Re: Oyf vs. Af

[Lori Cahan-Simon <l_cahan...>]

But why is it always transliterated as "oyf", then?  What was the standard
pronunciation in the theater, for instance, if there was one?  What is the
pronunciation I should use without criticism?  It seems most people do =not=
say "oyf", but it is not clear what =to= say.  I think I'll take the "f" off
and just say, "Oy".

"Robert A. Rothstein" wrote:

> When in doubt, ask the experts; in this case, Dr. Mordkhe Schaechter.  I
> quote from his Laytish mame-loshn [Authentic Yiddish] (NY: League for
> Yiddish, 1986), 311-12.
>
>     It?s possible that it?s too late to teach the rising generations
> that in natural Yiddish one
>     doesn?t say /OYF/, put it?s probably still worth trying.  Yiddish
> grammars on the one
>     hand and dialectologists on the other have long pointed out that ?er
> shtelt zikh aroyf oyfn
>     tish? is in Northern Yiddish:  /ershteltsakh aruf afntish/, in the
> Southeast :  /ershteltsekh
>     arif afntish/, in Central Yiddish: /ershteltsekh arof ofntish/.
> Soviet Yiddish makes the
>     distinction in writing as well:  ?af? ? the preposition, ?uf? and
> ?aruf? ? the separable
>     prefix.  But since we, outside the Soviet Union, follow the Yiddish
> orthographic tradition
>     and write ?oyf? for both the preposition and the prefix, sooner or
> later the spelling
>     pronunciation will probably supplant the natural pronunciation /af,
> uf/, /af, if/, /of, of/.
>
> In the original:
>     Ken zayn az s?iz tsu shpet oystsulernen di untervaksndike doyres, az
> in natirlekhn yidish
>     zogt men nisht /OYF/, ober efsher iz fort keday tsu pruvn.  Yidishe
> gramatikes fun eyn
>     zayt, dialektologn fun der anderer hobn shoyn lang ongevizn, az ?er
> shtelt zikh aroyf oyfn
>     tish? iz in tsofn-yidish: /ershteltsakh aruf afntish/, in
> dorem-mizrekh: /ershteltsekh arif
>     afntish/, in tsentral-yidish: /ershteltsekh arof ofntish/.  Dos
> sovetishe yidish diferentsirt
>     oykh biksav: ?af? ? di prepozitsye, ?uf? un ?aruf? dem konverb.
> Azoy vi mir, mikhutsn
>     ratn-farband, shraybn ober, loyt der yidisher shrayb-traditsye,
> ?oyf? i di prepozitsye, i
>     dem konverb, vet der oysyesdiker aroysred frier tsi shpeter efsher
> aroysshtupn dem
>     natirlekhn aroysred /af, uf/, /af, if/, /of, of/.
>
>                                    Bob Rothstein
>

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