Yiddish
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Yiddish is a Germanic language which began to diverge from a common Germanic dialect between the 9th and 14th centuries C.E.
Yiddish is distinguished by the fact that although it is a Germanic language, it has significant elements of its grammar and especially its lexicon from different sources, especially the following:
- Mainly German
- Hebrew elements for religious purposes
- Elements from various Slavic languages, especially Polish
- Some words borrowed from Latin or early French
The name Yiddish is an adjective meaning "Jewish," since Yiddish is the language developed by the Jewish communities of central and eastern Europe.
Until World War 2, Yiddish was a significant and thriving minority language of Europe, with millions of native speakers. This community was greatly diminished by the Holocaust and by Jewish emigration to Israel, where Hebrew was chosen as the national language; consequently, Yiddish is now an endangered language. But small communities of speakers still exist in Israel, Russia, England, the United States and some other countries.
In written form (using a modified version of the Hebrew alphabet) Yiddish is the basis of a rich set of literature. The 1978 Nobel Prize for literature was awarded to a Yiddish writer, Isaac Bashevis Singer.
For an online Yiddish Dictionary, please see http://www.yiddishdictionaryonline.com
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