Blessings, Curses, Hopes, And Fears: Psycho-Ostensive Expressions In Yiddish; Author: Mattisoff, James A.; Author: Matisoff, James A.; Paperback

Author: Mattisoff, James A.; Author: Matisoff, James A.
Contraversions--Jews and Other Differences; Paperback
200 pages
Published: October 1999
Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804733945

In this delightful book, the author enumerates and classifies the formulas Yiddish speakers use to express their emotions. It is a rarity among scholarly books, for it brings joy while it teaches; it makes us smile, sometimes roar with laughter, while it develops the most rigorous linguistic argumentation. The author analyzes the many kinds of Yiddish psycho-ostensives -- ranging fromblessings and thanks to lamentations and curses. To a person who mentions something horrible you can say: Zalts dir in di oygn, fefer dir in noz! (Salt into your eyes, and pepper into your nose!). Or to a child you might tenderly murmur: A gezunt dir in yeder eyverl! (A health to all your little body-parts!). The author illustrates how these formulas can be used to fulfill social conventions,In this text, the author enumerates and classifies the formulas Yiddish speakers use to express their emotions. The author analyzes the many kinds of Yiddish psycho-ostensives ranging from blessings and thanks to lamentations and curses.