ornamental orthography [WAS: Re: Dreydlekh, etc.]

[Sandra Layman <sandl...>]

Matt Jaffey <mjaffey2 (at) mum(dot)edu> bowled me over with a most fascinating,
erudite, and comprehensive exposition on klezmer ornamentation, and the
terminology therefor, and then ended the whole dissertation with the
following:

<<
Lev Liberman responds on the Boidt'yaa

"For the record: The musical ornament Kevin mentions should be spelled
'boidt'yaa.' This orthography is from the horse's mouth; I coined the word
in 1976. When I go to that big klezmer jam in Hades you can engrave on my
tombstone: HE DISCOVERED THE BOIDT'YAA. Make sure you spell it right!

"(I have no idea what the old-time klezmers called it. Maybe they had no
name for it, like a fish has no name for water.)" [lev, 2/27/96]
http://www.klezmershack.com/articles/klezmorim.hist.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Message to the Jewish-Music List:
<<Give me a good krekhts, I always said!--well, at least some of the time.
And flavor it with some "boyntyas" [Lev's word!], too.>>
Sandra Layman 9/12/97

[Makes it sound like the Boidt'yaa wasn't a krekhts after all - so much for
verbal descriptions! but maybe it was?]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>


Well, I'm mortified!
Wouldn't you know that I'd tag along at the end with a spelling mistake!
I can only hope those shades in Hades will remember me for something else.
;-)

I was/am better at playing than talking about it, but I'll just venture to
observe that if you heard the correct pronunciation of -- ahem --
"'boidt'yaa," why you'd be more than halfway there to doing one.

The apostrophe in the middle is crucial.

A "boidt'yaa" involves a longer glottal stop or "catch" in the middle --
between the "boidt" and the "yaa" -- than does a "krekhts," in my humble
estimation.

Also, notice that the "yaa" has those two "a"'s, which should indicate that
there is a prolongation of the sound at the end.

But Lev, I ask, why oh why is that Teutonic-looking "dt" in there?

Allow me to suggest an answer: the apostrophe, in my estimation, really
belongs between the "d" and the "t". That captures the little "chaa" or
"tyaa" after the "boid" and the "apostrophe" part.)


Hairsplittingly but humbly submitted from over there in that dark corner,

Sandra Layman


(P.S. Please excuse my tardiness if many more messages have passed since
Matt's. I get the digest form of the list.)

(P.P.S. The correct spelling of "spleen" and a detailed exposition of the
eponymous ornament in early 17th-century Mongolian klezmer music will be
addressed in my soon-to-be-published monograph.)

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+