Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 15.011
June 19 , 2005
1) orkheporkhe (Lucas Bruyn)
2) dray yingelekh (Lori Cahan-Simon)
3) dray yingelekh (Marvin Engel)
4) parkh (Zachary Baker)
5) English in Yiddish (Melvin Ring)
6) tate (Hirsh Perloff)
7) Lillian Lux o"h (Noyekh Miller)
1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 12, 2005
Subject: Re: orkheporkhe
In Mendele Vol. 15.007 Yoyne Freer asked about the derivation of
orkheporkhe. In the next issue the question was answered by several
Mendelianer and there seems to be agreement on the `orkhe' part, meaning:
wanderer. The porke part seems to be less certain Amitai Halevi says, that
orkheporkhe is an Aramaic expression. Unfortunately he does not quote its
original context. How did it get to be an expression in Yiddish? Thinking
it was some kind of rhyming slang I suggested that porkhe might have come
from Polish `parkh', a person with a skin disease. Lyuba Dukker casts
serious doubt on this interpretation. In Vol 15.010 several Mendelianer
discuss the medical details of `parkh' and its usage, but no additional
information about `porkhe' has been given thus far.
Lucas Bruyn
2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 12, 2005
Subject: Re: dray yingelekh
Ellen Prince's posting in response to Marvin Engel contained brackets
containing lyrics she was unsure of. Below are the complete lyrics,
according to the Gelbart melody. This version can be found on Lori
Cahan-Simon's CD, Vessel of Song: The Music of Mikhl Gelbart. The last
verse here included is not from the Gelbart, but rather the Zaslavsky
version. It does nicely complete the joke. The Zaslavsky is a lovely
melody, but to my way of thinking, less appropriate to the lyrics than the
Gelbart. I have been told that this song was popular not only in the U.S.,
but also in Eastern Europe.
Di mame hot dray yingelekh,
Dray yingelekh gehat,
Mit veykhe, royte bekelekh,
Vi tsarter samet glat.
Hot eyns geheysn berele,
Dos tsveyte khayim-shmerele,
Dos drite hot geheysn
Men zol im koyfn shikh.
Ikh hob aykh opgenart!
Ikh hob gevust; ir vart.
Dos drite, kleyne yingele
Dos drite, dos bin ikh.
Di mame hot dray niselekh
Fun dem yarid gebrakht,
Dray gute, fete niselekh,
Dray niselekh a prakht.
Iz eyns geven far berelen
Un eyns far khayim-shmerelen
Un gor dos beste nisl
Hot zi belozt far zikh.
Ir vundert zikh a bisl,
Far vos nit mir a nisl?
Vayl nisn, nisn, nisele,
Dos drite, dos bin ikh!
Di mame hot aheym gebrakht
Dray niselekh un mikh,
Dray niselekh far di briderlekh,
Un mir tsvey naye shikh.
Lori Cahan-Simon
Lorelecs@Juno.com
3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 17, 2005
Subject: Re: dray yingelekh
I'd like to thank Ellen Prince for the lyrics and all the other mendelistn
who shared their information re this song. Mendele is really the cat's
pajamas!
Marvin Engel
[yo, ober viazoy zogt men dos oyf yidish?]
4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 14, 2005
Subject: "Ale parkhes keyn Mitsrayim!"
Some years ago Itzik Gottesman gave a paper at the Association for Jewish
Studies conference, in which he discussed a quaint custom pursued by some
of our forebears in Eastern Galicia. On or around shabes ha-godl (Shabbat
ha-Gadol, the Sabbath preceding Passover) "parkhs" - individuals with the
skin disorder that was described in other postings - were chased around
town in a kind of hazing ritual. "Ale parkhes keyn Mitsrayim!" was the cry
of those who led the chase.
This tidbit of Jewish folklore is the subject of a 32-page booklet, Gdules
ha-parkhes (Gedulat ha-parkhut), by the pseudonymous M.P., published in
Lemberg in 1875:
"Di bashraybung fun di parkhim vos zey geyen ale yor shabes ha-godl avek
keyn mitsrayim un far yorn hobn zey urloyb gehat vayl es iz keyn ayz nisht
geven un dos yor iz gekumen un zey veln shoyn muzn dos yor aynrukn vayl es
iz dos yor do a sakh ayz veln zey zikh konen glidshn" (p. 2 of the booklet,
as quoted in the catalog card that is reproduced in The Yiddish
Author-Title Catalog of the YIVO Library).
Attempt at a translation:
Description of the "parkhs" who go away to "Egypt" every year on Shabes
ha-godl. Last year they had a respite because there wasn't any ice and
this year has come and they will have to be "drafted" because there is a
lot of ice this year and they will be able to slide.
Ah, the good old days...
Zachary Baker
5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 16, 2005
Subject: English in Yiddish
Regarding the rapid inclusion of English into Yiddish by immigrants to
America, a good example is the somg "di grine kuzine" where the third verse
says:
ikh hob mikh bakent mit mayn "nekst-dorke,"
gehat hot zi a "milinery storke,"
a dzjob hob ikh gekrign far mine grine......
The use of English pervades the song, which was not only sung on the
stage but sung by ordinary people when getting together.
Melvin Ring
6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 19, 2005
Subject: tate
Have any Mendelists a view on the etymology of the word tate -- dad? It
doesn't seem to derive from either German or Slavonic, although Polish does
have the endearment tatus. Could it perhaps originate from the Turkish for
father ata?
Hirsh Perloff
7)----------------------------------------------------
Date: June 19, 2005
Subject: Lillian Lux o"h
Mendelistn of a certain age can never forget this wonderful comedienne who
along with her husband Pesakh'ke Bursteyn brought us so much pleasure over
the years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/theater/15lux.html
Noyekh Miller
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End of Mendele Vol. 15.011
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