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Yiddish? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5645 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes  Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 1 of 48 27 July 2009 at 2:22pm | IP Logged |
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I'm just curious: Does anybody here speak Yiddish or have any experience of it?
Is it considered a "threatened" language that is likely to die out? I know there are some speakers in Israel, but what about elsewhere? One of my great-grandmothers could speak it. She taught me some songs and words when I was a kid (because I nagged her). But her view was that it was a dying language of an era that had passed. She had no interest in speaking it at all, or teaching it to anyone. So that's how I've viewed Yiddish, to the extent I've given it any thought at all. But I've noticed that several of the new Russian words I've learnt recently are the same as in those Yiddish songs, and mean the same thing from what I recall. The similarity with German is obvious, so I guess somebody who speaks Russian, German and a bit of Hebrew would have no trouble following a conversation in Yiddish. It's interesting as a pidgin language (I am fascinated by those). But I've never met anybody who learnt to speak it as a foreign language. It would be interesting to hear from somebody with experience of Yiddish, if only as a curiosity? Edited by cordelia0507 on 27 July 2009 at 3:45pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6079 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 2 of 48 27 July 2009 at 4:55pm | IP Logged |
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I have heard Haredim speaking it in North London. To my ears it sounds like a German dialect, and I can recognise a large part of what I overhear, through German. I don't know how "pure" the Yiddish is, as people speaking it seem to use lots of English words, though that may be a case of code-switching between English and Yiddish. I have also heard Orthodox Jews speaking in what I suspect is Hebrew, though I am not 100% sure that was what it was.
I knew someone of Jewish but non-religious background who learned Yiddish at an evening class, he said up to "intermediate" level. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5645 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 3 of 48 27 July 2009 at 7:15pm | IP Logged |
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Yeah, I've seen them too in Golders Green and around there, but not paid any attention to what language they were speaking. Amazing to hear they speak Yiddish! That's quite a large community! I heard they lived there for over a hundred years, so I would have guessed that they spoke English!
Hebrew sounds quite different from Yiddish. It would be quite easy to recognise even if you didn't know a word of it. It has a LOT of "kh" sounds and German Rs which makes it sound European. But it still sounds completely un-European because you would not recognise any words. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6079 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 4 of 48 27 July 2009 at 8:13pm | IP Logged |
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I think Yiddish survives among the ultra-Orthodox because they are less attuned to the surrounding secular world, which tends to undermine minority languages and destroy dialects. There is a sizeable pocket of the ultra-Orthodox in Stamford Hill, North London, where I heard the language.
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| J-Learner Senior Member Australia Joined 5837 days ago 556 posts - 636 votes Studies: Yiddish, English* Studies: Dutch | Message 5 of 48 28 July 2009 at 2:42am | IP Logged |
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For me I heard it amongst my great grandparents. I only understand a little but I do think that it has helped me to make more sense of the Germanic languages as an adult.
I thought I should add that Yiddish is not a pidgin language. It is every bit as difficult in German in most ways and that is not typical of a pidgin tongue. They tend to be simplified. The vocabulary from Yiddish is indeed taken from a number of languages. Largely Russian (or Polish, Ukrainian, etc) and Hebrew. This gives the language a bit more spice than German in my opinion. I myself am interested in learning it to a high level to enjoy speaking with friends, reading the wide literature (bought a book at my local bookshop on Friday) and listening to and performing the music I love so much. (Plus I'm just a language nut to begin with :D) If you get serious on learning it cordelia0507, send me a message and I will be happy to send you links and resources. Perhaps one day we can study it together. :) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| laban Triglot Groupie Israel Joined 5629 days ago 87 posts - 96 votes Speaks: Modern Hebrew*, English, Italian Studies: Norwegian, German | Message 6 of 48 28 July 2009 at 2:50pm | IP Logged |
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well, I think nowadays it could be considered as a dying language and most people who still speaks it are old jewish folks and most of the jewish orthodox who have European heritage.
I really dont understand why would your grandma think that way, but i could definitely say that it is not the same, maybe even the opposite, amongst most yiddish speakers that i know of. Yiddish is a very proud language that is also one of the last remnants of a dying proud culture. about the origins : yiddish is about 85% German, 10% polish and 5% hebrew (my rough estimation) and is written with hebrew letters. for more info check out wiki. In my opinion yiddish is very nice language, and i also feel kinda obligated to learn it, just to be one of the few "keepers" of ,at least, this part out of this immense jewish european culture. Regrettably these days, most people just dont care. if you like to hear some nice traditional songs, look up Dudu Fisher. here are some I like : belz ~ on the way stands a tree - subs in hebrew Edited by laban on 28 July 2009 at 5:14pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5645 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 7 of 48 28 July 2009 at 5:52pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks, that's interesting!
J-Learner, I won't learn it, I've got enough on my plate! :-) I was just curious... Also, there are too few speakers, I like BIG languages! And I am not Jewish! I have some links to Judaism, but I'm definitely Christian! :-) Laban, thanks for the link! interesting! (The reason for my great-grandmothers opinion was something like: She spoke better German anyway, plus she got more or less cut off from her family after she married against their will. Later, most of her family moved to Israel. When she spoke to her sisters there, she spoke German, and they wrote each other in German too. She came from a place called Stettin which is now Polish, but it used to be German. It's quite close to Southern Sweden where my great-grandmother first lived after she got married.) After I followed your link, I saw another link on YouTube to this good presentation of Yiddish words used in American English. Those words are great! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q27XCkDSLbY&feature=fvw Even though I actually spent some time staying with my relatives in Israel I never came across any Yiddish speakers there either. It can't be very common. Apart from my great-grandmother, I have practically never heard it spoken... It's definitely a fascinating language. Good to hear that there are people who will spend a bit of time to keep it alive. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| laban Triglot Groupie Israel Joined 5629 days ago 87 posts - 96 votes Speaks: Modern Hebrew*, English, Italian Studies: Norwegian, German | Message 8 of 48 28 July 2009 at 8:02pm | IP Logged |
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Actually, I'm also more into "big languages" myself and have a greater passion for Germanic, especially nord-germanic languages. Besides, my motive for studying the language is by no means a religious one, I couldn't care less for religion. It is the culture and the heritage part that makes me wanna do it.
My idea was to learn German first, and then, "get" Yiddish as a nice add on. Although some Yiddish speakers told me it'll be very hard, maybe even impossible, my grandfather who speak both languages told me otherwise, so i'll take his word for it. For anyone who's not an Hebrew speaker it'll probably be more difficult because Yiddish is written with hebrew letters (although some sounds are not the same). As for the people who speaks the language here in Israel, as i told you - only old folk and orthodox jews from the european countries. so its no surprise that you haven't got to hear it here - even I get to hear it only rarely - but there are places like certain homes and segregated jewish communities where you'll here it a lot. btw, nice family story you got there, the only thing that struck me odd was the moving to Israel part, i mean, why? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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