Transliteration (was: "Ladino Database")

[Joel Bresler <jbresler...>]

Bob,

I believe there is a standard work laying out transliterations for the
names of the prayers in the Hebrew service, by a fellow named Davidson.
Sorry to be hazy about the details. Can Judy Fertig or other authority
weigh in on this reference? I can't seem to find it on my computer, which
means it probably came to me in FAX form.

Past that, I don't know if there are any "official" guidelines. 

Best, joel

the Hebrew liturgy At 01:53 PM 11/22/98 -0500, robert wiener wrote:
>Reyzl,
>
>Thanks for your advice on transliteration.  It is very helpful.  A
>discography of recordings in a foreign language seems so daunting that it
>would be a real shame to go to all the effort only to discover that all the
>spelling needs to be edited.
>
>I wonder if a transliteration standard (similar to the Yivo standard for
>Yiddish) exists for Hebrew.  I believe that I've heard that the Library of
>Congress has one.  Perhaps there are Hebrew transliteration guidelines in
>the Encyclopedia Judaica.  Is one more generally accepted, for example, by
>libraries?   Is there a printed discography (or bibliography) guide for
>Hebrew.
>
>(I'll phone YIVO to find out about their system for Yiddish.  Do they have a
>web site?)
>
>Bob
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky <reyzl (at) flash(dot)net>
>To: World music from a Jewish slant. <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
>Date: Wednesday, November 18, 1998 3:03 PM
>Subject: RE: Ladino Database
>
>
>Critically important for anyone creating a database that contains Yiddish
>material -  learn the YIVO transliteration system or you will have a whole
>mess.   You will also not realize that what you have at home may already
>easily exist on some online data base, only because you didn't know how to
>write the word correctly.   You saw here earlier this year someone who was
>looking for a common Yiddish song, but because she didn't transliterate or
>transcribe it correctly she couldn't find it in any common Yiddish song book
>or even on web sites that follow the official transliteration rules, e.g.,
>Bob Freedmans.   When I pointed the problem out to her succinctly and
>directly and transcribed it correctly for her, some one who doesn't know me
>from Adam said that I was a nasty person.   It may be silly to stress this
>technical issue on this list, but I hope that you are wiser person.
>
>Write to YIVO and ask for a copy of the Transliteration rules to be sent to
>you.  I wish the rules were somewhere on the web, but they aren't on yet as
>far as I know.   Furthermore, know that people from Spanish or French
>speaking countries, will transliterate Yiddish differently than English
>speakers, but the YIVO system is built on an international linguistic system
>with direct correspondence to Yiddish spelling so that those rules should
>apply to all Yiddish words written in the Roman alphabet, no matter the
>dialect of the speaker.
>
>
>Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky
>
>
>----------
>From:  robert wiener[SMTP:wiener (at) mindspring(dot)com]
>Sent:  Wednesday, November 18, 1998 10:36 AM
>To:  World music from a Jewish slant.
>Cc:  jbresler (at) ultra(dot)net
>Subject:  Ladino Database
>
>Joel:
>
>             Wow!  It seems like quite a project.  I have an old 4x6 card
>catalogue that I stopped once I anticipated that computers could create a
>database more efficiently.  (Would that be 15 years ago?)  Unfortunately,
>I've never taken that step and now 1/2 of my LPs and all of my cassettes and
>CDs are uncatalogued.  So I'd appreciate advice from any list members.
>
>             Can you (and others) share with us your experience and
>recommendations for such a venture?  What software to use, how to set it up
>(e.g., what information/fields to include), transliteration
>consistency...?  For those of you who have created databases for Yiddish or
>Hebrew, did you do it in both that language and English?
>I've heard of programs that read CD information on
>the CD-rom.  Do you know of them?  I've also heard of some databases of
>recordings that you can use as a source so that you don't have to do all the
>entries yourself -- it seems that you electronically check off the albums
>you own.  Has anyone used them?  Would a scanner help in downloading the
>information?  What sort of hardware do you need (for example, for a
>collection of about 4,000 LPs, 2,000 CDs, and 1,000 cassettes?  What do you
>wish that you had known before you began the project (in addition to how
>much time it would take)?  Are there any resources for funding such a
>venture?
>
>             Thanks,
>             Bob
>
>


Joel Bresler
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