Yiddish

Yiddish
Judaeo-German
ייִדיש, יידיש, אידיש yidish, idish
Pronunciation	yi
Native to	Central, Eastern, and Western Europe
Region	Europe, Israel, North America, South America, other regions with Jewish populations[1]
Ethnicity	Ashkenazi Jews
Native speakers	≤ 600,000 (2021)[2]
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Elbe Germanic High German Yiddish
Early form	Old High German Middle High German[3][4]
Dialects	Eastern Yiddish Western Yiddish
Writing system	Hebrew alphabet (Yiddish orthography) occasionally Latin alphabet[5]
Official status
Official language in	Russia (Jewish Autonomous Oblast)[6]
Recognised minority language in	Austria Belarus[source?] Bosnia and Herzegovina Germany[source?] Israel Netherlands Poland Romania Sweden[7][better source needed] Ukraine[8][9] Russia[6]
Regulated by	No formal bodies YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (de facto)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	yi
ISO 639-2	yid
ISO 639-3	yid – inclusive code Individual codes: ydd – Eastern Yiddish yih – Western Yiddish
Glottolog	east2295  Eastern Yiddish west2361  Western Yiddish
Linguasphere	52-ACB-g = 52-ACB-ga (West) + 52-ACB-gb (East); totaling 11 varieties
Yiddish is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2023)[10]

Yiddish is a language used by some Jews. At first, it was a dialect of German that Jews began to use in 11th century Europe. It is still used in the United States, especially in New York City, and other countries with surviving Jewish populations.^[11][12]

1. ↑ Yiddish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. ↑ "Yiddish FAQs". Rutgers University. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
3. ↑ Edited by Ekkehard König and Johan van der Auwera: The Germanic Languages. Routledge: London & New York, 1994, p. 388 (chapter 12 Yiddish)
4. ↑ Sten Vikner: Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax: Verb Movement and Expletive Subjects in the Germanic Languages. Oxford University Press: New York & Oxford, 1995, p. 7
5. ↑ Matthias Mieses: Die Gesetze der Schriftgeschichte: Konfession und Schrift im Leben der Völker. 1919, p. 323.
   Also cp. the following works, where certain works in Yiddish language with Latin script are mentioned:
   • Carmen Reichert: Poetische Selbstbilder: Deutsch-jüdische und Jiddische Lyrikanthologien 1900–1938. (Jüdische Religion, Geschichte und Kultur. Band 29). 2019, p. 223 (in chapter 4. 10 Ein radikaler Schritt:eine jiddische Anthologie in lateinischen Buchstaben)
   • Illa Meisels: Erinnerung der Herzen. Wien: Czernin Verlag, 2004, p. 74: "Chaja Raismann, Nit in Golus un nit in der Heem, Amsterdam 1931, ein in lateinischen Buchstaben geschriebenes jiddisches Büchlein."
   • Desanka Schwara: Humor und Toleranz. Ostjüdische Anekdoten als historische Quelle. 2001, p. 42
   • Edited by Manfred Treml and Josef Kirmeier with assistance by Evamaria Brockhoff: Geschichte und Kultur der Juden in Bayern: Aufsätze. 1988, p. 522
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} "Устав Еврейской автономной области от 8 октября 1997 г. N 40-ОЗ (с изменениями и дополнениями) Глава I. Общие положения. Статья 6.2 [Charter of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast N 40-ОЗ (with the Amendments and Additions of 8 October 1997): Chapter I. General situation. Article 6.2]". Сайт Конституции Российской Федерации [Site of the Constitution of the Russian Federation]. Garant. Archived from the original on 2015-02-21. Retrieved 2023-06-16. В области создаются условия для сохранения, изучения и развития языков еврейского народа и других народов, проживающих на территории области. [In the oblast the conditions will be created for the protection, stidy and growth of the languages of the Jewish peoples and other peoples living on the territory of the oblast.]
7. ↑ Andersson, Marina (2024-08-08). "Yiddish". Retrieved 2024-12-15.
8. ↑ What languages does the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages apply to?
9. ↑ "Про затвердження переліку мов національних меншин (спільнот) та корінних народів України, яким загрожує зникнення". Official webportal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. 7 June 2024.
10. ↑ "World Atlas of Languages: Eastern Yiddish". en.wal.unesco.org. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
11. ↑
    • Gold, David L. (1987). "Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America (review)". Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America (9). Dictionary Society of North America: 225–250. doi:10.1353/dic.1987.0002. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
    • Weinstein, Miriam (2002). Yiddish: A Nation of Words. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 1586420275. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
    • Jacobs, Neil G. (2005). Yiddish: A Linguistic Introduction. Ohio State University. ISBN 9780521772150. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
    • Weinreich, Max (2008). History of the Yiddish Language. Yale University Press. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
    • Shandler, Jeffrey (November 2, 2020). Yiddish: Biography of a Language. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780190651961.001.0001. ISBN 9780190651961. Retrieved December 16, 2024. Online ISBN: 9780190651992
12. ↑
    • "Basic Facts about Yiddish" (PDF). YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
    • "Yiddish language and culture and its post-Holocaust fate in Europe". European Parliament. January 19, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
    • Jolish, AJ (August 1, 2023). ""A Language I Come Home To": Yiddish in the Jewish Diaspora". Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
    • Shurpin, Yehuda. "Why Do Jews Still Insist on Speaking Yiddish?". Chabad. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
    • "Yiddish language | History, Culture & Alphabet". Britannica. October 25, 2024. Retrieved December 17, 2024.