The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

colmike1 wrote:

Henry wrote:-Well, I've heard "Bei mir ist du schön," so this must be a spoof? ("schon" means "already" auf Deutsch, "schön" means "beautiful," pronounced something like "shane").

-Believe it or not, it is Yiddish, not German. Originally composed by Sholom Secunda. Not My Dear Mr Schoen.. It means "to me you are beautiful".


A high percentage of Yiddish (word derived from German "Jüdisch") is German; indeed, it could be argued that it's a dialect of German. In the case of this song title, the Yiddish is identical with the German. Some years ago, it was reported in the local press here that a contingent of Pennsylvania Amish visited the Hasidic community in Brooklyn, and they discovered that "PA Dutch" and Yiddish were mutually intelligible!

On this topic, see further: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_dialects

The Pennsylvania Dutch might have some trouble with the Hebrew aspects of Yiddish, though . Also, remember, Yiddish in its truest form is written in Hebrew letters. Most Yiddish we see here in the US has been transliterated into more germanic spellings. To quote my Zayde, "Vaksn zolstu vi a tsibele, mitn kop in dr'erd! (May you prosper & grow like an onion, with your head in the ground)

BTW, wikipedia is not your best source for reliable info. Noam Chomsky, noted linguist may be a better choice.

Henry wrote:

colmike1 wrote:

Henry wrote:-Well, I've heard "Bei mir ist du schön," so this must be a spoof? ("schon" means "already" auf Deutsch, "schön" means "beautiful," pronounced something like "shane").

-Believe it or not, it is Yiddish, not German. Originally composed by Sholom Secunda. Not My Dear Mr Schoen.. It means "to me you are beautiful".


A high percentage of Yiddish (word derived from German "Jüdisch") is German; indeed, it could be argued that it's a dialect of German. In the case of this song title, the Yiddish is identical with the German. Some years ago, it was reported in the local press here that a contingent of Pennsylvania Amish visited the Hasidic community in Brooklyn, and they discovered that "PA Dutch" and Yiddish were mutually intelligible!

On this topic, see further: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_dialects

The Pennsylvania Dutch might have some trouble with the Hebrew aspects of Yiddish, though . Also, remember, Yiddish in its truest form is written in Hebrew letters. Most Yiddish we see here in the US has been transliterated into more germanic spellings. To quote my Zayde, "Vaksn zolstu vi a tsibele, mitn kop in dr'erd! (May you prosper & grow like an onion, with your head in the ground)

BTW, wikipedia is not your best source for reliable info. Noam Chomsky, noted linguist may be a better choice.

I did not, or would I ever, claim that wikipedia is the most reliable source on anything, but in this particular case the article entry seems to be well-supported (see reference list). It should be understood that the various dialects of German known here loosely as "Pennsylvania dutch" were not written languages, which partly accounts for the variant spellings encountered when the spoken dialects are transliterated into English. It's often said said here that if you squint at PA dutch, it becomes German! In the case of your quote from the Yiddish, in German it is quite understandable as "Wachsen sollst du wie ein Zweibel, mit den Kopf in der Erde."