Yiddish - ײדיש

[Timpul]

Does anyone is interested in this beautiful language? I've just recently started to learn it from one of the Polish handbooks and this language seems to be really nice and easy, especially for those who know a bit of German. The only barrier is the alphabet, but I have no problem - it took my about 3-4 days to learn it perfectly, cause it's almost totally regular.

Does anyone here know some Yiddish?

[Lazar Taxon]

I'm quite fond of Yiddish, and I have some learning materials. I'm mainly focusing on other languages right now, but I'd like to pursue Yiddish too.

In fact my paternal grandparents spoke Yiddish (although sadly I never met them), and there's a fair bit of Yiddish vocabulary used in my household.

[Quevenois]

I'm interested in Yiddish too.

[eskandar]

.

[Alejo]

I wish.

But my maternal grandmother sometimes uses Ladino words. Its another Judaic Language, being a mix of Spanish and Hebrew. Its very pretty.

[zhiguli]

this language seems to be really nice and easy, especially for those who know a bit of German.

And Polish or another Slavic language, because about 10% + of the words are borrowed (depending on the dialect) from Polish/Ukrainian/Russian etc. If you know Hebrew this gives you another 5-10%, and if you know all three (German+Polish+Hebrew) then you will have no problems at all (with comprehension at least).

The only barrier is the alphabet, but I have no problem - it took my about 3-4 days to learn it perfectly, cause it's almost totally regular.

Except for the Hebrew words, that have their own reading rules.

My father is a native speaker of Yiddish and has a huge collection of Yiddish books in his attic that I've always wanted to read. While it would be a good idea to learn German first (since Yiddish is practically a dialect of it) I'll certainly follow along to any lessons posted here.
I just wonder - are there any textbooks that teach dialects? All the books I have seen teach standard language, which is fine except for the fact that most natives do not speak it. They also use YIVO spelling, which most natives do not write in.

[Babelfish]

I'm currently busy with some other languages, but Yiddish is probably next on my list My mother and her brother and sister still know a bit of it and can exchange jokes in Yiddish, I can read it I think (Hebrew alphabet with modified reading rules) but I don't know anything... Something of a tradition to keep.

[sa wulfs]

Yiddish is in my list of languages I'd like to learn. I already know the Hebrew alphabet so I'd only need some readjustment, but first I need to improve my German.

[nighean-neonach]

Some of my mother's elder relatives spoke Yiddish, but in my mother's direct family they made a strong effort not to be too Jewish (they had managed to get through somehow, during the Nazi regime, and had gotten so used to avoiding and denying, so they just continued avoiding and denying even after the war...) Anyway, I've always been interested in the language, and I remember sitting in the kitchen and listening to some of my mother's great-aunts chatting away in their funny Eastern European dialect But I admit I'm too lazy to learn the Hebrew script, although I still might, some day...

[Timpul]

I'll translate some fragments of my book for you if I have time

[Almar]

When I've learned German, I'm definitely learning Yiddish.

[Mulder-21]

I'll take a look too.

I've studied German for a long time (though I don't speak it as well as I could due to not having used it for such a long time), I've taken a few classes in (Modern Israeli) Hebrew and I'm well on my way of learning Slovak. So I hope this background'll help.

[zhiguli]

Just a little bit about the Hebrew reading rules (from Sandler's "Yiddish for Russian Speakers", which is an excellent, excellent book)

Dagesh-less ת is pronounced s

חלומות chaloymes

The vowels that are *not* pronounced like in Modern Hebrew are the following:

אָ = o
רָבֿ rov
אֹ = oy
מׁשה moyshe
אֵ = ei
חֵדר cheyder
אֲ = ay
טֲענה = tayne

The final e is a short kind of schwa sound. Vowels in non-stressed syllables also have a tendency to get reduced to "ə".

More examples (note the stress - in Yiddish most Hebrew words are "mil'el"):

סיבה síbe
סביבה svíve
צָרה tzóre
צֻורה tzúre
אגָדה agóde
סחוֹרה schóyre
עֵצה éytze
נֹח nóyech
אוֹרחַ óyrech
מזרָח mízrech
פֵסַח péysech

Naturally, some of these are pronounced differently in different dialects (for example אֹ oy>ey, which is typical of Litvish, or אָ o>u and אֻ u>i, which are typical of Polish Yiddish)

Links:

http://www.jiddischkurs.org/
http://www.languages-study.com/lebedikyiddish.html
http://www.yevrey.com/forum/viewforum.p ... 368816c794
http://www.yiddishculture.org/basiclesson/index.html
http://mysite.verizon.net/jialpert/Yidd ... shPage.htm
http://www.yiddishdictionaryonline.com/
http://yiddish.haifa.ac.il/
http://www.tapuz.co.il/tapuzforum/main/ ... asp?id=516

[Quevenois]

How do you form the conditional mood in Yiddish?

A groysn dank !

[Kuba]

Conditional mood is usually built in the

PRESENT
a) with the auxiliary װאָלט (volt, remnant of the out-of-use Imperfect) + perfect participle:
איך װאָלט געקױפט (ikh volt gekoyft)
דו װאָלטסט געקױפט (du voltst gekoyft)
ער, זי, עס װאָלט געקױפט (er, zi, es volt gekoyft)
מיר װאָלטן געקױפט (mir voltn gekoyft)
איר װאָלט געקױפט (ir volt gekoyft)
זײ װאָלטן געקױפט (zey voltn gekoyft)
b) whith the auxiliary זאָלן + infinitive:
איך זאָל קױפן (ikh zol koyfn)
דו זאָלסט קױפן (du zolst koyfn)
ער, זי, עס זאָל קױפן (er, zi, es zol koyfn)
מיר זאָלן קױפן (mir zoln koyfn)
איר זאָלט קױפן (ir zolt koyfn)
זײ זאָלן קױפן (zey zoln koyfn)
PERFECT
a) with the conditional of זײַן + perfect participle:
איך װאָלט געװען געקױפט (ikh volt geven gekoyft)
דו װאָלטסט געװען געקױפט (du voltst geven gekoyft)
ער, זי, עס װאָלט געװען געקױפט (er, zi, es volt geven gekoyft)
מיר װאָלטן געװען געקױפט (mir voltn geven gekoyft)
איר װאָלט געװען געקױפט (ir volt geven gekoyft)
זײ װאָלטן געװען געקױפט (zey voltn geven gekoyft)
b) with זאָלן געװען + infinitive:
איך זאָל געװען קױפן (ikh zol geven koyfn)
דו זאָלסט געװען קױפן (du zolst geven koyfn)
ער, זי, עס זאָל געװען קױפן (er, zi, es zol geven koyfn)
מיר זאָלן געװען קױפן (mir zoln geven koyfn)
איר זאָלט געװען קױפן (if zolt geven koyfn)
זײ זאָלן געװען קױפן (zey zoln geven koyfn)

So your sentence "If I were rich, I would buy a new house" would probably sound [r]"אַז איך װאָלט געװען רײַך, װאָלט איך געקױפט אַ נײַ הױז."[/r]
I'm not a native speaker, though, so better check it...

[0stsee]

Does anyone is interested in this beautiful language? I've just recently started to learn it from one of the Polish handbooks and this language seems to be really nice and easy, especially for those who know a bit of German. The only barrier is the alphabet, but I have no problem - it took my about 3-4 days to learn it perfectly, cause it's almost totally regular.

Does anyone here know some Yiddish?

Ähmm, sorry for being a bit blunt, but AFAIK, Yiddish is a dying language. Most of the descendants of Yiddish speakers grow up speaking another language, which mean they may have a passive knowledge of Yiddish, yet they don't use it actively. Previous posts showed this.
In that case, whom are you going to practice it with actively?
Unless you are trying to have only a passive knowledge of the language. That would be a different story.


Greetz

[zhiguli]

Ähmm, sorry for being a bit blunt, but AFAIK, Yiddish is a dying language.

Well now that's just a bit extreme.
While it's true that it's dying as a vehicle of *secular* culture (though I have met native speakers under the age of 20 from Russia where some people do speak it) it's still very much a living language in Orthodox communities.

The first Orthodox Jewish feature film performed entirely in Yiddish, "A Gesheft":

http://www.agesheft.com/

[Babelfish]

Yes, there are Jewish orthodox communities which still speak Yiddish rather than Hebrew (for example).
Besides, ppl also study Latin and Ancient Greek and other long-dead languages, so there should be no problem with Yiddish....

[Ennys]

cool language, I had never heard about it!

If it is pronounced a bit like it is written (in european transcription - I read no hebrew) it is a very easy language to understand. I understood the examples given on the first page word for word.

Are there any audio files in Yiddish? I am anxious to know how it sounds!

x
Ennys

[Nukalurk]

http://www.daysofmoshiach.com/html/eng2.htm Here you can watch parts of the Old Testament as film in Yiddish.