When it comes to the familiarity one has with their mother tongue, or mame-loshn, it is easy to forget that languages are not given to us fully formed. Languages are changing, evolving—alive. The factors that influence a language are often the same ones affecting its community of speakers in other ways. So, a language becomes a way of representing its speakers. The formation of the Yiddish language as well as the ways it evolves in modern times perfectly represent resilience, a key aspect of Jewish identity.
Yiddish arose from a German substrate and began as a way to translate and interpret Hebrew text for European Jews. The stock languages of Yiddish are German, Hebrew, and Proto-Slavic. Components of these stock languages—be it grammar rules, vocabulary, alphabet, or other—fuse when speakers of stock languages interact. Yiddish, by nature, can incorporate components from surrounding languages, allowing Yiddish to remain distinctly Jewish while bridging the gap between Jews and the non-Jewish world they are living in. Centuries after its origin, Yiddish reached the United States. In the early 20th century, Yiddish remained secluded in Jewish communities, and thrived in theatre. Still, by 1939, out of 17 million Jews globally, 11 million spoke Yiddish.
Yiddish is no longer spoken by the majority of Jews. Since it is not in everyday use, many consider Yiddish a dead language. However, Yiddish does need to be a widely used vernacular to still contribute to Ashkenazi culture and identity, as Professor Ari Kelman reminds us “evaluations of the relationship between language and culture [...] need recalibration if we are to understand the ways in which Yiddish still does circulate instead of simply mourning the ways in which it does not.” And, as previously mentioned, Yiddish is a resilient language. Journalist Orly Halpern believes that “Yiddish has proven itself to be a carrier language of sorts, picking up language and culture from its surroundings and also infusing its culture into its surroundings…[which is] one of its primary characteristics and survival tactics.”
Throughout the last century, the language has transformed and intermingled with English. This allows Yiddish to better accommodate for communication amongst North American Jews, while parts of the language survive through English vernacular. Many English words describing modern concepts have been incorporated into Yiddish, like universitet and telefon. Unbeknownst to many English speakers, many English words come from Yiddish, such as glitch, klutz, and spiel. Similarly, the syntax in phrases like “I should worry” or “give a look” have been adopted from Yiddish.
In its current form, Yiddish may be more akin to a Judeo-English than a Judeo-German, but its transformation does not make it a dead language. If anything, despite tragedy and setbacks, its evolution remains strong. Yiddish continues to contribute to Jewish culture, as it likely will for many, many more years.
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