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I was wondering if anyone knows where a majority of the German Jews came from in
Germany. Is there one particular area, or throughout the country? My guess would
be that they came from Southern Germany because the Yiddish language is very close
to the dialects in the Palatine and Rheinland area.
Any help would be appreciated.
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At the turn of the 9th Century, the Jews of Southern France and Italy migrated to
the Rhineland, at the invitation of Charlemagne to encourage economic growth in that
region. Several centuries later, Jews from Northern France and Northern Italy migrated
to towns along the middle and upper Rhine Valley in present day Lorraine. This mix
of Romance, Aramaic, and Germanic languages was the origin of Yiddish.
As you're aware, the Jews in Europe have a long history of being persecuted wherever
they settled; this spurred mass migrations to many other parts of Europe, where the
Yiddish language absorbed many words from other German dialects as well as Slavic-Eastern
European languages.
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Julian, thanks. Bischt du en Yid? Ich bin net en Yid awwer ich mag die yidde Kultur.
I just got a book today about the Yiddish language and the people who speak the language,
the history of the language, etc... It is called, "Yiddish: A Nation of Words."
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some yiddish songs are really cool
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Agreed Wassabi - kletzmer is so great.. there's this English group "Oy Va Voy" (oh
God) you have to hear them, they're incredible.
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There are many Jews from Europe in America and South Africa who don't speak Yiddish.
Have you heard of Ladino? That was the language spoken by Jews in Southern Europe
(Sephardi Jews) and I think it's a mixture of Hebrew and Spanish.
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Yeah, I have heard of Ladino before. It is spoken by a small amount of people in
Israel even.
Unfortunately for the languages spoken by the Hews, Hebrew has become the uniting
language, leaving other languages like Ladino and Yiddish to fall by the waste-side.
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I know jews in France whose grandparents and parents spoke Ladino but the third generation
is not able to speak it. My spanish teacher who traveled to Isreal a couple of years
ago told me that she met some people speaking Ladino but she didn't get much of it.
In fact, Ladion is old Spanish not comprehensive for the Spanish speakers.
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Yeah, Ladino retains features that evolved out of Castilian Spanish of today. I think
the "z" sound in modern Castilian is represented by a "sh" sound in Ladino.
Yiddish is spoken by the Ashkenazi Jews.
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You're welcome, Clark. My maternal grandmother is the classic East Coast Jew who
would often use Yiddish words and phrases for effect. Many of the Yiddish proverbs
she quotes are ridiculously funny. Unfortunately, the population of fluent Yiddish
speakers is dwindling and there's not a whole lot of interest among younger Jews
to learn the language, opting instead to learn Hebrew as the language of their culture.
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Why do you say "you're welcome" ?
Anyways, I have not really been readin that book I mentioned about because of performances
this weekend with my bagpipe band. But I am going to get in a chapter tonight at
least.
I printed out the Yiddish alphabet, and I hope to be able to learn it quickly so
I can read Yiddish in its proper script and not a transliterated one.
I noticed an interesting similarity and difference between two very religious groups;
The Amish are very orthodox in their teachings and ways of life (religious Christians
who use 18th and 19th century technology). They still speak their Middle German dialect.
The Ashkenzai Jews are orthodox. Like the language of the Amish, Yiddish is a Middle
German dialect, and fewer and fewer people are speaking/learning the language.
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>>Why do you say "you're welcome" ?
Because you said "Julian, thanks" in one of your previous posts.
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Ah, ich verschteh dich nau.
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