Is Yiddish still a spoken language?
By cher913
@cher913 (25782)
Canada
February 23, 2007 10:43am CST
I have been reading some books about NYC at the turn of the century and have read about Russian jews that came to America to escape the pograms in Russia...many of them spoke Yiddish...
I am wondering if Yiddish is still around or has it died out?
1 person likes this
2 responses
@justreal (2364)
• Canada
23 Feb 07
some of the most common Hebrew letters are rarely used in Yiddish, being used only if the Yiddish word comes from Hebrew. These rarely-used letters all have the same sound as another Hebrew letter, and reducing their use simplifies spelling when bringing words in from languages that weren't originally written using these letters. Some Yiddish language newspapers exist to this day.
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
23 Feb 07
Thanks for your response! I am both a history fanatic and a writer and this is something that i have always wondered...i love some of the yiddish words that i have come across and would really like to look into it further, just for interests sake...where are these papers located...any ideas?
---just curious!
@nicolec (2671)
• United States
23 Feb 07
Yes, it is still spoken today. Especially among the 'older' generations. And those still in europe.
My grandparents used to speak yiddish around me a lot. I always got so mad because i finally figured out they were speaking yiddish because they didnt' want me to know what they were saying. Or they were talking about me.
I know very little and now as an adult, it saddens me that I didn't take the time to learn the language.
