Yiddish words used in the English language include both words that have been assimilated into English – used by both Yiddish and English speakers – and many that have not. An English sentence that uses either may be described by some as Yinglish,[1] though a secondary sense of the term describes the distinctive way certain Jews in English-speaking countries add many Yiddish words into their conversation, beyond general Yiddish words and phrases used by English speakers.

In this meaning, Yinglish is not the same as Yeshivish, which is spoken by many Orthodox Jews, though the two share many parallels.

Yinglish

Many of these words have not been assimilated into English and are unlikely to be understood by English speakers who do not have substantial Yiddish knowledge. Leo Rosten's book The Joys of Yiddish[2] explains these words (and many more) in detail.

Primarily Ashkenazi Orthodox Jews will use Yiddish, Hebrew, or Aramaic words while speaking a version of English. Many of these do not translate directly into English or have a different connotation: for example, a secular (English) "Book" but a holy (Hebrew) "Sefer"; or regular "lights" but a "Shabbos Leichter" (or "Lachter" depending on sub-group type). This will vary from 10% in "normal" speech to 90% in a lecture or Talmudic discussion. Sephardic Jews might do the same but do not normally understand Yiddish and would only use Hebrew or Aramaic terms.

As with Yiddish, Yinglish has no set transliteration standard; as the primary speakers of Yinglish are, by definition, Anglophones (whether first-language or not), Yinglish used in running speech tends to be transliterated using an English-based orthography. This, however, varies, sometimes in the same sentence. For instance, the word פֿאַרקאַקטע may be spelled farkakte, ferkockte, verkackte, among others. In its roots, though, Yiddish (whether used as English slang or not) is fundamentally mediaeval High German; although mediaeval German suffered from the same vagaries in spelling, it later became standardised in Modern High German. This list shall use the same conventions as Modern High German, with the exception of certain words, the spellings of which have been standardised. Furthermore, common nouns shall be left lowercase, as in English.

Yinglish words (also referred to colloquially as Hebronics) are neologisms created by speakers of Yiddish in English-speaking countries, sometimes to describe things that were uncommon in the old country. Leo Rosten's book The Joys of Yiddish[3] uses the words Yinglish and Ameridish to describe new words, or new meanings of existing Yiddish words, created by English-speaking persons with some knowledge of Yiddish. Rosten defines "Yinglish" as "Yiddish words that are used in colloquial English" (such as kibitzer)[4] and Ameridish as words coined by Jews in the United States;[5] his use, however, is sometimes inconsistent. According to his definition on page x, alrightnik is an Ameridish word; however, on page 12 it is identified as Yinglish.

While "Yinglish" is generally restricted in definition to the adaptation of Yiddish lemmas to English grammar by Jews, its usage is not explicitly restricted to Jews. This is especially true in areas where Jews are highly concentrated, but in constant interaction with their Gentile fellows, esp. in the larger urban areas of North America. In such circumstances, it would not be unusual to hear, for example, a Gentile griping about having "shlepped" a package across town.[6]

The portmanteau word Yinglish is first recorded in 1942.[7] Similar colloquial portmanteau words for Yiddish influenced English include: Yidlish (recorded from 1967), Yiddiglish (1980), and Yenglish (2000).[7] A number of other terms have been promulgated, such as Engdish and Engliddish, but these have not enjoyed widespread adoption.[8]

Yinglish was formerly assigned the ISO 639-3 code yib, but it was retired on July 18, 2007, on the grounds that it is entirely intelligible with English.[9][10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ ""Yinglish"". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Rosten, Leo; Bush, Lawrence (2001). The New Joys of Yiddish (2nd ed.). New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-609-60785-5. 0609607855.
  3. ↑ Rosten (1970)
  4. ↑ Rosten (1970), p. ix
  5. ↑ Rosten (1970), p. x
  6. ↑ "How Yiddish Shlepped to Conquer". The New York Times. February 23, 1997.
  7. 1 2 Lambert, James. 2018. A multitude of 'lishes': The nomenclature of hybridity. English World-wide, 39(1): 33. DOI: 10.1075/eww.38.3.04lam
  8. ↑ Lambert, James. 2018. A multitude of 'lishes': The nomenclature of hybridity. English World-wide, 39(1): 8. DOI: 10.1075/eww.38.3.04lam
  9. ↑ SIL International, Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: yib. Accessed 2009-08-04.
  10. ↑ ISO 639-3 Registration Authority, 2006-10-16, Request for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Accessed 2009-08-04.
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