Re: lyrics to "Shnirele or SHIRELE

[Sam Weiss <SamWeiss...>]

At 02:40 PM 12/26/03, Sylvia Schildt wrote:
>Has anyone come across the alternative "Shirele, Perele.?  Prof. Dov Noy 
>suggested that the words shnirele, perele are incorrect and make no sense 
>anyway. Shirele, perele, a little song a little pearl, makes more sense, 
>he argues. Any opinions?

Semantically "A little song, a little pearl" makes less sense than "A 
little string [of pearls], a little pearl."  "Shirele," moreover, does not 
mean "little song" in straightforward Yiddish, but is a girl's name, as is 
Perele -- thus the two words may hang together semantically somewhat better 
than  "shnirele perele."  But then the following phrase ("golden fan") 
makes even less sense than it does  after "a little string , a little 
pearl" since in the latter version the three share the characteristic of 
being objects.


_____________________________________________________________
Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus, NJ


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