Jewish English is a cover term for varieties of the
English language spoken by
Jews. They may include significant amounts of
vocabulary and
syntax
In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...
taken from
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
, and both
classical and
modern Hebrew. These varieties can be classified into several types:
Yeshivish,
Yinglish, and
Heblish
Jewish English is a cover term for varieties of the English language spoken by Jews. They may include significant amounts of vocabulary and syntax taken from Yiddish, and both classical and modern Hebrew. These varieties can be classified into ...
, as well as more flexible mixtures of English and other
Jewish languages
Jewish languages are the various Language, languages and Dialect, dialects that developed in Jewish communities in the Jewish diaspora, diaspora. The original Jewish language is Hebrew, supplanted as the primary vernacular by Aramaic following th ...
, which may contain features and other elements from languages other than Yiddish and Hebrew.
The classification "Jewish English" eliminates the need for concern with identifying the specific origin of the non-English components of any such variant. This offsets, for example, misperceptions that can result from failure to note the Hebrew origin of a word that may have become widely known in
Anglophone contexts via Yiddish, and may be, therefore, simply regarded as Yiddish. (This problem is illustrated in the
list of English words of Yiddish origin.)
Variants
Several terms for hybrid Jewish English are being used or have been suggested, such as Englibrew and Yeshivish (hybrid English used in ''yeshivas'', Jewish religious schools).
A set of terms refer to hybrids or mixtures of English and Yiddish rather than with Hebrew, and code-switching may be for representation of religious or cultural affiliation in speech, rather than language transfer reasons.
In the US these include: Yinglish, Yidgin English, Yidlish, Yiddiglish, Ameridish, Anglish, Heblish, Engdish, Engliddish, Engbrew, Englibrew, Jewish English, Jewish Dialect, Frumspeak, Yeshivish, Hebonics, Judeo-English.
[
]
Heblish
Heblish or Hebrish, less frequently Hebglish or Engbrew,[Lambert, James. 2018. A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity. ''English World-Wide'', 39(1): 25. ]
See also
*Hebraization of English
The Hebraization of English (or Hebraicization) is the use of the Hebrew alphabet to write English. Because Hebrew uses an abjad, it can render English words in multiple ways. There are many uses for hebraization, which serve as a useful tool for ...
(or Hebraicization), the use of the Hebrew alphabet to write English
* Yiddish words used in English
* List of English words of Yiddish origin
References
Further reading
*Gold, David L. 1986. "An Introduction to Jewish English." Jewish Language Review. Vol. 6. pp. 94–120 dditions and corrections in vol. 7, 1987, p. 622, and Jewish Linguistic Studies, vol. 2, 1990, pp. 525–527
*Gold, David L. 1985. "Names for Jewish English and Some of Its Varieties." American Speech: A Quarterly of Linguistic Usage. Vol. 60. No. 2. Summer. pp. 185–187.
External links
Jewish Language Research WebsiteMuseum of the Jewish People
Code-switching
Hebrew language
Macaronic forms of English
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