Klezmer-loshn (קלעזמער-לשון ''klezmer-loshn'',

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 ve ...

for ''Musician's Tongue'') is an extinct derivative of the Yiddish language. It was a kind of

argot A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argo ...

, or

cant Cant, CANT, canting, or canted may refer to: Language * Cant (language), a secret language * Beurla Reagaird, a language of the Scottish Highland Travellers * Scottish Cant, a language of the Scottish Lowland Travellers * Shelta or the Cant, a la ...

used by travelling

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

musicians, known as klezmorim (klezmers), in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

prior to the 20th century.Robert A. Rothstein
Argots
in The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe It combined Yiddish with loanwords from many other European languages. This borrowed vocabulary was often substituted for key Yiddish words using rhyme or some other form of association. Many of the words were not derived from either Yiddish or Slavic languages, but original coinages. As with other argots, such as thieves' languages, Klezmer-loshn evolved to fill the need of members of a bounded community to speak in the presence of others without being understood. Klezmorim could speak Klezmer-loshn during and after performances, whether among Gentiles or Yiddish-speaking

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, without being understood. This allowed them to discuss business, plan, and even mock others without getting into trouble. Its active use gradually dwindled in the 20th century, and disappeared along with the klezmer trade in Eastern Europe, especially after

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

obliterated much of the Jewish population there. The most detailed glossary of klezmer-loshn of over 600 words can be found in ''The Book of Klezmer: The History, The Music, The Folklore from the 14th Century to the 21st'' (A Capella Books, 2002, author

Yale Strom Yale Strom is an American violinist, composer, filmmaker, writer, photographer and playwright. Strom is a pioneer among klezmer (musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe) revivalists in conducting extensive field research in Cent ...

References

Occupational cryptolects Yiddish Extinct languages of Europe Klezmer {{Yiddish-stub

See also

References