Yiddish

Yiddish is a High German–derived language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It developed among Central European Jewish communities in the medieval period, drawing from Middle High German dialects and incorporating Hebrew and Aramaic, as well as Slavic elements. It is written mainly in the Hebrew script, and the term Yiddish identifies the language as Jewish in origin.

Eastern Yiddish and Western Yiddish emerged as regional varieties. Eastern Yiddish spread in Poland, Lithuania, Russia, and nearby areas, while Western Yiddish existed in Germany and adjacent regions. Large-scale migration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought Yiddish to the United States, Israel, and other countries, where literature, theater, and press flourished before the Holocaust, which drastically reduced speaker numbers.

Linguistically, Yiddish is Germanic in core grammar and phonology but heavily enriched by Hebrew and Aramaic loanwords and Slavic influence. It uses the Hebrew alphabet, with orthographic standards such as the YIVO system; regional dialects show variation in pronunciation, lexicon, and syntax.

Yiddish literature and culture flourished from the 19th through the mid-20th century, with writers such as Sholem Aleichem, Mendele Mocher Sforim, and Isaac Bashevis Singer; a parallel Yiddish theater and press network developed across Europe and North America. The language remains central to many Orthodox and Hasidic communities, and is studied in academia and in media ventures.

Today estimates of speakers vary, but Yiddish survives as a lived language in communities across Israel, the United States, and Europe, and as a subject of scholarly study, translation, and cultural production in contemporary media.