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.

Phonology

Consonants

The consonant phonemes of Yiddish are given in the following table:

Related Topics:
Consonant - Phoneme

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As in the Slavic languages with which Yiddish was long in contact (Russian, Belarusian, Polish, and Ukrainian), but unlike German, voiceless stops are unaspirated, and voiced stops are fully voiced. Moreover, Yiddish has regressive voicing assimilation, so that, for example, {{IPA|/z?gt/}} 'says' is pronounced {{IPA|}} and {{IPA|/hak?d?m?/}} 'foreword' is pronounced {{IPA|}}. However, unlike both German and its nearest Slavic neighbors, final devoicing does not occur in Yiddish.

Related Topics:
Slavic languages - Contact - Russian - Belarusian - Polish - Ukrainian - German - Voiceless - Unaspirated - Voiced - Voicing - Assimilation - Final devoicing

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Vowels

The vowel phonemes of Yiddish are given in the following tables:

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In addition, the sonorant consonants {{IPA|/l/}} and {{IPA|/n/}} can function as syllable nuclei:

Related Topics:
Sonorant consonant - Syllable nuclei

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• {{IPA|/??jzl?/}} 'donkey'
• {{IPA|/??vn?t/}} 'evening'

The syllabic sonorants and {{IPA|}} are always unstressed. {{IPA|}} can be analyzed as the unstressed allophone of {{IPA|/?/}}.

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