the meaning of that delightful phrase is different in the two cases, i do believe that meaning it has, whether it is brine or rose. katriel leibovic ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.023