queries/An-sky

[Moshe Taube]

Could любка be simply the diminutive of любовь, with the meaning 'amourette', 'passing infatuation' or 'flirt', as it is in Yiddish: ליובקע pl. ליובקעס, attested in Niborski's Yiddish-French dictionary, and clearly deriving from Russian? Seems to me it could fit well into a description of the alternative to the serious young fellow that the father urges her to marry - a frivolous womanizer.

Moshe Taube  
On Dec 16, 2010, at 8:52 PM, Katz, Michael R. wrote:

> Dear colleagues:
> 
> I am finishing my annotated translation of S. An-sky's novel "Pionery" (1906) and am mystified by three phrases:
> 
> 1) An irate father says to his daughter (who is refusing to marry the man he has picked out for her):
> 
> "Tebe, mozhet byt', okazhetsya bolee podkhodyashchim zhenikh s belymi pugovitsami i s 'lyubkami'"?
> 
> What could "lyubki" mean in this context?
> 
> 2) A yeshiva boy studying read Russian is given a simple story (fable?) to read entitled:
> 
> "Priznatel'nyi Vanya."
> 
> I can't find a source. Any ideas?
> 
> 3) One of the lads sings a sad song that begins:
> 
> Chto ty, glupyi, coloveika,
> Pod moim zapel oknom? 
> Al', ne znaesh', chto evreika
> Obitaet etot dom?
> 
> I would be grateful for any hints, suggestions, clues you might have to help solve one or more of these puzzles.
> 
> Michael Katz
> Middlebury College
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
>  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
>                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moshe Taube
mstaube at mscc.huji.ac.il




-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------