Lyrics Golem - Rumenye

Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 5.124
September 27, 1995

1) "Rumania, Rumania" (Milt Eisner)
2) Hearing Yiddish (Sholem Yafe)
3) Yiddish science (Bob Rothstein)
4) Yiddish on Mendele (Gershon Margolis)
5) A phonetic shayle (Charles Jones)
6) A phonetic shayle (Eliyahu Juni)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Sep 1995 20:26:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: eisner@delphi.com
Subject: "Rumania, Rumania"

Charles Kent [5.118] requested the lyrics to "Rumania, Rumania." Here
they are, from _Great Songs of the Yiddish Theater_:

"Rumania, Rumania"

Words and Music by Aaron Lebedeff

Ekh, Rumenye, Rumenye, Rumenye,
Rumenye, Rumenye, Rumenye.
Geven a mol a land a zise, a sheyne.

Ekh, Rumenye, Rumenye, Rumenye,
Rumenye, Rumenye, Rumenye, Rumenye.
Geven a mol a land a zise, a fayne.

Dort tsu voynen iz a fargenigen.
Vos dos harts glust dir, dos kenstu krign.
A mameligele, a pastramele,
A karnatsele, un a glazele vayn, aha!

In Rumenye iz dokh gut,
fun keyn dayges veyst men nit;
Vayn trinkt men iberal,
me farbayst mit kashtaval.
Hay digi digi dam, digi digi digi dam;
Hay digi digi digi digi digi dam.
Hay digi digi dam, digi digi digi dam;
Hay digi digi digi digi digi dam.

In Rumenye iz dokh gut,
fun keyn zorgn veyst men nit;
Vayn trinkt men iberal,
me farbayst a kastravet.
Hay digi digi dam, digi digi digi dam;
Hay digi digi digi digi digi dam.
Hay digi digi dam, digi digi digi dam;
Hay digi digi digi digi digi dam.

Oy vey g'vald, ikh ver meshige,
kh'lib nor brinze, mamelige,
Kh'tants un frey zikh biz der stelye,
ven ikh es a patlozhele.
Dzingma, tay tidl ti dam;
dzingma, tay tidl ti dam;
dzingma, tay tidl ti dam;
dzingma, tay tidlt ti dam.
Ay, s'iz a mekhaye, beser ken nit zayn,
Ay, a fargenign iz nor Rumenish vayn.

Di Rumener trinken vayn
un esn mamelige
Ver es kusht zayn eygn vayb,
o yener iz meshige.
Dzingma, tay tidl ti dam;
dzingma, tay tidl ti dam;
dzingma, tay tidl ti dam;
dzingma, tay tidlt ti dam.
Ay, s'iz a mekhaye, beser ken nit zayn,
Ay, a fargenign iz nor Rumenish vayn.

A ...
Yokum purkon min shemaye,
shteyt un kusht di kekhne, Khaye,
Ongeton in alte shkrabes,
makht a kugl l'koved Shabes.
Zets! tay tidl di dam;
Zets! tay tidl di dam;
Zets! tay tidl di dam;
Zets! tay tidl di dam;
Zets! tay tidl di dam!

A ...
Yokum purkon min shemaye,
shteyt un kusht di kekhne, Khaye,
Ongeton in alte shkrabes,
makht a kugl l'koved Shabes.
Zets! tay tidl di dam;
Zets! tay tidl di dam;
Zets! tay tidl di dam;
Zets! tay tidl di dam;
Zets! tay tidl di dam!
Ay, s'iz a mekhaye beser ken nit zayn,
Ay, a fargenign iz nor Rumenish vayn.

Ay, ay, ay!

A gut yor.

Milt Eisner
McLean VA

[A similar post has been received from Ariane Zwiers. nm]

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1995 03:17:23 -0400
From: lakejaffe@aol.com
Subject: "Hearing" Yiddish, thanks to Latin alphabet

Just a word of appreciation to Eliyahu Juni for his explanation of
N'sokhim -- but, beyond that, for his delightful pronunciation of the
Yiddish words, the sound of which comes through beautifully, as though by
a recording! I enjoy hearing the various dialects of English, and I take
even greater delight in listening to the varieties of Yiddish
pronunciation.

And isn't it interesting that all this comes about as a result of the
limitations imposed on us by our computers' inability to use the
Yiddish/Hebrew alphabet!

Sholem Yafe

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Date: S