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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>From: Micha Berger <micha@aishdas.org><BR>>>And before the
war, his Yiddish speaking father would have said "de<BR>Aibishter" (the Most
High).<<<BR></FONT></DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"
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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>>>>><BR>I think, although I am not certain, that he would
have said "der Aibishter." We Americans, those of us who retain a
smattering of Yiddish, have mostly forgotten that in Yiddish the definite
article must be masculine or feminine to match the gender of the noun. In
English most nouns have no gender, so we are not even conscious of such a
thing (except for some old-fashioned constructions, like using the
pronoun "she" for ships and countries). Even knowing that there is
such a rule in Yiddish, with most words I have no idea whether I should be using
"der" or "dos." I think "di" is plural but I'm not even sure about
that. I never speak Yiddish out loud because I am painfully aware that I
can't string together six words in Yiddish without making six mistakes in
grammar and pronunciation. I love to hear the language spoken but as time
goes by, more and more native Yiddish speakers are leaving us, and more and more
oldsters speak plain American English. I mourn the passing of the language
of my grandparents, the language of warmth and comfort, chicken soup and kugel
and faith and shelter in a storm and light in the darkness.</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><B><BR></B><BR><B>--Toby
Katz<BR>=============<BR><BR></B><BR></FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">It's only a deal if it's where <I>you</I> want to go. Find your travel deal <A title="http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047" href="http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047" target="_blank"><B>here</B></A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>