Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.133 November 17, 1993 1) Query (Vicki Fromkin) 2) Ufruf (Meir David) 3) 666 (Amitai Halevi) 4) Jewish years and Dovid Katz (Jeremy Stern) 5) Route 666 (Zachary Baker) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Nov 15 20:51:24 1993 From: Vicki Fromkin Subject: Query how come I haven't received any messages from Mendele lately? Where is everyone? Vicki Fromkin 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Nov 16 01:24:10 1993 From: mhd@world.std.com (Mark H David) Subject: _ufruf_ My original question was, why did Orthodox Jews take up "uf". I cannot think of another instance of wide-spread Orthodox usage of a NE Yiddish form. (1) what do you mean by "Orthodox Jews". Is this supposed to be a group that does not include Litvaks? Vos heyst?! (2) Oyf is not originally Yiddish. It was a hack by language planners to have one spelling for both the preposition [AF] with the adverbial [UF]/[ARUF]. It's caused no end of confusion, in my opinion. (3) However, well-meaning native Yiddish speakers and teachers of Yiddish have cultivated the use of the "proper" [OYF] for so long, that it actually has become an authentic Yiddish form. [Well, that ought to inspire at least a bit of dialog....] Meyer 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Nov 16 04:41:28 1993 From: AMITAI HALEVI Subject: 666 In reply to Ellen Prince's query: 666 = Tav-Resh-Samekh-Vav, or TaRS"U. Tav=400; Resh=200; Samekh=60, Vav=6 Nisht tzu bedanken. Amitai Halevi 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Nov 16 12:06:15 1993 From: Jeremy Stern Subject: Jewish Years and Dovid Katz Ellen's question reminds me of a problem I had when I read Katz's Grammar. In order to illustrate the principle of forming the Jewish years and vocalizing them, he chose the example of 5748, or 1987/8. However, whereas most Jews pronounced that year "tismakh," Katz had it "tashmakh." It is common to deviate from the standard vocalization, especially to avoid a ominous word or to change to a hopeful one. In a similar vein, the year 5744 was changed to "tisdam" to avoid tashmad." Does anyone remember if Israeli papers followed the changed form, because I know that the Orthodox world did so? Jeremy Stern 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Nov 16 15:02:24 1993 From: "Zachary M. Baker" Subject: Route 666 "How would 666 be represented in Hebrew alphabetic numerals?" -- asks Ellen Prince (MENDELE 3.132). I'm sure there will be a flood of responses, so let me weigh in with the answer and a bibliographical observation. 666: Tav - resh - samekh - vov. 400 + 200 + 60 + 6 = 666 Alef > yod = 1 > 10; Kaf > tsade = 20 > 90; Resh > tav = 100 > 400. Hebrew dates make copious use of alphabetic numerals. The present year, 5754, would properly be represented by the following letters: He' (+apostrophe) - tav - shin - nun - dalet. 5,000 + 400 + 300 + 50 + 4 = 5,754 Usually, however, the "5,000" designator (he' + apostrophe) is omitted, and the date is written, e.g.: Tav - shin - nun - dalet l[i]f[rat]"k[atan] ("according to the abbreviated way of writing the date"). Scholars and bibliographers use sleight of hand to figure out the civil equivalent of an abbreviated Hebrew date, which I will now reveal (at pain of kheyrem): Add 1,240 to the abbreviated date, and you get the equivalent C.E. year, e.g.: 754 + 1,240 = 1,994. But it's only 1993, you say? Remember that Rosh Hashanah comes in September or thereabouts, so the first few months of 5754 actually fall in the year 1993, but most of the current Hebrew year will indeed occur in 1994. If 666 were an abbreviated Hebrew date, its equivalent civil year would be 1905/06. The Library of Congress, in its wisdom, no longer uses Hebrew letters to represent Hebrew dates; instead, it "translates" them into Arabic numerals and then provides a civil year equivalent (if none is supplied in the work being described). One encounters absurdities such as the following, on a Library of Congress cataloging record: Warsaw : B. Shimin, 666 [1905 or 1906]. Zachary Baker, YIVO Library ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.133 Send submissions/responses to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Other business: nmiller@starbase.trincoll.edu Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files