Der sabesdiker-losn (Yiddish: דער סאַבעסדיקער לשון (לאָסן)) is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

al feature characteristic of the Northeastern dialect of the

Yiddish language 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 ...

( NEY, ''

Litvish ''Misnagdim'' (, "Opponents"; Sephardi pronunciation: ''Mitnagdim''; singular ''misnaged''/''mitnaged'') was a religious movement among the Jews of Eastern Europe which resisted the rise of Hasidism in the 18th and 19th centuries. The ''Misna ...

er-vaysrusisher dialekt'', צפֿון ייִדיש ''Tsofn-yidish''), which is the replacement, or merger of the "hushing" (post-alveolar)

consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wi ...

s "ch", "sh" ( IPA: /tʃ/, /ʃ/), with the "hissing" (alveolar) ones, "ts", "s" (IPA: /ts/, /s/). The name of the term is a

shibboleth A shibboleth (; hbo, , šībbōleṯ) is any custom or tradition, usually a choice of phrasing or even a single word, that distinguishes one group of people from another. Shibboleths have been used throughout history in many societies as passwo ...

: the phrase ''"דאָס שבתֿדיקע לשון" "dos shabesdike loshn"'' (in standard Yiddish) means " Sabbath speech", hinting at the perception that this feature is substandard. "History of the Yiddish Language", by

Max Weinreich Max Weinreich ( yi, מאַקס ווײַנרײַך ''Maks Vaynraych''; russian: Мейер Лазаревич Вайнрайх, ''Meyer Lazarevich Vaynraykh''; 22 April 1894, Goldingen, Russian Empire – 29 January 1969, New York City) was a Russ ...

br>p. 534
/ref> In addition to the shibboleth, the use of the masculine article ''der'' indicates NEY's tendency to use either the masculine or the feminine gender for nouns where Standard Yiddish uses the neuter. It is similar to the dialectical feature of

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

called ''

mazurzenie Mazurzenie () or mazuration is the replacement or merger of Polish's series of postalveolar fricatives and affricates ( written ) into the dentialveolar series (written ). This merger is present in many dialects, but is named for the Masovian ...

,'' and there has been a hypothesis on the influence of ''mazurzenie'' on the development of ''sabesdiker losn''.

References

Yiddish Phonology {{Phonology-stub