Yiddish: The Widely Used Language
Introduction
Yiddish is one of the most widely spoken languages in Europe, despite the fact that it is written in Hebrew alphabets. In tandem with the development of Jewish culture, the Yiddish language naturally morphed into several regional varieties, making it possible to evolve with time. Changes in the Jewish way of life, social interaction, economy, legislation, and academic writing all roughly track with the development of the language throughout history (Wolf, 2020). Thus, the development of Yiddish may be seen as a microcosm of the historical developments in Judaism (Avineri, 2019). The purpose of this paper is to address the question ‘why and how did the Yiddish language become widely spoken in Europe, despite the fact that it is an old language and based on ancient Hebrew?’ In addressing this question, the interest is to improve the current understanding of how languages develop and evolve, an important part of learning, given the writer’s background in history and linguistics. Arguably, the Yiddish language is widely spoken because of its connection to the history and experiences of the Jewish communities as they also spread from the Middle East to other parts of the globe.
How and Why Did the Yiddish Language Become a Widely Used Language?
Yiddish was first spoken in the 9th century CE in Central Europe, Ashkenazi Yiddish is a dialect founded on High German that incorporates numerous characteristics borrowed from Hebrew (particularly Mishnaic) and, to a lesser degree, Aramaic (Shyovitz, n.d.). Jews who came to Europe with the Roman army as merchants and ultimately settled in the Rhineland of western Germany and northern France are credited with creating Yiddish. They created a new language, not merely a variant of German, by fusing Hebrew, Aramaic, and Romance with German. When Jews couldn’t find a place for their imaginations in mainstream culture, they turned to art in the 18 Century. This included writing, singing, acting, and studying Jewish traditions that were not widely accepted (Smith, 2019). Yiddish expanded beyond its original function as a language of practical communication. Ghettos and shtetls in Eastern Europe had flourished, and for the first time, the language provided a method of expressing and articulating this thriving inner life. The primary languages of this developing society were Yiddish and Hebrew, but the latter was used very rarely.
Significant events and movements in Jewish history may be credited for elevating Yiddish to a major position in Jewish life. For instance, Jews progressively separated themselves from non-Jewish culture during the First Crusade in 1096 and the widespread persecution of Jews that followed (Wolf, 2020). Yiddish’s significance in Jewish society contributed to and enabled this isolation. Jews could isolate themselves culturally and economically because they spoke a dialect that was not understandable by non-Jews. The widespread Yiddish-speaking Jewish populations in Europe could reside in the same locations, trade goods with one another, and keep up extensive international networks because of their shared language. However, the newfound isolation also impacted the Yiddish’s evolution (Smith, 2019). Without outside influence or knowledge of the linguistic patterns of secular languages, Yiddish developed in its unique way, retaining many features of medieval German that were otherwise extinct.
Another significant innovation during this period was the rise of Yiddish theater. Drama groups sprang out over Russia and Poland, playing in major cities and remote Shtetls to enthusiastic reviews from audiences of all backgrounds. They played everything from well-known dramas in Yiddish to works with a particularly Jewish theme that could have only been written in Yiddish. The most obvious sign of Yiddish’s popularity at the time was the publication of works in the language (Hary & Benor, 2018). The Forward, a daily newspaper, and several academic publications covering governmental, religious, and socioeconomic themes were only two examples of Yiddish magazines. In addition to literature and theatre, journalism was the most successful in spreading the Yiddish language outside its native Eastern Europe. In New York, for instance, the Jewish community didn’t wait long after arriving to publish their own newspapers; some of them, including The Forward, is still in print today (Nove, 2018). Yiddish and the culture it created also provided the foundation for several significant Jewish political parties. As an example, the Bund, a Russian Jewish socialist party, advocated for the use of Yiddish rather than Russian or Hebrew as the official language of the state.
Cultural differences between the Pious of Ashkenaz, the Kabbalists, and the Hasidim are all linked to Yiddish. The first generation of Jews to speak Yiddish was the devout Ashkenazics. Ashkenaz is a phrase from the Middle Ages exclusive to Germany (Hary & Benor, 2018). The religious Ashkenazi is the descendants of Germans and French who settled in Poland. The Jews in the Slavic lands were exposed to German culture and language. Kabalists were active from the 16th through the 18th century. Kabbalah practice gained traction around the turn of the 17th century. Ashkenazi culture evolved as a result (Avineri, 2019). It was at this time that the kabbalah teachings began to spread.
Kabbalah profoundly impacted Yiddish literature. Integral to the religious culture, the Kabbalistic tradition flourished. Most obviously, this was reflected in how people worshipped. Historically, exorcism, charms, and other forms of magic were linked to Kabbalah (Avineri, 2019). Hasidism first appeared at the start of the 18th century. Polish and Lithuanian land was the first scene (Ukraine). During that time, Jews were influenced to adopt contemporary values and lifestyles. Several prominent figures in history have turned to Yiddish literature in an attempt to justify their positions.
Yiddish’s development relied heavily on the German language. The first settlers employed Laaz to emphasize certain words and phrases in German. Language changed because of this. Hebrew eventually took on the role of the written form of Yiddish as Jews attempted to express the language formally (Avineri, 2019). Yiddish owes a great deal to the Slavic languages, which were essential in its development as a separate language. Jewish people began settling in Eastern European countries, including Poland, Germany, and others.
Yiddish, as seems to reason, developed in the Mediterranean region of Europe. European Jews flocked to Germany, mostly from France and northern Italy. Yiddish expansion began in the South and went up to the North (Poland). Back then, Slavic words and phrases were common in Yiddish (Perelmutter, 2018). In Western Europe, however, the use of Yiddish began to dwindle. It was during the 1860s that Yiddish literature became significant. To revive Yiddish, Abramovitsh penned several works. Since he felt there wasn’t enough literature in Yiddish, he resorted to the rudimentary Hebrew he knew. Mendele Moykher Sforim served as a satirical look at contemporary Jewish culture (Perelmutter, 2018). Sholem Aleichem and Abramovitsh often met in Odessa (now in Ukraine) to discuss their shared interests and discuss their writing.
Furthermore, there was a renewed interest in the ancient Hebrew dialect, which was rediscovered because it was considered purer. Jews in Western Europe, eager to blend in, based their views on how the general public saw Yiddish. There was long-standing distrust of Yiddish because of the language’s incomprehensibility and the widespread anti-Jewish sentiment in Europe. It had become a symbol of Jewish “moral depravity” in the general public’s opinion. David Friedlaender, a maskil, wrote about this occurrence in a letter: “Given this frame of mind (the speaking of Yiddish), the brain and most likely the manners of the people were gradually contaminated.” (Caplan, 2018). Nevertheless, it was quite difficult for Jewish and other communities to change their language abruptly from Yiddish to the “pure” ancient Hebrew. In particular, most of the old Hebrew language had been lost in communities living in Europe, owing to the long history of separation from their relatives in Asia and mixture with other people (Caplan, 2018). Despite the distrust of the Yiddish, there were minimal efforts done to ensure that the people changed from Yiddish to the ancient Hebrew (Caplan, 2018). Consequently, Yiddish continued to proliferate and grow throughout Europe.
Conclusion
Contemporary historical factors were a major contributor to the demise of Yiddish in Western Europe. Haskalah was a movement that emerged in the late 18th century and gained momentum during the 19th century that advocated for secular education and integration into mainstream culture. German Jews responded by enrolling in secular educational institutions where German was the medium of instruction, entering professions where fluency in a secular language was necessary for effective communication with non-Jews, and generally disdaining Yiddish as the product of the backward, uncultured Jewish Shtetl. Several maskilim in the east were fascinated with the Russian language and that the Haskalah and its attendant distaste for Yiddish also existed there. In addition, the depth of eastern Yiddish culture meant that the dialect was more vital to eastern Jewish identity and had fewer critics than it did in the west.
Based on the gathered research, one learns that the Yiddish language has survived for a long time and in foreign lands because of its connectivity of the history and culture of the Jews in the diaspora. Considering what has been learnt from materials reviewed, one realizes that languages have a strong connection with the culture and history of a certain group of people, even when they are dispersed across various geographical locations. However, researchers have shared common perspectives that such a language always changes as a community integrates with others during their migration processes. The researchers agree that a language cannot remain ‘pure’ over the years as it is always subject to acquire new words and lose others with time.
References
Avineri, N. (2019). The heritage narratives of Yiddish metalinguistic community members: Processes of distancing and closeness. In E. Falconi, & K. Graber (Eds.), Storytelling as narrative practice: Ethnographic approaches to the tales we tell (pp. 90-135). Brill.
Caplan, D. (2018). Yiddish Empire: The Vilna Troupe, Jewish Theater, and the Art of Itinerancy. University of Michigan Press.
Hary, B. H., & Benor, S. B. (Eds.). (2018). Languages in Jewish communities, past and present. Walter De Gruyter Incorporated.
Nove, C. R. (2018). The erasure of Hasidic Yiddish from twentieth century Yiddish linguistics. Journal of Jewish Languages, 6(1), 111-143.
Perelmutter, R. (2018). Globalization, conflict discourse, and Jewish identity in an Israeli Russian-speaking online community. Journal of Pragmatics, 134, 134-148.
Shyovitz, D. (n.d.). Yiddish: History & development of Yiddish. Web.
Smith, M. L. (2019). The Yiddish historians and the struggle for Jewish history of the Holocaust. Wayne State University Press.
Wolf, F. (2020). Yiddish revolutionaries in migration: The transnational history of the jewish labour bund.