Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 13.036 April 27, 2004 1) iberkhazern (Marishe Romano-Cufaro and Daniela Mantovan-Kromer) 2) gogl mogl(Ruben Frankenstein) 3) gogl mogl(R. Lea Singer) 4) mayofes-tants (Jim Loeffler) 5) mayofes-tants (Michael Steinlauf) 6) nebbish and nebekh (Jascha Kessler) 7) nebbish and nebekh (Rick Turkel) 8) nebbish and nebekh (Paul Glasser) 9) nebbish and nebekh (Norman Brewer) Visit Mendele on the Web: http://www.mendele.net 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 26, 2004 From: Nicola.Cufaro@ba.infn.it Subject: "Iberkhazern" or a modern tale of transgenic pigs Mir hobn zikh derzen mit a shmeykhl un a trer in di tragikomishe avantures funem orem khazerl vos iz antlofn fun an eksperimentir-lager nokhdem er hot zikh ongefresn mit genetish modifitsirte sheroshim un iz gevorn a geferlekher "iberkhazer" vos bahalt zikh in di shures fun undzer shtetl "mendele". Vos hot men geton? Aroystrakhtn a plan vi azoy me ken poter vern dem prikren monkalb? Neyn! Oder beser vi azoy me ken farmaydn az ot di khaye khazert zikh iber un, kholile, farmert zikh? Neyn un neyn! Koydemkol zol men bashlisn ver hot dos rekht tsu zogn vos di khaye iz. Do kumt der rebe un zogt az bloyz di "chapeaux noirs" torn redn vegn dem inyen, vorem yidishkeyt leygt nor bay zey in hartsn. Dertsornt dervidert a khokhem-mufleg az me tor efenen dem moyl nor az me ken hebreysh, a slavishe shprakh ober kholile nisht keyn daytsh. Andere zogn az nor di vos redn punkt vi zeyer bobe oder vi bay zey in der heym hobn dos rekht tsu paskenen vegn dem. Nu, un dos khazerl? Er hot farshtanen vos er hot zikh opgenart un vos er aleyn iz bloyz a toes tzi a grayz tsi a feler, un iz antlofn fun der behole un hot zikh opgegebn mit latayn, vu keyner fregt nisht nokh yikhes un me vet opgeshatst nor far der eygener arbet. Vegn Itsik Goldenbergn un di atakes un baleydikungen vos zayne naive kashe hot aroysgerufen, meynen mir az me zol onmutikn mentshn vos veln zikh lernen yidish un zey nisht in biesh shteln. In der hayntiker velt vos kent alts veyniker yidish vi a mameloshn, vu afile af universitetn vu me lernt zikh af yidishe shtudies iz der yidish-limud af english oder hebreysh, vu me git aroys alts veyniker bikher af yidish, vu di alte groyse shraybers shtarbn un keyner firt di arbet vayter, ken men tsufridn zayn az s'zaynen fort do mentshn vos lernen zikh in der doziker sprakh. A grus alemen fun Italie Marishe Romano-Cufaro Daniela Mantovan-Kromer 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 27, 2004 From: ruben.frankenstein@orient.uni-freiburg.de Subject: Re: gogl mogl To Itzik Goldenberg's query about "gogl mogl" I propose two possibilties for the origin of the term, which is also known in hebrew and is found in the Even-Shoshan Dictionary (with unspecified origin: Yiddish, German), or a spoonerism (Verbalhornung) of both: a) the German term for "Gogl mogl" - "Hoppelpoppel", which means besides the eggnog also a farmers-breakfast made of scrambled egg with ham and fried potatoes. b) Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 28-29) in the English version of the legend (pictured in the Guildhall in London). Both explanations are mentioned in Alexander Harkavy's Yiddish English-Hebrew Dictionary (1928). Ruben Frankenstein Freiburg 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 26, 2004 From: RivkaNet@aol.com Subject: Re: gogl mogl I am sure others remember the _huge_ discussion here in 1998. http://shakti.trincoll.edu/~mendele/vol07/vol07.197 R. Lea Singer University City, Missouri [Similar posts were received from Naomi Fatouros and Michael Meckler. A number of posts dwelling on the non-linguistic aspects of gogl mogl have been received from Yale Strom, Alex Dafner, Jack Berger, Dan Goodridge, Susan Goldberg, Zulema Seligsohn, Leon Rosenberg, Meyer Zaremba and Dina Leviash.] 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 26, 2004 From: jbl37@columbia.edu Subject: Re: mayofes-tants Nokhem Reinharz asks about the meaning of mayofes-tants or mayofes-lid. The term refers originally to a shabos evening zemer, a Friday night Sabbath tablesong, deriving from a 13th-century Provence Hebrew poem and sung widely in Eastern Europe down to modern times, particularly in Polish lands. The words "mah yafit" in Hebrew mean "how beautiful", the opening words of of the song's text. At some point in the 18th century, non-Jewish Poles began to fixate on the melody of the song and Hasidic singing style as a source of bizarre amusement and symbol of the strangeness of Jewish musical practice. There are even accounts of landowners requiring Jewish tenants to appear and dance a caricatured, exagerated Hasidic dance while singing this song. You will find exhaustive and fascinating discussions of the song's history and meaning in the following two excellent articles: 1) Chone Shmeruk, "Mayufes: A Window on Polish-Jewish Relations" Polin 10 (1997) 2) Bret Web, "Majufes: A Vestige of Jewish Traditional Song in Polish Popular Entertainments" Polish Music Journal 6:1 (Summer 2003) [Also on the web at http://www.usc.edu/dept/polish_music/PMJ/issue/6.1.03/Werb.html] Jim Loeffler 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 27, 2004 From: msteinlauf@earthlink.net Subject: Re: mayofes-tants On this subject, see the important article by the late Prof. Chone Shmeruk, "Mayufes: A Window on Polish-Jewish Relations," in vol. 10 (I believe the year is 1997) of the annual Polin. Michael Steinlauf 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 27, 2004 From: jkessler@ucla.edu Subject: Re: nebbish and nebekh One has always heard 'nebekh' added to a sentence, a sort of sad expletive. So what happened to Tsirl? She had a miscarriage, nebekh. Well, Tsirl was always a nebbish. So who told her to wash the kitchen floor in her 6th month on her hands and knees? Jascha Kessler 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 27, 2004 From: rturkel@ameritech.net Subject: Re: nebbish and nebekh Jeffrey Jampel wrote in Mendele 13.035: >> I have also been told by an expert in Yiddish translation the the word comes >> from the Hungarian words for nothing good. Interesting. I was taught that it came from the Old Czech "ne Boh," literally "no God," i.e., one who lacks the common blessings of God. I don't know any Hungarian, so I have no clue as how reasonable Jeffrey's suggestion might be. Anyone? zayt mir gezunt un shtark. Rick Turkel 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 27, 2004 From: pglasser@yivo.cjh.org Subject: RE: nebbish and nebekh The best authorities have it that Yiddish "nebekh" is derived from Old Czech "neboh(y)," which once meant 'poor thing' and now means 'deceased'. (Czech "h" iz pronounced /kh/ in final position.) Paul (Hershl) Glasser 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 27, 2004 From: nlbrewer@btinternet.com Subject: RE: nebbish and nebekh In my dialect ( Litvak), a nebbish is a person for whom one feels pity. I would agree with JJ in his defuinition. nebekh is what one says when one hears a pitiful story, or wishes to extend sympathy. A person isn't a nebekh -- it's a condoling remark.Again, JJ seems to be on track. But I don't think the two words are related. Note that I use a different vowel - and the X throaty consonant at the end. Norman Brewer ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 13.036 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu