Yiddish language

transliterated,

gut tak im betage se waer dis makhazor in beis hakneses terage

and translated,

may a good day come to him who carries this prayer book into the synagogue.

This brief rhyme is decoratively embedded in a purely Hebrew text (a reproduction of which is in Katz 2004). Nonetheless, it indicates that the Yiddish of that day was a more or less regular Middle High German into which Hebrew words â€" makhazor (prayer book for the High Holy Days) and beis hakneses (synagogue) â€" had been included.

In the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, songs and poems in Yiddish, and also macaronic pieces in Hebrew and German, began to appear. These were collected in the late 15th century by Menahem ben Naphtali Oldendorf. During the same period, a tradition seems to have emerged of the Jewish community adapting its own versions of German secular literature. The earliest Yiddish epic poem of this sort is the Dukus Horant which survives in the famous Cambridge Codex T.-S.10.K.22. This 14th-century manuscript was discovered in the genisa of a Cairo synagogue in 1896, and also contains a collection of narrative poems on themes from the Hebrew Bible and the Haggadah.

Apart from the obvious use of Hebrew words for specifically Jewish artifacts, it is very difficult to decide how far 15th century written Yiddish differed from the German of that period. A lot depends on the interpretation of the phonetic properties of Hebrew characters, especially the vowels. There is a rough consensus that by this period, Yiddish would have sounded distinctive to the average German even when no Hebrew lexemes were used.

Printing

The advent of the printing press resulted in an increase in the amount of material produced, and surviving from, the 16th century and onwards. One particularly popular work was Elia Levita's Bovo-Bukh, composed 1507â€"1508 and printed in at least forty editions beginning in 1541. Levita, the earliest named Yiddish author, also wrote Paris un Vienne. Another Yiddish retelling of a courtly novel, Widuwilt, presumably also dates from the 15th century, although the manuscripts are from the 16th. It is also known as Kinig Artus Hof, an adaptation of the Middle High German romance Wigalois by Wirnt von Gravenberg. Another significant writer is Avroham ben Schemuel Pikartei who published a paraphrase on the Book of Job in 1557.

Women in the Ashkenazi community were traditionally not literate in Hebrew but did read and write Yiddish. A body of literature therefore developed for which women were a primary audience. This included secular works such as the Bovo-Bukh and religious writing specifically for women, such as the Tseno-Ureno and the Tkhines. One of the best know early woman authors was Glückel of Hameln, whose memoirs are still in print.

The segmentation of the Yiddish readership, between women who read mame-loshn but not loshn-koydesh, and men who read both, was significant enough that distinctive typefaces were used for each. The name commonly given to the semicursive form used exclusively for Yiddish was װײַבערטײַטש (vaybertaytsh = "womens taytsh"), with square Hebrew letters being reserved for text in that language and Aramaic. This distinction was retained in general typographic practice through to the early 19th century, with Yiddish books being set in vaybertaytsh (also termed מ�ַשײט Masheyt). An additional distinctive semicursive typeface was, and still is, used in Yiddish press for rabbinical commentary on religious texts when both appear on the same page. This is commonly termed Rashi from the name of the most renowned early author of such material. (Rashi is also the typeface normally used when the Sefardi counterpart to Yiddish, Ladino, is printed in Hebrew script.)

Secularization

The Western Yiddish dialect began to decline in the 18th century, as The Enlightenment and the Haskalah led to the German view that Yiddish was a corrupt form of their language. Between assimilation to German and the incipient creation of Modern Hebrew, Western Yiddish only survived as a language of "intimate family circles or of closely knit trade groups" (Liptzin 1972). Farther east, where Jews were denied such emancipation, Yiddish was the cohesive force in a secular culture based on, and termed, ×™×™Ö´×"ישקײט (yidishkayt = "Jewishness").

The late 19th century and early 20th century are widely considered the Golden Age of secular Yiddish literature. This coincides with the development of Modern Hebrew as a spoken and literary language, from which some words were also absorbed into Yiddish. The three authors generally regarded as the founders of the modern Yiddish literary genre were born in the 19th century, but their work and significance continued to grow into the 20th. The first was Sholem Yankev Abramovitch, writing as Mendele Mocher Sforim. The second was Sholem Yakov Rabinovitsh, widely known as Sholom Aleichem, whose stories about טבֿי×" ×"ער מילכינער (tevye der milkhiner = Tevye the Dairyman) inspired the Broadway musical and film Fiddler on the Roof. The third was Isaac Leib Peretz.

The 20th century

At the start of the 20th century, Yiddish was emerging as a major Eastern European language. Its rich literature was ever more widely published, Yiddish theater and Yiddish film were booming, and it had even achieved status as one of the official languages of the Belarusian SSR. Educational autonomy for Jews in several countries (notably Poland) after World War I led to an increase in formal Yiddish-language education, more uniform orthography, and to the 1925 founding of the Yiddish Scientific Institute, later YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Yiddish emerged as the national language of a large Jewish community in Eastern Europe that rejected Zionism and sought to obtain Jewish cultural autonomy in Europe. It also contended with Modern Hebrew as a literary language among Zionists.

On the eve of World War II, there were between 11 and 13 million Yiddish speakers (Jacobs 2005). The Holocaust, however, led to a dramatic, sudden decline in the use of Yiddish, as the extensive Jewish communities, both secular and religious, that used Yiddish in their day-to-day life were largely destroyed. Although millions of Yiddish speakers survived the war (including nearly all Yiddish speakers in the Americas), further assimilation in countries such as the United States, Soviet Union and the status of Modern Hebrew as the official language of Israel led to a decline in the use of Eastern Yiddish similar to the earlier decline in Western Yiddish.

Ethnologue estimates that in 2005 there were 3 million speakers of Eastern Yiddish [1]. Western Yiddish, which had "several tens of thousands of speakers" on the eve of the Holocaust, is reported to have had an "ethnic population" of slighty below 50,000 in 2000 [2]. Further demographic information about the recent status of what is treated as an Eastern-Western dialect continuum is provided in the YIVO Language and Cultural Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry (LCAAJ).

There have been frequent episodes of debate about the extent of the linguistic independence of Yiddish from the languages that it absorbed. Some commentary dismisses Yiddish as a mere jargon (although precisely that term, in Yiddish, is also used as colloquial designation for the language, but without pejorative connotation) and there have been periodic assertions that it is a German dialect. A widely-cited statement of the situation in the 1930s was published by Max Weinreich, quoting a remark by an auditor in one of his lectures: ×�Ö· שפּר×�ַך ×�×™×– ×�Ö· ×"×™×�ַלעקט מיט ×�ַן ×�ַרמיי ×�ון פֿל×�ָט (a shprakh iz a diyalekt mit an armey un flot). "A language is a dialect with an army and navy" (facsimile excerpt at [3]; discussed in detail in a separate article).

Israel

The national language of Israel is Modern Hebrew. The rejection of Yiddish as an alternative reflected the conflict between religious and secular forces. Many in the larger, secular group wanted a new national language to foster a cohesive identity, while traditionally religious Jews desired that Hebrew be respected as a holy language reserved for prayer and religious study. In the early twentieth century, Zionist pioneers tried to eradicate the use of Yiddish, and make its use socially unacceptable.

This conflict also reflected the opposing views among secular Jews worldwide, one side seeing Hebrew (and Zionism) and the other Yiddish (and Internationalism) as the means of defining emerging Jewish nationalism. Finally, the large post-1948 influx of Jewish refugees from Arab countries (to whom Yiddish was entirely foreign, but who already spoke a Semitic language in daily life) effectively made Hebrew the only practical option. But even though this social factor would have anyway doomed any chance for Yiddish to prosper, state authorities in the young Israel of the 1950s went to the extent of using censorship laws inherited from British rule in order to prohibit or extremely limit Yiddish theatre in Israel.

Many of the older immigrants to Israel from the former USSR (usually those above 50 years of age) speak or understand some Yiddish.

In religious circles, it is the Ashkenazi Haredi Jews, particularly the Hasidic Jews and the Mitnagdim of the Lithuanian yeshiva world, who continue to teach, speak and use Yiddish, making it a language used regularly by hundreds of thousands of Haredi Jews today. The largest of these centers are in Bnei Brak and Jerusalem.

There is a growing revival of interest in Yiddish culture among secular Israelis, with Yiddish theater now flourishing (usually with simultaneous translation to Hebrew and Russian) and young people are taking university courses in Yiddish, some achieving considerable fluency (albeit with an accent that would seem very stange to native speakers).

Soviet Union

In the Soviet Union, much effort was invested in promoting the use of Yiddish during 1920s. It was then regarded as the language of "Jewish proletariat". At the same time, Hebrew was considered a "bourgeois" language and its use was generally discouraged. After the Second World War, growing anti-Semitic tendencies in Soviet politics drove Yiddish from most spheres, and publication in Yiddish was largely curtailed.

United States

In the United States, the Yiddish language bonded Jews from many countries. פ�רווערטס (forverts = The Forward) was one of seven Yiddish daily newspapers in New York City, and other Yiddish newspapers served as a forum for Jews of all European backgrounds. Interest in klezmer music provided another bonding mechanism. Michel Gelbart, the prolific composer of "I Have A Little Dreydl," wrote music that was very Jewish and very American. Thriving Yiddish theater in New York City and (to a lesser extent) elsewhere kept the language vital. Many "Yiddishisms," like "Italianisms" and "Spanishisms," continued to enter spoken New York English, often used by Jews and non-Jews alike unaware of the linguistic origin of the phrases (described extensively by Leo Rosten in The Joys of Yiddish). However, mother-tongue Yiddish speakers tended not to pass the language on to their children, who assimilated and spoke English.

In 1978, the Polish-born Yiddish author Isaac Bashevis Singer, a resident of the United States, received the Nobel Prize in literature.

Religious communities

The major exception to the decline of spoken Yiddish can be found in Haredi communities all over the world. In some of the more closely-knit such communities Yiddish is spoken as a home and schooling language, especially in Hasidic communities such as Brooklyn's Borough Park, Williamsburg and Crown Heights. and in Monsey, Kiryas Joel, and New Square. (Over 88% of the population of Kiryas Joel is reported to speak Yiddish at home [4]). Yiddish is also widely spoken in smaller Haredi communities in such the ones as London, Antwerp and Montreal. Among most Haredim, Hebrew is generally reserved for prayer and religious studies, while Yiddish is reserved as a home and business language. In Israel, however, Haredim commonly speak Modern Hebrew, with the notable exception of many Hasidic communities. Nevertheless, the vast majority of Haredim who use Modern Hebrew also understand Yiddish. Members of movements such as Satmar Hasidism, which views the commonplace use of Hebrew as a form of Zionism, use Yiddish almost exclusively.

Hundreds of thousands of young children have been, and are still, taught to translate the texts of the Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy into Yiddish. This process is called טיַיטשן (taytshn) â€" taytsching or "translating" . Most Ashkenazi yeshivas' highest level lectures in Talmud and Halakha are delivered in Yiddish by the Rosh yeshivas as well as ethical talks of mussar. Hasidic rebbes generally use only Yiddish to converse with their followers and to deliver their various Torah talks, classes, and lectures. The linguistic style and vocabulary of Yiddish have influenced the manner in which many Orthodox Jews who attend yeshivas speak English. This usage is distinctive enough that it has been dubbed "Yeshivish".

While Hebrew remains the language of Jewish prayer, the Hasidim have mixed considerable Yiddish into their Hebrew, and are also responsible for a significant secondary religious literature written in Yiddish. For example, the tales about the Baal Shem Tov were written largely in Yiddish.

Mass media

There are more than 100 newspapers, magazines and radio programs in the Yiddish language worldwide such as ×"ער ×�ל×'עמיינער זשורנ×�ל (der algemeyner zhurnal, USA â€" locally transliterated Der Algemeiner Journal), פ×�ָרווערטס (forverts, USA), ×"×�ס ×™×™×"ישע וו×�רט (dos yidishe vort, Poland â€" locally transliterated Dos Jidisze Wort), לעצטע נייעס (letste neyes â€" locally transliterated Letzte Neues, Israel), and ×"ער ביר×�בי×"זש×�נער שתערן (der birobidzhaner shtern, Russia). Forverts is the largest Yiddish publication today, and was once the largest foreign-language newspaper in the USA. The weekly newspaper also appears in an online version.

Many Web sites are maintained exclusively in Yiddish and there are numerous e-mail distribution lists about various facets of Yiddish language and culture. In addition, several Yiddish blogs have gained a measure of popularity among Yiddish writers and speakers.

See also

*Jewish languages
*List of English words of Yiddish origin
*List of Yiddish language poets
*National Yiddish Book Center
*Yiddish Renaissance
*Yiddishe Konig Lir
*Yiddish literature
*Yiddish theater
*Yinglish

Bibliography

*
*Fishman, David E., The Rise of Modern Yiddish Culture, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, 2005, ISBN 0-8229-4272-0.
*Fishman, Joshua A. (ed.), Never Say Die: A Thousand Years of Yiddish in Jewish Life and Letters, Mouton Publishers, The Hague, 1981, ISBN 90-279-7978-2 (in Yiddish and English).
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*Kriwaczek, Paul, Yiddish Civilization: The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Nation, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2005, ISBN 0-297-82941-6.
*Lansky, Aaron, Outwitting History: How a Young Man Rescued a Million Books and Saved a Vanishing Civilisation, Algonquin Books, Chapel Hill, 2004, ISBN 1-565-12429-4.
*
*Shandler, Jeffrey, Adventures in Yiddishland: Postvernacular Language and Culture, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2006, ISBN 0-520-24416-8.
*Weinreich, Uriel. College Yiddish: an Introduction to the Yiddish language and to Jewish Life and Culture, 6th revised ed., YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York, 1999, ISBN 0-914-51226-9 (in Yiddish and English).
*Weinstein, Miriam, Yiddish: A Nation of Words, Ballantine Books, New York, 2001, ISBN 0-345-44730-1.
*Wex, Michael, Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All Its Moods, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2005, ISBN 0-312-30741-1.
*Wexler, Paul, Two-Tiered Relexification in Yiddish: Jews, Sorbs, Khazars, and the Kiev-Polessian Dialect, Berlin, New York, Mouton de Gruyter, 2002, ISBN 3-11-017258-5.
* [Katz, Hirshe-Dovid] 1992. Code of Yiddish spelling ratified in 1992 by the programmes in Yiddish language and linterature at Bar Ilan University, Oxford University Tel Aviv University, Vilnius University. Oxford: Oksforder Yidish Press in cooperation with the Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies. (כללâ€"תקנות פון ×™×™×"ישן ×�ויסליי×'. 1992. ×�קספ×�ר×": ×�קספ×�ר×"ער צענתער פ×�ר ×"עכערע ×"עברע×�ישע שתו×"יעס) ISBN 1-897744-01-3

Periodicals

*Der Yiddisher Tam-Tam, pub. Maison de la Culture Yiddish, Paris, since 1994, also available in electronic format.
*Yidishe Heftn, pub. Le Cercle Bernard Lazare, Paris, since 1996, sample cover, subscription info.
*YIVO Bleter, pub. YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, NYC, initial series from 1931, new series since 1991.

Audio resources

*Di Velt fun Yidish: Audio Stories
*Yiddish Radio Project, "dedicated to rescuing every surviving recording from the golden age of Yiddish radio". The many RealAudio files all use RealAudio's multimedia capability to provide written English-language translation.
*The Yiddish Voice

External links

*Jewish Language Research Website: Yiddish
*On-line Yiddish dictionary
*The Yiddish World of Michael Wex
*Internationale Medienhilfe (IMH) - Federation of Yiddish and German-Jewish media worldwide
*Maison de la culture yiddish (Paris)
*European Academy for Yiddish language and Klezmer Music
*NYBC's Summer Language Internship
*Shtetl
*The Jewish Book Center of The Workmen's Circle
*Language and Cultural Archive of Ashkenazic Jewry (Columbia University)
*Eastern Yiddish in Ethnologue
*Western Yiddish in Ethnologue
*Collection of Yiddish prints from the 16th to the 20th century
* Bibliotheca Iiddica Small encyclopedia on Yiddish. Home page is in Latin, most of the rest is in transliterated Yiddish.
* Yiddish Typewriter - interconverts Yiddish text in Hebrew script with YIVO transliteration
* Judaeo-German - Jewish Encyclopedia
* Yiddish art & discussion portal
* WWW Virtual Library History - Yiddish sources in historical research