View source for Yiddish

{{see also|Jiddish}}

'''Yiddish''' ({{lang|yi|[[wikt:ייִדיש|ייִדיש]]}}, {{lang|yi|[[wikt:יידיש|יידיש]]}} or {{lang|yi|[[wikt:אידיש|אידיש]]}}, ''yidish''/''idish'', {{literal translation}} "[[Jews|Jewish]]", {{IPA-yi|ˈjɪdɪʃ|pron}} {{IPA-yi|ˈɪdɪʃ|}}; <gallery>File:Under_construction_icon.png
File:Yiddish language distribution in the United States.svg.png| Yiddish language in the United States
File:Crop-Yidish graffiti.JPG |Graffiti
File:Pd-Emblem_of_the_Byelorussian_SSR_(1927).svg.png |Yiddish script in an emblem
</gallery>
in older sources ייִדיש-טײַטש ''Yidish-Taitsh'', {{literal translation}} Judaeo-German)<ref>[http://languagecontact.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/ELA/languages/Yiddish.html University of Manchester] - "It was only in this context that Jews began to refer to their language as 'Yiddish' (= 'Jewish'), while earlier it had been referred to as 'Yiddish-Taitsh' (='Judeo-German')."</ref> is the historical language of the [[Ashkenazi Jews]]. It originated during the 9th century<ref>
{{cite book
| last      = Jacobs
| first     = Neil G.
| title     = Yiddish: a Linguistic Introduction
| year      = 2005
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| isbn      = 0-521-77215-X
| pages     = 2
}}</ref> in [[Central Europe]], providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a [[High German languages|High German]]-based vernacular fused with elements taken from [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Judeo-Aramaic languages|Aramaic]] as well as from [[Slavic languages]] and traces of [[Romance languages]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eyBQn7JrBVwC&pg=PA72 |title=Introduction to Old Yiddish literature |page=72 |first1=Jean |last1=Baumgarten |first2=Jerold C. |last2=Frakes |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1 June 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/givennames/yiddial.htm |title=Development of Yiddish over the ages |publisher=jewishgen.org}}</ref> Yiddish is written with a fully vocalized version of the [[Hebrew alphabet]].

The earliest surviving references date from the 12th century and call the language {{lang|yi|לשון־אַשכּנז}} (''loshn-ashknaz'', "language of Ashkenaz") or {{lang|yi|טײַטש}} (''taytsh''), a variant of ''tiutsch'', the contemporary name for [[Middle High German]]. Colloquially, the language is sometimes called {{lang|yi|מאַמע־לשון}} (''mame-loshn'', {{literal translation}} "mother tongue"), distinguishing it from {{lang|yi|לשון־קדש}} (''[[Lashon Hakodesh|loshn koydesh]]'', "holy tongue"), meaning Hebrew and Aramaic. The term "Yiddish", short for ''Yidish Taitsh'' "Jewish German", did not become the most frequently used designation in the literature until the 18th century. In the late 19th and into the 20th century the language was more commonly called "Jewish", especially in non-Jewish contexts, but "Yiddish" is again the more common designation.

Modern Yiddish has [[Yiddish dialects|two major forms]]. Eastern Yiddish is far more common today. It includes Southeastern (Ukrainian–Romanian), Mideastern (Polish–Galician–Eastern Hungarian), and Northeastern (Lithuanian–Belarusian) dialects. Eastern Yiddish differs from Western both by its far greater size and by the extensive inclusion of words of Slavic origin. Western Yiddish is divided into Southwestern (Swiss–Alsatian–Southern German), Midwestern (Central German), and Northwestern (Netherlandic–Northern German) dialects. Yiddish is used in a number of [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] communities worldwide and is the first language of the home, school, and in many social settings among many [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi Jews]], and is used in most Hasidic and some [[Lithuanian Jews|Lithuanian]] [[yeshiva]]s.

The term Yiddish is also used in the adjectival sense, synonymously with Jewish, to designate attributes of [[Yiddishkeit]] ("Ashkenazi culture"; for example, [[Jewish cuisine#Jewish cuisine variations|Yiddish cooking]] and "Yiddish music": [[klezmer]]).<ref>[[Oscar Levant]] described [[Cole Porter]]'s '[[My Heart Belongs to Daddy]]" as "one of the most Yiddish tunes ever written" despite the fact that "Cole Porter's genetic background was completely alien to any Jewishness." Oscar Levant,''[[The Unimportance of Being Oscar]]'', Pocket Books 1969 (reprint of G.P. Putnam 1968), p. 32. {{ISBN|0-671-77104-3}}.</ref>

Prior to [[the Holocaust]], there were 11—13 million speakers of Yiddish among 17 million Jews worldwide.<ref name=yivo-yiddish/> 85% of the approximately 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust were Yiddish speakers,<ref name="Sprache 1984 p. 3">[[Solomon Birnbaum]], ''Grammatik der jiddischen Sprache'' (4., erg. Aufl., Hamburg: Buske, 1984), p. 3.</ref> leading to a massive decline in the use of the language. Assimilation following [[World War II]] further decreased the use of Yiddish both among survivors and Yiddish-speakers from other countries (such as in the Americas). However, the number of speakers is increasing in global [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] communities.

==Origins==
The established view is that, as with other Jewish languages, Jews speaking distinct languages learned new co-territorial vernaculars, which they then Judaized. In the case of Yiddish, this scenario sees it as emerging when speakers of [[Zarphatic language|Zarphatic]] and other Judeo-Romance languages began to acquire varieties of [[Middle High German]], and from these groups the Ashkenazi community took shape.<ref name=ELL>{{ELL2|Yiddish}}</ref><ref name="Spolsky" >{{cite book|last=Spolsky|first=Bernard|authorlink=Bernard Spolsky|title=The Languages of the Jews: A Sociolinguistic History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Xk9AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA183|year=2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-91714-8|page=183}}</ref>  Exactly what German base lies behind the earliest form of Yiddish is disputed.

In Weinreich's model, speakers of [[Old French]] or [[Old Italian]], literate in Hebrew or Aramaic, migrated through Southern Europe to settle in the Rhine Valley in an area known as [[Lotharingia]] (later known in Yiddish as ''Loter'') extending over parts of Germany and France;<ref>[[Max Weinreich]], ''History of the Yiddish Language,'' ed. Paul Glasser, Yale University Press/ YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, 2008 p.336.</ref> There, they encountered and were influenced by Jewish speakers of [[High German languages]] and several other German dialects.  Both Weinreich and [[Solomon Birnbaum]] developed this model further in the mid-1950s.<ref>{{cite book| editor1-last  = Weinreich| editor1-first = Uriel| title         = The Field of Yiddish| year=  1954| publisher = Linguistic Circle of New York| pages = 63–101}}
</ref> In Weinreich's view, this Old Yiddish substrate later bifurcated into two distinct versions of the language, Western and Eastern Yiddish.<ref name="Fleischer" >{{cite book|last1=Aptroot|first1=Marion|last2=Hansen|first2=Björn|title=Yiddish Language Structures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ynoBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA108|year=2014|publisher=De Gruyter Mouton|isbn=978-3-11-033952-9|page=108}}</ref> They retained the Semitic vocabulary and constructions needed for religious purposes and created a Judeo-German form of speech, sometimes not accepted as a fully autonomous language.

Later linguistic research has finessed the Weinreich model or provided alternative approaches to the language's origins, with points of contention being the characterization of its Germanic base, the source of its Hebrew/Aramaic adstrata, and the means that and location where this fusion occurred. Some theorists argue that the fusion occurred with a Bavarian dialect base.<ref name="Spolsky" /><ref>
{{cite book
| last      = Jacobs
| first     = Neil G.
| title     = Yiddish: a Linguistic Introduction
| year      = 2005
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| isbn      = 0-521-77215-X
| pages     = 9–15
}}</ref> The two main candidates for the germinal matrix of Yiddish, the Rhineland and Bavaria, are not necessarily incompatible. There may have been parallel developments in the two regions, seeding the Western and Eastern dialects of Modern Yiddish. [[Dovid Katz]] proposes that Yiddish emerged from contact between speakers of High German and Aramaic-speaking Jews from the Middle East.<ref name=yivo-yiddish>{{cite web|last=Dovid Katz |title=YIDDISH |url=http://yivo.org/downloads/Yiddish.pdf |work=[[YIVO]] |accessdate=20 December 2015 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322162722/http://yivo.org/downloads/Yiddish.pdf |archivedate=March 22, 2012 }}</ref> The lines of development proposed by the different theories do not necessarily rule out the others (at least not entirely); an article in ''[[The Forward]]'' argues that "in the end, a new 'standard theory' of Yiddish’s origins will probably be based on the work of Weinreich and his challengers alike."<ref>{{cite news|author1=Philologos|title=The Origins of Yiddish: Part Fir|url=http://forward.com/culture/202706/the-origins-of-yiddish-part-fir/|work=The Forward|date=July 27, 2014}}</ref>

[[Paul Wexler (linguist)|Paul Wexler]] proposed a highly heterodox model in 1991 that took Yiddish, by which he means primarily eastern Yiddish,<ref name="Fleischer" /> not to be genetically grounded in a Germanic language at all, but rather as "Judeo-Sorbian" (a proposed Western Slavic language
<ref> [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thomas_Stolz2/publication/311788608_Comment_The_Sorbian_origins_of_Yiddish_Linguistic_theory_in_search_of_historical_do-cumentation/links/585a829a08ae3852d2571d2b/Comment-The-Sorbian-origins-of-Yiddish-Linguistic-theory-in-search-of-historical-do-cumentation.pdf?origin=publication_detail Dow et Stolz Comments:The Sorbian origin of Yiddish Li nguistic theory on search of histoircal documentation Int'l J Soc Lang 91:157-165 (1991)]</ref>
) whose lexicon had been [[relexification|largely replaced]] by High German in the 9th to 12th centuries, when, according to his theory, large numbers of German-speakers settled in [[Sorbs|Sorbian]] and [[Polabian language|Polabian]] lands and developed [[Knaanic language|Knaanic]], a Judeo-Slavic language which was subsequently relexified with Old High German.<ref name="Spolsky" /> In more recent work, Wexler has argued that Eastern Yiddish is unrelated genetically to Western Yiddish. Wexler's model has met with little academic support, and strong critical challenges, especially among historical linguists.<ref name="Spolsky" /><ref name="Fleischer" />

==History==
By the 10th century, a distinctive Jewish culture had formed in [[Central Europe]] which came to be called {{lang|he|אַשכּנזי}} ''Ashkenazi'', "[[Ashkenazi Jews]], from {{lang-he|אַשכּנז}} ''[[Ashkenaz]]'' ({{bibleverse||Genesis|10:3|HE}}), the medieval [[Hebrew name]] for northern Europe and [[Germany]].<ref>Kriwaczek, Paul (2005). Yiddish Civilization: The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Nation. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. {{ISBN|0-297-82941-6}}., Chapter 3, footnote 9.</ref> Ashkenaz was centered on the [[Rhineland]] and the [[Palatinate (region)|Palatinate]] (notably [[Worms, Germany|Worms]] and [[Speyer]]), in what is now the westernmost part of Germany. Its geographic extent did not coincide with the German principalities of the time, and it included northern [[France]]. Ashkenaz bordered on the area inhabited by another distinctive Jewish cultural group, the [[Sephardi Jews]], who ranged into [[southern France]]. Ashkenazi culture later spread into [[Eastern Europe]] with large-scale population migrations.{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}}

Nothing is known with certainty about the [[vernacular]] of the earliest Jews in Germany, but several theories have been put forward. The first language of the Ashkenazim may, as noted above, have been the [[Aramaic language]], the vernacular of the Jews in [[Judea (Roman province)|Roman-era Judea]] and ancient and early medieval [[Mesopotamia]]. The widespread use of Aramaic among the large non-Jewish [[Syrians|Syrian]] trading population of the Roman provinces, including those in Europe, would have reinforced the use of Aramaic among Jews engaged in trade. In Roman times, many of the Jews living in [[Rome]] and [[Southern Italy]] appear to have been [[Greek language|Greek]]-speakers, and this is reflected in some Ashkenazi personal names (e.g., ''Kalonymus''). Hebrew, on the other hand, was regarded as a holy language reserved for ritual and spiritual purposes and not for common use. Much work needs to be done, though, to fully analyze the contributions of those languages to Yiddish.{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}}

It is generally accepted that early Yiddish was likely to have contained elements from other languages of the [[Near East]] and Europe, absorbed through migrations. Since some settlers may have come via France and Italy, it is also likely that the Romance-based Jewish languages of those regions were represented. Traces remain in the contemporary Yiddish vocabulary: for example, {{lang|yi|בענטשן}} (''bentshn'', "to bless"), from the Latin ''{{lang|la|benedicere}}''; {{lang|yi|לייענען}} (''leyenen'', "to read"), from the Latin ''{{lang|la|legere}}''; and the personal names {{lang|yi|אַנשל}} ''Anshl'', cognate to Angel or Angelo; {{lang|yi|בונים}} Bunim (probably from "bon homme"). Western Yiddish includes additional words of Latin derivation (but still very few): for example, {{lang|yi|אָרן}} ''orn'' (to pray), cf. Latin and Italian "orare".{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}}

The Jewish community in the Rhineland would have encountered the many dialects from which [[Standard German]] would emerge a few centuries later. In time, Jewish communities would have been speaking their own versions of these German dialects, mixed with linguistic elements that they themselves brought into the region. Although not reflected in the spoken language, a main point of difference was the use of the Hebrew alphabet for the recording of the Germanic vernacular, which may have been adopted either because of the community's familiarity with the alphabet or to prevent the non-Jewish population from understanding the correspondence. In addition, there was probably widespread illiteracy in the non-Hebrew script, with the level of illiteracy in the non-Jewish communities being even higher. Another point of difference was the use of Hebrew and Aramaic words. These words and terms were used because of their familiarity, but more so because in most cases there were no equivalent terms in the vernacular which could express the Jewish concepts or describe the objects of cultural significance.{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}}

=== Written evidence ===
[[File:Machzor.jpg|thumb|300px|The calligraphic segment in the Worms Mahzor]]
It is not known when [[Yiddish orthography]] first developed. The oldest surviving literary document using it is a blessing in the Worms machzor,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/popups/viewmedia.aspx?id=1116 |title=Image |publisher=Yivoencyclopedia.org |accessdate=2010-08-07}}</ref> a Hebrew prayer book from 1272. There is a scalable image online at the indicated reference. The Worms machzor is discussed in Frakes, 2004, and Baumgarten, ed. Frakes, 2005 – see the ''Bibliography'' at the foot of this article.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Yiddish
| {{Script|Hebr|גוּט טַק אִים בְּטַגְֿא שְ וַיר דִּיש מַחֲזוֹר אִין בֵּיתֿ הַכְּנֶסֶתֿ טְרַגְֿא}}
|-
! Transliterated
| ''gut tak im betage se vaer dis makhazor in beis hakneses trage''
|-
! Translated
| May a good day come to him who carries this prayer book into the synagogue.
|}

This brief rhyme is decoratively embedded in an otherwise purely Hebrew text.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.milon.co.il/general/general.php?term=%D7%91%D7%93%D7%A2%D7%AA%D7%95 |title=בדעתו |publisher=Milon.co.il |date=2007-05-14 |accessdate=2010-08-07}}</ref> Nonetheless, it indicates that the Yiddish of that day was a more or less regular Middle High German written in the Hebrew alphabet into which Hebrew words&nbsp;–{{lang|he|{{hebrew|מַחֲזוֹר}}}}, [[machzor|''makhazor'']] (prayerbook for the [[High Holy Days]]) and {{lang|he|בֵּיתֿ הַכְּנֶסֶתֿ}}, "[[synagogue]]" (read in Yiddish as ''beis hakneses'')&nbsp;–had been included. The [[niqqud]] appears as though it might have been added by a second scribe, in which case it may need to be dated separately and may not be indicative of the pronunciation of the rhyme at the time of its initial annotation.

Over the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, songs and poems in Yiddish, and [[macaronic language|macaronic]] pieces in Hebrew and German, began to appear. These were collected in the late 15th century by Menahem ben Naphtali Oldendorf.<ref>''Old Yiddish Literature from Its Origins to the Haskalah Period'' by Zinberg, Israel. KTAV, 1975. {{ISBN|0-87068-465-5}}.</ref> During the same period, a tradition seems to have emerged of the Jewish community's 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 [[Cairo Geniza]] in 1896, and also contains a collection of narrative poems on themes from the [[Hebrew Bible]] and the [[Haggadah]].

=== Printing ===
The advent of the [[printing press]] in the 16th century enabled the large scale production of works, at a cheaper cost, some of which have survived. One particularly popular work was [[Elia Levita]]'s ''[[Bovo-Bukh]]'' ({{lang|yi|בָּבָֿא-בּוך}}), composed around 1507–08 and printed in at least forty editions, beginning in 1518 (Pesaro). Levita, the earliest named Yiddish author, may also have written {{lang|yi|פּאַריז און װיענע}} ''Pariz un Viene'' ([[Paris]] and [[Vienna]]). Another Yiddish retelling of a chivalric romance, װידװילט ''Vidvilt'' (often referred to as "Widuwilt" by Germanizing scholars), 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.<ref>''Speculum, A Journal of Medieval Studies'': [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7652280&fileId=S0038713400099498 Volume 78, Issue 01, January 2003, pp 210–212]</ref> 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 {{lang|yi|צאנה וראינה}} ''[[Tseno Ureno]]'' and the {{lang|yi|תחנות}} ''[[Tkhine]]s''. One of the best-known early woman authors was [[Glückel of Hameln]], whose memoirs are still in print.
[[File:Page from Yiddish-Hebrew-Latin-German dictionary by Elijah Levita.jpg|thumb|A page from the [http://cf.uba.uva.nl/nl/publicaties/treasures/page/p08.html ''Shemot Devarim''] ({{literal translation}} ''Names of Things''), a Yiddish–Hebrew–Latin–German dictionary and thesaurus, published by Elia Levita in 1542]]

The segmentation of the Yiddish readership, between women who read {{lang|yi|מאַמע־לשון}} ''mame-loshn'' but not {{lang|yi|לשון־קדש}} ''loshn-koydesh'', and men who read both, was significant enough that distinctive [[typeface]]s were used for each. The name commonly given to the semicursive form used exclusively for Yiddish was {{lang|yi|ווײַבערטײַטש}} (''vaybertaytsh'' = "women's ''taytsh''," shown in the heading and fourth column in the adjacent illustration), with square Hebrew letters (shown in the third column) 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 {{lang|yi|מעשייט}} ''mesheyt'' or {{lang|yi|מאַשקעט}} ''mashket''—the construction is uncertain).<ref>Max Weinreich, געשיכטע פֿון דער ייִדישער שפּראַך (New York: YIVO, 1973), vol. 1, p. 280, with explanation of symbol on p. xiv.</ref>

An additional distinctive semicursive typeface was, and still is, used for rabbinical commentary on religious texts when Hebrew and Yiddish appear on the same page. This is commonly termed [[Rashi script]], from the name of the most renowned early author, whose commentary is usually printed using this script. (Rashi is also the typeface normally used when the Sephardic counterpart to Yiddish, [[Judaeo-Spanish]] or ''Ladino'', is printed in Hebrew script.)

=== Secularization ===
The Western Yiddish dialect—sometimes pejoratively labeled ''Mauscheldeutsch''<ref>
{{cite book
| last       = Bechtel
| first      = Delphine
| editor1-last  = Malkin
| editor1-first = Jeanette R.
| editor2-last  = Rokem
| editor2-first = Freddie
| title         = Jews and the making of modern German theatre
| url           = https://books.google.com/books?id=geJnnySQ4rUC
| accessdate    = 2011-10-28
| series    = Studies in theatre history and culture
| year      =  2010
| contribution = Yiddish Theatre and Its Impact on the German and Austrian Stage
| publisher = University of Iowa Press
| isbn      = 978-1-58729-868-4
| page     = 304
| quote         = [...] audiences heard on the stage a continuum of hybrid language-levels between Yiddish and German that was sometimes combined with the traditional use of Mauscheldeutsch (surviving forms of Western Yiddish).
}}
</ref>
(i. e. "Moses German")<ref>
{{cite book
| first1 = Celia
| last1 = Applegate
| author1-link  = Celia Applegate
| first2 =  Pamela Maxine
| last2 = Potter
| title         = Music and German national identity
| url           = https://books.google.com/books?id=roHbXnBqE1wC
| accessdate    = 2011-10-28
| year      = 2001
| publisher = University of Chicago Press
| isbn      = 978-0-226-02131-7
| page     = 310
| quote         = [...] in 1787, over 10 percent of the Prague population was Jewish [...] which spoke German and, probably, ''Mauscheldeutsch'', a local Jewish-German dialect distinct from Yiddish (''[[Mauscheldeutsch]]'' = '''Moischele-Deutsch''' = 'Moses German').
}}
</ref>—declined in the 18th century, as the [[Age of Enlightenment]] and the ''[[Haskalah]]'' led to a view of Yiddish as a corrupt dialect. A [[Maskil]] (from the same root word as Haskalah) would write about and promote acclimatization to the outside world.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/history-and-development-of-yiddish|title=History & Development of Yiddish|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org|language=en|accessdate=2017-02-07}}</ref> Jewish children began attending secular schools where the primary language spoken and taught was German, not Yiddish.<ref name=":0" /> Owing to both assimilation to German and the revival of [[Modern Hebrew|Hebrew]], Western Yiddish survived only as a language of "intimate family circles or of closely knit trade groups". ([[#liptzin1972|Liptzin 1972]]).

In eastern Europe, the response to these forces took the opposite direction, with Yiddish becoming the cohesive force in a [[secularity|secular culture]] (see the [[Yiddishist movement]]). Notable Yiddish writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries are Sholem Yankev Abramovitch, writing as [[Mendele Mocher Sforim]]; Sholem Rabinovitsh, widely known as [[Sholem Aleichem]], whose stories about {{lang|yi|טבֿיה דער מילכיקער}} (''Tevye der milkhiker'', "[[Tevye]] the Dairyman") inspired the Broadway musical and film ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]''; and [[I. L. Peretz|Isaac Leib Peretz]].

=== 20th century ===
[[File:Yiddish WWI poster2.jpg|right|thumb|[[United States|American]] [[World War I]]-era poster in Yiddish. Translated caption: "Food will win the war – You came here seeking freedom, now you must help to preserve it – We must supply the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] with wheat – Let nothing go to waste". Colour lithograph, 1917. Digitally restored.]]

In the early 20th century, especially after the Socialist [[October Revolution]] in Russia, Yiddish was emerging as a major Eastern European language. Its rich literature was more widely published than ever, [[Yiddish theatre]] and [[Yiddish cinema]] were booming, and it for a time achieved status as one of the official languages of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]], the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]] and the short-lived [[Galician Soviet Socialist Republic]], and the [[Jewish Autonomous Oblast]]. 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, [[YIVO]]. In [[Vilnius]], there was debate over which language should take primacy, Hebrew or Yiddish.<ref>[http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/vilna/before/hebrew_or_yiddish.asp?WT.mc_id=wiki Hebrew or Yiddish?] in the online exhibition [http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/vilna/index.asp?WT.mc_id=wiki The Jerusalem of Lithuania: The Story of the Jewish Community of Vilna] by [[Yad Vashem]]</ref>

Yiddish changed significantly during the 20th century. [[Michael Wex]] writes, "As increasing numbers of Yiddish speakers moved from the Slavic-speaking East to Western Europe and the Americas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they were so quick to jettison Slavic vocabulary that the most prominent Yiddish writers of the time—the founders of modern Yiddish literature, who were still living in Slavic-speaking countries—revised the printed editions of their oeuvres to eliminate obsolete and 'unnecessary' Slavisms."<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Born to Kvetch]]: Yiddish Language and Culture in All Its Moods |last=Wex |first=Michael|authorlink=Michael Wex |year=2005 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |page=29 |isbn=0-312-30741-1 }}</ref> The vocabulary used in Israel absorbed many Modern Hebrew words, and there was a similar but smaller increase in the English component of Yiddish in the United States and, to a lesser extent, the United Kingdom. {{Citation needed|date=March 2014}} This has resulted in some difficulty in communication between Yiddish speakers from Israel and those from other countries.

== Phonology ==
{{Main article|Yiddish phonology}}
Yiddish phonology is similar to [[Standard German phonology|that of Standard German]]. However, it does not have [[final-obstruent devoicing]] and [[fortis and lenis|fortis]] ([[voicelessness|voiceless]]) [[stop consonant]]s are unaspirated, and the {{IPA|/χ/}} phoneme is invariably uvular, unlike the German phoneme {{IPA|/x/}}, which is palatal, velar, or uvular.

Yiddish has a smaller inventory of [[vowel]]s than Standard German and no [[vowel length]] distinction.

== Numbers of speakers ==
[[File:Yiddish.png|thumb|Map of the Yiddish dialects between the 15th and the 19th centuries (Western dialects in orange / Eastern dialects in green).]]
On the eve of [[World War II]], there were 11 to 13 million Yiddish speakers.<ref name=yivo-yiddish/> [[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. Around five million of those killed — 85 percent of the Jews who died in the Holocaust — were speakers of Yiddish.<ref name="Sprache 1984 p. 3"/> 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 and the [[Soviet Union]], along with the strictly monolingual stance of the [[Zionist]] movement, led to a decline in the use of Eastern Yiddish. However, the number of speakers within the widely dispersed Orthodox (mainly Hasidic) communities is now increasing. Although used in various countries, Yiddish has attained official recognition as a minority language only in [[Moldova]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], the [[Netherlands]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/erkende-talen/talen-in-nederland |title=Talen in Nederland &#124; Erkende talen |publisher=Rijksoverheid.nl |date=2010-07-02 |accessdate=2013-12-08}}</ref> and [[Sweden]].

Reports of the number of current Yiddish speakers vary significantly. ''[[Ethnologue]]'' estimates, based on publications through 1991, that there were at that time 1.5 million speakers of Eastern Yiddish,<ref name=Ethnologue>{{e18|ydd|Eastern Yiddish}}</ref> of which 40% lived in Ukraine, 15% in Israel, and 10% in the United States. The [[Modern Language Association]] agrees with fewer than 200,000 in the United States.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060619224705/http://www.mla.org/cgi-shl/docstudio/docs.pl?map_data_results Most spoken languages in the United States], Modern Language Association. Retrieved 17 October2006.</ref> Western Yiddish is reported by ''Ethnologue'' to have had an ethnic population of 50,000 in 2000, and an undated speaking population of 5,000, mostly in Germany.<ref name=Ethnologue-western>{{e18|yih|Western Yiddish}}</ref> A 1996 report by the [[Council of Europe]] estimates a worldwide Yiddish-speaking population of about two million.<ref>Emanuelis Zingeris, [http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/doc96/EDOC7489.htm Yiddish culture] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330161904/http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/doc96/EDOC7489.htm |date=2012-03-30 }}, Council of Europe Committee on Culture and Education Doc. 7489, 12 February 1996. Retrieved 17 October 2006.</ref> Further [[demographics|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'' (Language and Cultural Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry).

==Status as a language==
There has been frequent debate about the extent of the linguistic independence of Yiddish from the languages that it absorbed. There has been periodic assertion that Yiddish is a dialect of German, or even "just broken German, more of a linguistic mishmash than a true language".<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/29/science/scholars-debate-roots-of-yiddish-migration-of-jews.html "Scholars Debate Roots of Yiddish, Migration of Jews"], George Johnson, ''New York Times'', October 29, 1996</ref> Even when recognized as an autonomous language, it has sometimes been referred to as Judeo-German, along the lines of other Jewish languages like [[Judeo-Persian]], [[Judaeo-Spanish]] or Zarphatic. A widely cited summary of attitudes in the 1930s was published by [[Max Weinreich]], quoting a remark by an auditor of one of his lectures: {{lang|yi|אַ שפּראַך איז אַ דיאַלעקט מיט אַן אַרמיי און פֿלאָט}} (''a shprakh iz a dialekt mit an armey un flot''<ref>http://www.bisso.com/ujg_archives/pix/armyNavyFull.jpg</ref> — "[[A language is a dialect with an army and navy]]").

=== Israel and Zionism ===
[[File:Yidish graffiti.JPG|thumb|An example of graffiti in Yiddish, Tel Aviv, Washington Avenue (און איר זאלט ליב האבן דעם פרעמדען, ווארום פרעמדע זייט איר געווען אין לאנד מצרים ''Un ir zolt lib hobn dem fremdn varum fremde seit ir geven in land mitsrayim''). {{lang|en|"Ye shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt (Exodus 22:21) Amen?"}}]]
The national languages of Israel are Hebrew and Arabic. The debate in Zionist circles over the use of Yiddish in Israel and in the Diaspora in preference to Hebrew also reflected the tensions between religious and secular Jewish lifestyles. Many secular Zionists wanted Hebrew as the sole language of Jews, to contribute to a national cohesive identity. Traditionally religious Jews, on the other hand, preferred use of Yiddish, viewing Hebrew as a respected holy language reserved for prayer and religious study. In the early 20th century, Zionist activists in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] tried to eradicate the use of Yiddish among Jews in preference to Hebrew, and make its use socially unacceptable.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rozovsky |first=Lorne |url=http://www.chabad.org/1051135 |title=Jewish Language Path to Extinction |publisher=Chabad.org |accessdate=2013-12-08}}</ref>

This conflict also reflected the opposing views among secular Jews worldwide, one side seeing Hebrew (and Zionism) and the other Yiddish (and [[internationalism (politics)|Internationalism]]) as the means of defining Jewish nationalism. In the 1920s and 1930s, {{Script|Hebr|גדוד מגיני השפה}} ''gdud maginéi hasafá'', "the language defendants regiment", whose motto was "{{Script|Hebr|עברי, דבר עברית}} ''ivri, dabér ivrít''," that is, "Hebrew [i.e. Jew], speak Hebrew!", used to tear down signs written in "foreign" languages and disturb Yiddish theatre gatherings.<ref>Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2009), [http://www.zuckermann.org/pdf/Hybridity_versus_Revivability.pdf Hybridity versus Revivability: Multiple Causation, Forms and Patterns]. In ''Journal of Language Contact'', Varia 2: 40-67, p. 48.</ref> However, according to linguist [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann]], the members of this group in particular, and the Hebrew revival in general, did not succeed in uprooting Yiddish patterns (as well as the patterns of other European languages Jewish immigrants spoke) within what he calls "Israeli", i.e. [[Modern Hebrew]]. Zuckermann believes that "Israeli does include numerous Hebrew elements resulting from a conscious revival but also numerous pervasive linguistic features deriving from a subconscious survival of the revivalists’ mother tongues, e.g. Yiddish."<ref>Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2009), [http://www.zuckermann.org/pdf/Hybridity_versus_Revivability.pdf Hybridity versus Revivability: Multiple Causation, Forms and Patterns]. In ''Journal of Language Contact'', Varia 2: 40-67, p. 46.</ref>

After the founding of the State of Israel, a massive wave of [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries|Jewish immigrants from Arab countries]] arrived. In short order, these [[Mizrahi Jews]] and their descendants would account for nearly half the Jewish population. While all were at least familiar with Hebrew as a liturgical language, essentially none had any contact with or affinity for Yiddish (some, of [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic]] origin, spoke Judaeo-Spanish, others various [[Judeo-Arabic languages]]). Thus, Hebrew emerged as the dominant linguistic common denominator between the different population groups.

In religious circles, it is the Ashkenazi [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi Jews]], particularly the Hasidic Jews and the Lithuanian yeshiva world (see [[Lithuanian Jews]]), 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 the flourishing of new proactive cultural organizations like YUNG YiDiSH, as well as [[Yiddish theatre]] (usually with simultaneous translation to Hebrew and Russian) and young people are taking university courses in Yiddish, some achieving considerable fluency.<ref>[http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/03/09/yiddish_studies.html Yiddish Studies Thrives at Columbia After More than Fifty Years] – Columbia News.</ref>

=== Former Soviet Union ===
In the Soviet Union during the 1920s, Yiddish was promoted as the language of the Jewish [[proletariat]].

[[File:Emblem of the Byelorussian SSR (1927).svg|thumb|State emblem of the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]] with the motto ''Workers of the world, unite!'' in Yiddish (lower left part of the ribbon)]]
It was one of the official languages of the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]]. Until 1938, the [[Emblem of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]] included the motto ''[[Workers of the world, unite!]]'' in Yiddish. Yiddish was also official language in several agricultural districts of the [[Galician Soviet Socialist Republic]].

A public educational system entirely based on the Yiddish language was established and comprised kindergartens, schools, and higher educational institutions (technical schools, [[rabfak]]s and other university departments). At the same time, Hebrew was considered a [[bourgeois]] language and its use was generally discouraged. The vast majority of the Yiddish-language cultural institutions were closed in the late 1930s along with cultural institutions of other ethnic minorities lacking administrative entities of their own. The last Yiddish-language schools, theaters and publications were closed by the end of the 1940s. It continued to be spoken widely for decades, nonetheless, in areas with compact Jewish populations (primarily in Moldova, Ukraine, and to a lesser extent Belarus).

In the former Soviet states, recently active Yiddish authors include Yoysef Burg ([[Chernivtsi]] 1912–2009) and [[Olexander Beyderman]] (b. 1949, [[Odessa]]). Publication of an earlier Yiddish periodical ({{lang|yi|דער פֿרײַנד}} - der fraynd; lit. "The Friend"), was resumed in 2004 with {{lang|yi|דער נײַער פֿרײַנד}} (''der nayer fraynd''; lit. "The New Friend", [[Saint Petersburg]]).

==== Russia ====
According to the [[Russian Census (2010)|2010 census]], 1,683 people spoke Yiddish in Russia, approximately 1% of all the Jews of the Russian Federation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/demo/per-itog/tab6.xls |title=Информационные материалы всероссийской переписи населения 2010 г. Население Российской Федерации по владению языками |accessdate=2013-12-08}}</ref> According to [[Mikhail Shvydkoy]], former Minister of Culture of Russia and himself of Jewish origin, Yiddish culture in Russia is gone, and its revival is unlikely.<ref name="Lechaim.ru">{{cite web|url=http://www.lechaim.ru/ARHIV/112/geyzer.htm |title=журнал "Лехаим" М. Е. Швыдкой. Расставание с прошлым неизбежно |publisher=Lechaim.ru |accessdate=2013-12-08}}</ref>

{{quote|From my point of view, Yiddish culture today isn't just fading away, but disappearing. It is stored as memories, as fragments of phrases, as books that have long gone unread. ... Yiddish culture is dying and this should be treated with utmost calm. There is no need to pity that which cannot be resurrected — it has receded into the world of the enchanting past, where it should remain. Any artificial culture, a culture without replenishment, is meaningless. ... Everything that happens with Yiddish culture is transformed into a kind of cabaret—epistolary genre, nice, cute to the ear and the eye, but having nothing to do with high art, because there is no natural, national soil. In Russia, it is the memory of the departed, sometimes sweet memories. But it's the memories of what will never be again. Perhaps that's why these memories are always so sharp.<ref name="Lechaim.ru"/>}}

==== Jewish Autonomous Oblast ====
[[File:RussiaJewish2007-07.png|thumb|The [[History of the Jews in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast|Jewish Autonomous Oblast]] in the [[USSR]]]]
{{Main article|Jewish Autonomous Oblast|Birobidzhan|History of the Jews in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast}}

The Jewish Autonomous Oblast was formed in 1934 in the [[Russian Far East]], with its capital city in Birobidzhan and Yiddish as its official language. The intention was for the Soviet Jewish population to settle there. Jewish cultural life was revived in Birobidzhan much earlier than elsewhere in the Soviet Union. Yiddish theaters began opening in the 1970s. The newspaper {{lang|yi|דער ביראָבידזשאַנער שטערן}} ([[Birobidzhaner Shtern|''Der Birobidzhaner Shtern'']]; lit: "The Birobidzhan Star") includes a Yiddish section.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gazetaeao.ru/idish |title=Birobidzhaner Shtern in Yiddish |publisher=Gazetaeao.ru |accessdate=2010-08-07}}</ref> Although the official status of the language was not retained by the Russian Federation, its cultural significance is still recognized and bolstered. The First Birobidzhan International Summer Program for Yiddish Language and Culture was launched in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rettig |first=Haviv |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1176152810577 |title=Yiddish returns to Birobidzhan |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=2007-04-17 |accessdate=2009-10-18}}</ref>

{{As of|2010}}, according to data provided by the Russian Census Bureau, there were 97 speakers of Yiddish in the JAO.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://evrstat.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_ts/evrstat/resources/0b58c68041a3e4a79a38de2d59c15b71/6.+%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%B1%D1%8E%D0%BB%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%8C+%C2%AB%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9+%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2+%D0%B8+%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5+%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B8%2C+%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE+%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F+%D0%95%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9+%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B9+%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%C2%BB.rar |at=In document "5. ВЛАДЕНИЕ ЯЗЫКАМИ НАСЕЛЕНИЕМ ОБЛАСТИ.pdf" |title=Статистический бюллетень "Национальный состав и владение языками, гражданство населения Еврейской автономной области" |trans-title=Statistical Bulletin "National structure and language skills, citizenship population Jewish Autonomous Region" |language=RU |format=RAR, PDF |date=30 October 2013 |publisher=[[Russian Federal State Statistics Service]]}}</ref>

==== Ukraine ====
Yiddish was an official language of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] (1917–21).<ref name="Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation">{{cite book|last=Yekelchyk|first=Serhy|authorlink=Serhy Yekelchyk|title=Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yZLtAAAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=OUP USA|isbn=978-0-19-530546-3}}</ref><ref name=HoUJsntui>{{cite book|last=Magocsi|first=Paul Robert|authorlink=Paul Robert Magocsi|title=A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BNUtdVrw6lIC&pg=PA537|year=2010|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4426-4085-6|page=537}}</ref>

=== Council of Europe ===
Several countries which ratified the 1992 [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]] have included Yiddish in the list of their recognized minority languages: the Netherlands (1996), Sweden (2000), Romania (2008), Poland (2009), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2010). In 2005, Ukraine did not mention Yiddish as such, but "the language(s) of the Jewish ethnic minority".<ref>[http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=8&DF=23/01/05&CL=ENG&VL=1 European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. List of declarations made with respect to treaty No. 148], Status as of: 3/10/2011</ref>

=== Sweden ===
[[File:Jidische.Folkschtime.jpg|thumb|Banner from the first issue of the ''Yidishe Folksshtime'' ("Yiddish People's Voice"), published in Stockholm, 12 January 1917.]]
In June 1999, the Swedish Parliament enacted legislation giving Yiddish legal status<ref>{{sv icon}} [http://regeringen.se/download/f5c9eed7.pdf?major=1&minor=2218&cn=attachmentPublDuplicator_0_attachment Regeringens proposition 1998/99:143 Nationella minoriteter i Sverige], 10 June 1999. Retrieved 17 October 2006.</ref> as one of the country's [[official minority languages of Sweden|official minority languages]] (entering into effect in April 2000). The rights thereby conferred are not detailed, but additional legislation was enacted in June 2006 establishing a new governmental agency, The Swedish National Language Council,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sprakradet.se |title=sprakradet.se |publisher=sprakradet.se |accessdate=2013-12-08}}</ref> the mandate of which instructs it to "collect, preserve, scientifically research, and spread material about the national minority languages", naming them all explicitly, including Yiddish. When announcing this action, the government made an additional statement about "simultaneously commencing completely new initiatives for... Yiddish [and the other minority languages]".

The Swedish government publishes documents in Yiddish, of which the most recent details the national action plan for human rights.<ref>{{yi icon}} [http://regeringen.se/download/098c9eb4.pdf?major=1&minor=67638&cn=attachmentPublDuplicator_0_attachment אַ נאַציאָנאַלער האַנדלונגס־פּלאַן פאַר די מענטשלעכע רעכט] A National Action Plan for Human Rights 2006–2009. Retrieved 4 December 2006.</ref> An earlier one provides general information about national minority language policies.<ref>{{yi icon}} [http://www.manskligarattigheter.gov.se/dynamaster/file_archive/050216/24a99c86fd734f15c9f722b343cc152e/FaktaJu%5f0415ji.pdf נאַציאַנאַלע מינאָריטעטן און מינאָריטעט־שפּראַכן] National Minorities and Minority Languages. Retrieved 4 December 2006.</ref>

On 6 September 2007, it became possible to register Internet domains with Yiddish names in the national top-level domain [[.se|.SE]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.119665 |title=IDG: Jiddischdomänen är här |publisher=Idg.se |accessdate=2009-10-18}}</ref>

The first Jews were permitted to reside in Sweden during the late 18th century. The Jewish population in Sweden is estimated at around 20,000. Out of these 2,000–6,000 claim to have at least some knowledge of Yiddish according to various reports and surveys. In 2009, the number of native speakers among these was estimated by linguist Mikael Parkvall to be 750–1,500. It is believed that virtually all native speakers of Yiddish in Sweden today are adults, and most of them elderly.<ref>Mikael Parkvall, ''Sveriges språk. Vem talar vad och var?''. RAPPLING 1. Rapporter från Institutionen för lingvistik vid Stockholms universitet. 2009 [http://www.språkförsvaret.se/sf/fileadmin/PDF/Parkvall_spraakstatistik.pdf], pp. 68–72</ref>

=== United States ===
[[File:Yiddish language distribution in the United States.svg|thumb|Yiddish distribution in the United States. {{legend|blue|More than 100,000 speakers}} {{legend|cyan|More than 10,000 speakers}}
{{legend|red|More than 5,000 speakers}}
{{legend|yellow|More than 1,000 speakers}}
{{legend|#cccccc|Fewer than 1,000 speakers}}]]
[[File:Women voter outreach 1935 English Yiddish.jpg|thumb|Women surrounded by posters in English and Yiddish supporting [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[Herbert H. Lehman]], and the [[American Labor Party]] teach other women how to vote, 1936.]]
At first, in the United States most Jews were of [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic]] origin, and hence did not speak Yiddish. It was not until the mid-to-late 19th century, as first German, then Eastern European, Jews arrived in the nation, that Yiddish became dominant within the immigrant community. This helped to bond Jews from many countries. {{lang|yi|פֿאָרווערטס}} (''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. In 1915, the circulation of the daily Yiddish newspapers was half a million in New York City alone, and 600,000 nationally. In addition, thousands more subscribed to the numerous weekly papers and the many magazines.<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert Moses Shapiro|title=Why Didn't the Press Shout?: American & International Journalism During the Holocaust|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I3lItIwOzCkC&pg=PA18|year=2003|publisher=KTAV|page=18}}</ref>

The typical circulation in the 21st century is a few thousand. The ''Forward'' still appears weekly and is also available in an online edition.<ref>{{yi icon}} [http://yiddish.forward.com/ פֿאָרווערטס]: ''[[The Forward]]'' online.</ref> It remains in wide distribution, together with {{lang|yi|דער אַלגעמיינער זשורנאַל}} (''der algemeyner zhurnal'' – ''[[Algemeiner Journal]]''; ''algemeyner'' = general), a [[Chabad]] newspaper which is also published weekly and appears online.<ref>{{yi icon}} [http://www.algemeiner.com/generic.asp?cat=4 דער אַלגעמיינער זשורנאַל] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106211758/http://www.algemeiner.com/generic.asp?cat=4 |date=2011-01-06 }}: ''Algemeiner Journal'' online</ref> The widest-circulation Yiddish newspapers are probably the weekly issues {{lang|yi|''[[Der Yid]]''}} ({{lang|yi|דער איד}} "The Jew"), {{lang|yi|''[[Der Blatt]]''}} ({{lang|yi|דער בלאַט}}; ''blat'' "paper") and {{lang|yi|''[[Di Tzeitung]]''}} ({{lang|yi|די צייטונג}} "the newspaper"). Several additional newspapers and magazines are in regular production, such as the weekly אידישער טריביון ''Yiddish Tribune'' and the monthly publications {{lang|yi|דער שטערן}} (''Der Shtern'' "The Star") and {{lang|yi|דער בליק}} (''Der Blik'' "The View"). (The romanized titles cited in this paragraph are in the form given on the masthead of each publication and may be at some variance both with the literal Yiddish title and the [[Yiddish orthography#Transliteration|transliteration rules]] otherwise applied in this article.) Thriving Yiddish theater, especially in the New York City [[Yiddish Theatre District]], kept the language vital. Interest in [[klezmer]] music provided another bonding mechanism.

Most of the Jewish immigrants to the New York metropolitan area during the years of [[Ellis Island]] considered Yiddish their native language; however, native Yiddish speakers tended not to pass the language on to their children, who assimilated and spoke English. For example, [[Isaac Asimov]] states in his autobiography, ''[[In Memory Yet Green]],'' that Yiddish was his first and sole spoken language and remained so for about two years after he emigrated to the United States as a small child. By contrast, Asimov's younger siblings, born in the United States, never developed any degree of fluency in Yiddish.

Many "Yiddishisms," like "Italianisms" and "Spanishisms," entered [[New York City English]], often used by Jews and non-Jews alike, unaware of the linguistic origin of the phrases. [[Yiddish words used in English]] were documented extensively by [[Leo Rosten]] in ''[[The Joys of Yiddish]]''; see also the [[list of English words of Yiddish origin]].

In 1975, the film ''[[Hester Street (film)|Hester Street]]'', much of which is in Yiddish, was released. It was later chosen to be on the [[Library of Congress]] [[National Film Registry]] for being considered a "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" film.<ref>http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2011/11-240.html</ref>

In 1976, the Canadian-born American author [[Saul Bellow]] received the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]]. He was fluent in Yiddish, and translated several Yiddish poems and stories into English, including [[Isaac Bashevis Singer]]'s "Gimpel the Fool".

In 1978, [[Isaac Bashevis Singer]], a writer in the Yiddish language, who was born in [[Poland]] and lived in the United States, received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Legal scholars [[Eugene Volokh]] and [[Alex Kozinski]] argue that Yiddish is "supplanting Latin as the spice in American legal argot."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Volokh |first=Eugene |authorlink= |author2=Kozinski, Alex |year=1993 |title=Lawsuit, Shmawsuit |journal=Yale Law Journal |volume=103 |issue=2 |pages=463–467 |doi=10.2307/797101|accessdate= |quote= |publisher=The Yale Law Journal Company, Inc.  |jstor=797101 }}</ref><ref>Note: an updated version of the article appears on Professor Volokh's UCLA web page, {{cite web|url=http://www.law.ucla.edu/volokh/yiddish.htm |title=Judge Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, "Lawsuit, Shmawsuit" <*> |publisher=Law.ucla.edu |accessdate=2009-10-18}}</ref>

==== Present U.S. speaker population ====
In the [[2000 United States Census]], 178,945 people in the United States reported speaking Yiddish at home. Of these speakers, 113,515 lived in [[New York (state)|New York]] (63.43% of American Yiddish speakers); 18,220 in [[Florida]] (10.18%); 9,145 in [[New Jersey]] (5.11%); and 8,950 in [[California]] (5.00%). The remaining states with speaker populations larger than 1,000 are [[Pennsylvania]] (5,445), [[Ohio]] (1,925), [[Michigan]] (1,945), [[Massachusetts]] (2,380), [[Maryland]] (2,125), [[Illinois]] (3,510), [[Connecticut]] (1,710), and [[Arizona]] (1,055). The population is largely elderly: 72,885 of the speakers were older than 65, 66,815 were between 18 and 64, and only 39,245 were age 17 or lower.<ref>[http://www.mla.org/map_data_states&lang_id=609&mode=lang_tops&a=&ea=&order=r Language by State: Yiddish], [[Modern Language Association|MLA]] Language Map Data Center, based on U.S. Census data. Retrieved 25 December 2006.</ref>
In the six years since the 2000 census, the 2006 [[American Community Survey]] reflected an estimated 15 percent decline of people speaking Yiddish at home in the U.S. to 152,515.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-ds_name=ACS_2006_EST_G00_&-_geoSkip=0&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=ACS_2006_EST_G2000_C16001&-redoLog=false&-_skip=0&-geo_id=01000US&-_showChild=Y&-format=&-_lang=en&-_toggle=ACS_2006_EST_G2000_C16001 |title=Detailed Tables – American FactFinder |publisher=Factfinder.census.gov |accessdate=2009-10-18 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228021003/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-ds_name=ACS_2006_EST_G00_&-_geoSkip=0&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=ACS_2006_EST_G2000_C16001&-redoLog=false&-_skip=0&-geo_id=01000US&-_showChild=Y&-format=&-_lang=en&-_toggle=ACS_2006_EST_G2000_C16001 |archivedate=2008-12-28 |df= }}</ref> In 2011, the number of persons in the United States above the age of 5 speaking Yiddish at home was 160,968.<ref>[https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf#page=12&zoom=auto,-265,62 Camille Ryan: ''Language Use in the United States: 2011'', Issued August 2013]</ref>

There are a few predominantly [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] communities in the United States in which Yiddish remains the majority language. [[Kiryas Joel, New York]] is one such; in the 2000 census, nearly 90% of residents of Kiryas Joel reported speaking Yiddish at home.<ref>[http://www.mla.org/census_data_results&state_id=36&place_id=39853 Data center results] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016053859/http://www.mla.org/census_data_results%26state_id%3D36%26place_id%3D39853 |date=2015-10-16 }} [[Modern Language Association]]</ref>

=== United Kingdom ===
There are well over 30,000 Yiddish speakers in the United Kingdom, and several thousand children now have Yiddish as a first language. The largest group of Yiddish speakers in Britain reside in the [[Stamford Hill]] district of North London, but there are sizable communities in northwest London, Leeds, Manchester and Gateshead.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/faith/article2097943.ece |title=Yiddish once again speaks for itself |first=Jack |last=Shamash |date= March 6, 2004}}</ref>
The Yiddish readership in the UK is mainly reliant upon imported material from the United States and Israel for newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. However, the London-based weekly ''[[Jewish Tribune (UK)|Jewish Tribune]]'' has a small section in Yiddish called {{lang|yi|אידישע טריבונע}} ''Yidishe Tribune''. From 1910s to 1950s, London had a daily Yiddish newspaper called די צײַט (''Di Tsayt'', {{IPA-yi|dɪ tsaɪt}}; in English, ''The Time''), founded, and edited from offices in [[Whitechapel]] Road, by Roumanian born Morris Myer, succeeded on his death in 1943 by his son Harry. There were also from time to time Yiddish newspapers in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Leeds.

=== Canada ===
[[Montreal]] had and to some extent still has one of the most thriving Yiddish communities in North America. Yiddish was Montreal's third language (after French and English) for the entire first half of the twentieth century. ''Der [[Keneder Adler]]'' ("The Canadian Eagle", founded by [[Hirsch Wolofsky]]), Montreal’s daily Yiddish newspaper, appeared from 1907 to 1988.<ref>CHRISTOPHER DEWOLF, "A peek inside Yiddish Montreal", ''Spacing Montreal'', February 23, 2008.[http://spacing.ca/montreal/2008/02/23/a-peek-inside-montreals-yiddish-universe/]</ref> The [[Monument-National]] was the center of Yiddish theater from 1896 until the construction of the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts (now the [[Segal Centre for Performing Arts]]), inaugurated on September 24, 1967, where the established resident theater, the [[Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre]], remains the only permanent Yiddish theatre in North America. The theatre group also tours Canada, US, Israel, and Europe.<ref>Carol Roach, "Yiddish Theater in Montreal", ''Examiner'', May 14, 2012.[[MediaWiki talk:Spam-whitelist#examiner.com|www.examiner.com/article/jewish-theater-montreal]]; "The emergence of Yiddish theater in Montreal", "Examiner", May 14, 2012 [[MediaWiki talk:Spam-whitelist#examiner.com|www.examiner.com/article/the-emergence-of-yiddish-theater-montreal]]</ref>

Even though Yiddish has receded, it is the immediate ancestral language of Montrealers like [[Mordecai Richler]], [[Leonard Cohen]] as well as former interim city mayor [[Michael Applebaum]]. Besides Yiddish-speaking activists, it remains today the native everyday language of 15,000 Montreal Hassidim.

=== Religious communities ===
[[File:Brooklyn Posters 1.jpg|thumb|A typical poster-hung wall in Jewish [[Brooklyn]], New York]]
The major exception to the decline of spoken Yiddish can be found in [[Haredi Judaism|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, [[Lithuanian Jews|Litvish]], or Yeshivish communities, such as [[Brooklyn]]'s [[Borough Park, Brooklyn|Borough Park]], [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn|Williamsburg]], and [[Crown Heights, Brooklyn|Crown Heights]], and in the communities of [[Monsey, New York|Monsey]], [[Kiryas Joel, New York|Kiryas Joel]], and [[New Square, New York|New Square]] in New York (over 88% of the population of Kiryas Joel is reported to speak Yiddish at home.<ref>[http://www.mla.org/census_data_results&state_id=36&place_id=39853 MLA Data Center Results: Kiryas Joel, New York] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016053859/http://www.mla.org/census_data_results%26state_id%3D36%26place_id%3D39853 |date=2015-10-16 }}, Modern Language Association. Retrieved 17 October 2006.</ref>) Also in [[New Jersey]], Yiddish is widely spoken mostly in [[Lakewood Township, New Jersey|Lakewood Township]], but also in smaller towns with [[yeshiva]]s, such as [[Passaic, New Jersey|Passaic]], [[Teaneck, New Jersey|Teaneck]], and elsewhere. Yiddish is also widely spoken in the Jewish community in [[History of the Jews in Antwerp|Antwerp]], and in Haredi communities such as the ones in [[London]], [[Manchester]], and [[Montreal]]. Yiddish is also spoken in many Haredi communities throughout Israel. Among most Ashkenazi Haredim, Hebrew is generally reserved for prayer, while Yiddish is used for religious studies, as well as a home and business language. In Israel, however, Haredim commonly speak Hebrew, with the notable exception of many Hasidic communities. However, many Haredim who use Modern Hebrew also understand Yiddish. There are some who send their children to schools in which the primary language of instruction is Yiddish. Members of anti-Zionist Haredi groups such as the [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)|Satmar Hasidim]], who view the commonplace use of Hebrew as a form of Zionism, use Yiddish almost exclusively.

Hundreds of thousands of young children around the globe have been, and are still, taught to translate the texts of the [[Torah]] into Yiddish. This process is called {{lang|yi|טײַטשן}} (''taytshn'') – "translating". Most Ashkenazi yeshivas' highest level lectures in Talmud and [[Halakha]] are delivered in Yiddish by the [[rosh yeshiva]]s as well as ethical talks of the [[Musar movement]]. Hasidic [[rebbe]]s 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 Judaism|Orthodox Jews]] who attend yeshivas speak English. This usage is distinctive enough that it has been dubbed "[[Yeshivish]]".

While Hebrew remains the exclusive language of [[Jewish prayer]], the Hasidim have mixed some 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. The Torah Talks of the late Chabad leaders are published in their original form, Yiddish. In addition, some prayers, such as "[[God of Abraham]]", were composed and are recited in Yiddish.

=== Modern Yiddish education ===
[[File:Yiddishsign.JPG|thumb|A road sign in Yiddish (except for the word "sidewalk") at an official construction site in the [[Monsey, New York|Monsey]] hamlet, a community with thousands of Yiddish speakers, in [[Ramapo, New York|Ramapo]], [[New York (state)|New York]].]]
There has been a resurgence in Yiddish learning in recent times among many from around the world with Jewish ancestry. The language which had lost many of its native speakers during WWII has been making somewhat of a comeback.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/9529/edition_id/182/format/html/displaystory.html |title=Yiddish making a comeback, as theater group shows &#124; j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California |publisher=Jewishsf.com |date=1998-09-18 |accessdate=2009-10-18}}</ref> In Poland, which traditionally had Yiddish speaking communities, a particular museum has begun to revive Yiddish education and culture.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/09/30/poland.jewish.revival/index.html |title=Poland's Jews alive and kicking |publisher=CNN.com |date=2008-10-06 |accessdate=2009-10-18}}</ref> Located in Kraków, the [[Galicia Jewish Museum]] offers classes in Yiddish Language Instruction and workshops on Yiddish Songs. The museum has taken steps to revive the culture through concerts and events held on site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.galiciajewishmuseum.org |title=Galicia Jewish Museum |publisher=Galicia Jewish Museum |accessdate=2011-12-22}}</ref>
There are various Universities worldwide which now offer Yiddish programs based on the [[YIVO]] Yiddish standard. Many of these programs are held during the summer and are attended by Yiddish enthusiasts from around the world. One such school located within [[Vilnius University]] (Vilnius Yiddish Institute) was the first Yiddish center of higher learning to be established in post-Holocaust Eastern Europe. Vilnius Yiddish Institute is an integral part of the four-century-old Vilnius University. Published Yiddish scholar and researcher Dovid Katz is among the Faculty.<ref>{{cite web|author=Neosymmetria (www.neosymmetria.com) |url=http://www.judaicvilnius.com/en |title=Vilnius Yiddish Institute |publisher=Judaicvilnius.com |date=2009-10-01 |accessdate=2009-10-18}}</ref>

Despite this growing popularity among many [[American Jews]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2000/may/22/news/cl-32637 |title=A Lasting Language – Los Angeles Times |publisher=Articles.latimes.com |date= 2000-05-22|accessdate=2009-10-18 | first=Mary | last=Rourke}}</ref> finding opportunities for practical use of Yiddish is becoming increasingly difficult, and thus many students have trouble learning to speak the language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forward.com/articles/6818/ |title=In Academia, Yiddish Is Seen, But Not Heard&nbsp;– |publisher=Forward.com |date=2006-03-24 |accessdate=2009-10-18}}</ref> One solution has been the establishment of a farm in Goshen, New York for Yiddishists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/pakn-treger/01-13/naftali-ejdelman-and-yisroel-bass-yiddish-farmers |title=Naftali Ejdelman and Yisroel Bass: Yiddish Farmers |publisher=Yiddishbookcenter.org |date=2013-01-10 |accessdate=2013-01-18}}</ref>

=== Internet community ===
[[Google Translate]] includes Yiddish as one of its languages,<ref>{{cite web|last=Lowensohn |first=Josh |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-10322250-248.html |title=Oy! Google Translate now speaks Yiddish |publisher=News.cnet.com |date=2009-08-31 |accessdate=2011-12-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://translate.google.com/?hl=en#yi%7Cen |title=Google Translate from Yiddish to English |publisher=Translate.google.com |accessdate=2011-12-22}}</ref> as does [[Yiddish Wikipedia|Wikipedia]].

Over ten thousand Yiddish texts, estimated as over half of all the published works in Yiddish, are now online based on the work of the [[Yiddish Book Center]], volunteers, and the Internet Archive.<ref>{{cite web|title=Yiddish Book Center's Spielberg Digital Yiddish Library|url=https://archive.org/details/nationalyiddishbookcenter|publisher=Internet Archives|accessdate=10 January 2014}}</ref>

Many websites on the Internet are in Yiddish. In January 2013, ''The Forward'' announced the launch of the new daily version of their newspaper's website, which has been active since 1999 as an online weekly, supplied with radio and video programs, a literary section for fiction writers and a special blog written in local contemporary Hasidic dialects.<ref>{{cite news|title=Yiddish Forverts Seeks New Audience Online|url=http://forward.com/articles/169919/yiddish-forverts-seeks-new-audience-online/|accessdate=10 January 2014|newspaper=Forward|date=January 25, 2013}}</ref>

Computer scientist [[Raphael Finkel]] maintains a hub of Yiddish-language resources, including a searchable [[dictionary]]<ref>{{cite web|last1=Finkel|first1=Raphael|title=Yiddish Dictionary Lookup|url=http://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/yiddish/dictionary.cgi|website=cs.uky.edu|accessdate=3 June 2016}}</ref> and [[spell checker]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Finkel|first1=Raphael|title=spellcheck|url=http://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/yiddish/checkSpellUTF.cgi|website=cs.uky.edu|accessdate=3 June 2016}}</ref>

In late 2016, [[Motorola|Motorola, Inc.]] released its smartphones with keyboard access for the Yiddish language in its foreign language option.

==In the Media==

Words and phrases in Yiddish are spoken and analyzed by Jewish figures in <i>Never Split Tens!</i>, a novel based on the life of pioneering blackjack probability theorist [[Edward O. Thorp]], by gambling writer Les Golden published in 2017 by Springer.  Thorp’s research associate Julian Braun, his bankroller [[Manny Kimmel]], and his wife were all Jewish.   Braun, his parents, and Kimmel are portrayed as speaking Yiddish in the novel.

==See also==
[[File:NewSquareElectionSign.JPG|thumb|A 2008 Election poster in front of a store in [[New Square, New York|Village of New Square]], Town of Ramapo, New York, entirely in Yiddish. The candidates' names are transliterated into Yiddish.]]
[[File:Rosh Hashana Montevideo 1932.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Rosh Hashanah]] greeting card, [[Montevideo]], 1932. Inscription includes text in Hebrew (לשנה טובה תכתבו—LeShaná Tová Tikatevu) and Yiddish (מאנטעווידעא—Montevideo).]]
* [[List of English words of Yiddish origin]]
* [[List of Yiddish-language poets]]
* [[List of Yiddish newspapers and periodicals]]
* ''[[The Yiddish King Lear]]''
* [[Yiddish Book Center]]
* [[Yiddish dialects]]—as spoken in different regions of Europe.
* [[Yiddish grammar]]—the structural detail of the language.
* [[Yiddish literature]]
* [[Yiddish orthography]]—the written representation of the language.
* [[Yiddishist movement]]
* [[Yiddish words used in English]]—definitions of Yiddish words used in a primarily English context.
* [[Yinglish]]

{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em|small=yes}}
* {{Cite book |last=Baumgarten |first=Jean |editor-first=Jerold C. |editor-last=Frakes |title=Introduction to Old Yiddish Literature |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2005 |isbn=0-19-927633-1 }}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Solomon Birnbaum|last=Birnbaum|first=Solomon|title=Yiddish – A Survey and a Grammar|location=Toronto|date=1979, 2nd edition 2016}}
* {{cite book|last=Dunphy|first=Graeme|contribution=The New Jewish Vernacular|editor-first=Max|editor-last=Reinhart|title=Camden House History of German Literature, Volume 4: Early Modern German Literature 1350–1700|date=2007|ISBN=1-57113-247-3|pages=74–79}}
* {{Cite book |last=Fishman |first=David E. |title=The Rise of Modern Yiddish Culture |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |location=Pittsburgh |year=2005 |isbn=0-8229-4272-0 }}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Joshua Fishman|editor-last=Fishman|editor-first=Joshua A.|title=Never Say Die: A Thousand Years of Yiddish in Jewish Life and Letters|publisher=Mouton Publishers|location=The Hague|date=1981|ISBN=90-279-7978-2|language=Yiddish and English}}
* {{Cite book |last=Frakes |first=Jerold C |title=Early Yiddish Texts 1100–1750 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2004 |isbn=0-19-926614-X }}
* <div id="lcaaj">{{cite book|editor-last=Herzog|editor-first=Marvin|displayeditors=et al.|title=The Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry|publisher=Max-Niemeyer-Verlag in collaboration with [[YIVO]]|location=Tübingen|date=1992–2000|ISBN=3-484-73013-7}}</div>
* {{cite book|authorlink=Dovid Katz|last=Katz|first=Hirshe-Dovid|title=Code of Yiddish spelling ratified in 1992 by the programmes in Yiddish language and literature at Bar Ilan University, Oxford University, Tel Aviv University, Vilnius University|location=Oxford|publisher=Oksforder Yiddish Press in cooperation with the [[Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies]]|date=1992|ISBN=1-897744-01-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Katz |first=Dovid |title=Grammar of the Yiddish Language |publisher=Duckworth |location= London |year=1987 |isbn=0-7156-2162-9 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Katz |first=Dovid |title=Words on Fire: The Unfinished Story of Yiddish |edition=2nd |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |year=2007 |isbn=0-465-03730-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kriwaczek |first=Paul |title=Yiddish Civilization: The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Nation |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London |year=2005 |isbn=0-297-82941-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Lansky|first=Aaron|title=Outwitting History: How a Young Man Rescued a Million Books and Saved a Vanishing Civilisation|publisher=Algonquin Books|location=Chapel Hill|date=2004|ISBN=1-56512-429-4}}
* <div id="liptzin1972">{{cite book|last=Liptzin|first=Sol|title=A History of Yiddish Literature|publisher=Jonathan David Publishers|location=Middle Village, New York|date=1972|ISBN=0-8246-0124-6}}</div>
* {{cite book|last=Margolis|first=Rebecca|title=Basic Yiddish: A Grammar and Workbook|publisher=Routledge|date=2011|ISBN=978-0-415-55522-7}}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Leo Rosten|last=Rosten|first=Leo|title=Joys of Yiddish|publisher=Pocket|date=2000|ISBN=0-7434-0651-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Shandler|first=Jeffrey|title=Adventures in Yiddishland: Postvernacular Language and Culture|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|date=2006|ISBN=0-520-24416-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Shmeruk|first=Chone|title=Prokim fun der Yidisher Literatur-Geshikhte|trans-title=Chapters of Yiddish Literary History|publisher=Peretz|location=Tel Aviv|date=1988|language=Yiddish}}
* Shternshis, Anna (2006). ''Soviet and Kosher: Jewish Popular Culture in the Soviet Union, 1923-1939.'' Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
* {{cite book|authorlink=Nahum Stutchkoff|last=Stutchkoff|first=Nahum|title=Oytser fun der Yidisher Shprakh|trans-title=Thesaurus of the Yiddish language|location=New York|language=Yiddish|date=1950}}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Uriel Weinreich|last=Weinreich|first=Uriel|title=College Yiddish: An Introduction to the Yiddish language and to Jewish Life and Culture|edition=6th rev.|publisher=YIVO Institute for Jewish Research|location=New York|date=1999|ISBN=0-914512-26-9|language=Yiddish and English}}
* {{cite book|last=Weinstein|first=Miriam|title=Yiddish: A Nation of Words|publisher=Ballantine Books|location=New York|date=2001|ISBN=0-345-44730-1}}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Michael Wex|last=Wex|first=Michael|title=[[Born to Kvetch]]: Yiddish Language and Culture in All Its Moods|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|date=2005|ISBN=0-312-30741-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Witriol|first=Joseph|date=1974|url=http://mummeloohshen.wordpress.com/|title=Mumme Loohshen: An Anatomy of Yiddish|location=London}}
{{Div col end}}

==Further reading==

* ''YIVO Bleter'', pub. YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, NYC, [http://www.yivo.org/aboutyivo/timeline3.htm initial series] from 1931, [http://www.yivoinstitute.org/publications/index.php?tid=123&aid=319 new series] since 1991.
* ''Afn Shvel'', pub. League for Yiddish, NYC, since 1940; [http://www.leagueforyiddish.org/ishi.html אויפן שוועל], [http://docs.leagueforyiddish.org/undzer-perets-artikl.pdf sample article אונדזער פרץ – Our Peretz]
* ''Lebns-fragn'', by-monthly for social issues, current affairs, and culture, Tel Aviv, since 1951; [http://lebnsfragn.com/about.html לעבנס-פראגן], [http://lebnsfragn.com/index.html current issue]
* ''Yerusholaymer Almanakh'', periodical collection of Yiddish literature and culture, Jerusalem, since 1973; [http://yiddish-almanach.org/index.php/the-yerusholaymer-almanakh/ ירושלימער אלמאנאך], [http://yiddish-almanach.org/ new volume, contents and downloads]
* ''Der Yiddisher Tam-Tam'', pub. Maison de la Culture Yiddish, Paris, since 1994, also available in [http://www.yiddishweb.com/tamtam.htm electronic format].
* ''Yidishe Heftn'', pub. Le Cercle Bernard Lazare, Paris, since 1996, [http://mapage.noos.fr/bernardlazare/CahiersY.htm יידישע העפטן sample cover], [http://www.bernardlazare.org/ subscription info].
* ''Gilgulim, naye shafungen'', new literary magazine, Paris, since 2008; [http://gilgulim.org/ גילגולים, נייע שאפונגען]

==External links==

*{{DMOZ|Science/Social_Sciences/Linguistics/Languages/Natural/Indo-European/Germanic/Yiddish/}}
* [http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1051135/jewish/Path-to-Extinction.htm Lorne Rozovsky, ''Path to Extinction: The Declining Health of Jewish Languages'']
* http://lib.cet.ac.il/pages/item.asp?item=12887 Israeli Government Portal: Yiddish
* [http://www.languagesandpeoples.com/Eng/Direct/Germanic/SglLgYiddishNewYork.htm 'Hover & Hear' New York Yiddish pronunciations], and compare with equivalents in English and other Germanic languages.

{{Jewish languages}}
{{West Germanic languages}}
{{Germanic languages}}
{{Jews and Judaism}}
{{Languages of Israel}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yiddish Language}}
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