Yiddish language

Yiddish (Yid. ייִדיש, yidiš) is a Germanic language spoken by about three million people throughout the world, predominantly Ashkenazic Jews. The name Yiddish itself is Yiddish for "Jewish" (compare German jüdisch) and is likely an abbreviated rendition of yidish-taytsh (ייִדיש־טײַטש), or "Jewish German". In its earliest historical phase (13th-14th centuries), Yiddish is referred to by linguists as Judeo-German; occasionally this term is used for later forms of the language as well.

Orthography

Although it uses the same alphabet as the Hebrew language, Yiddish uses some digraphs as well as letters modified with diacritics, all of which are considered separate letters in Yiddish orthography. Yiddish is entirely different from Hebrew, with a different phonology and grammar. When two forms of a letter are shown, the second one (on the left) is called lange and is the form that is used at the ends of words. Unlike Hebrew, where typically only consonants are shown, vowels are represented fully in Yiddish, using the letters alef, vov, yud, and ayin (see below).

Related Topics:
Alphabet - Hebrew language - Phonology - Grammar

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The Yiddish alphabet is:

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Yiddish also employs several digraphs:

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A feature of Yiddish spelling is that words of Hebrew origin are written exactly as in Hebrew. (In Soviet publications, however, all words were written according to Yiddish rules.)

Related Topics:
Hebrew - Soviet

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Throughout this article, the YIVO transcriptions will be used alongside the Yiddish alphabet.

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