(Jewish Group) 5 Jewish Languages You Didn't Know Existed

[Behind the Aegis]

I have to say this is not the BEST title. A better one is actually the first line of the video: "Do Jews speak Jewish?"

[Mosby]

1. Rambam wrote a lot in judeo-arabic

Some of them were basically transliteration, using hebrew letters to sound out Arabic words. Because the Jews were multi lingual, they could read the texts, but the local Arabs couldn't, because they didn't know hebrew. That allowed Rambam and others to write more freely without worrying about the authorities.

[The Blue Flower]

2. The word 'yiddish' has always bothered me

It's the answer to the question: what language do the yids speak? Borders on offensive IMO.

[Behind the Aegis]

3. Well, Yiddish literally means "Jewish".

"Yid" is a slur. It is of the group of slurs that are called diminutives. Two examples off the top of my head are "nip", a slur against Japanese persons derived for one of the names of Japan in Japanese, "Nippon" and "gyp" a shortening of, now itself an offensive term, Gypsy. So, yeah, never call a Jew a "Yid" as it is a slur. Of course, I had it out years ago with a poster here who claimed because they used that term growing up in England, it wasn't "really" a slur.

I can't tell you how to feel, but, personally, I am not bothered by it. There were a few people here who felt "Jew" was a slur, too.

[Beastly Boy]

6. An interesting thing is happening to the tern "Yid" in some Jewish communities, especially in the US

The word is being re-appropriated as having a positive connotation. I often hear one Jew talking to another and using the word "Yid" as a term of endearment. As in, for instance, "Is he a Yid?", meaning "Is he one of us?"

[Behind the Aegis]

7. Yes, that is happening in English speaking places now.

It is a bit jarring at first, especially if you don't know the person is a member of the tribe. However, it is actually a common greeting in Yiddish. LOL! That, I found really funny and didn't know until I read, "Yiddish: A Nation of Words" by Miriam Weinstein. I highly recommend it if you are into languages...if not, well,. you might get bored real quick. Another one is "Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods" by Michael Wex, but, IMO, it isn't as good as the first book, but it isn't a bad read and is more colloquial than the first book.

[Beastly Boy]

4. My favorite trick question on linguistics: What are the six Romance languages?

Most people can easily name five: Romanian, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Very few are aware of Ladino also being a Romance language.

[Behind the Aegis]

5. There are WAY more than six.

The top 5 and their originator, Latin, are usually listed, though Latin isn't always classified as such. I learned, 'I Love Fried Spanish Rice." for "Italian, Latin, French, Spanish, and Romanian, all of which I can speak to varying degrees, except Latin! Catalan is the one I often think of, outside of Ladino, because of my ties to the Spanish language.

ETA: A few of the Romance languages derived from the main 5, but a few others are direct descendants from Latin and were influenced by the surrounding dominant language.

[Beastly Boy]

8. Another interesting piece of trivia: the newest Romance language is Moldovan.

It was promoted from a dialect to a language by government decree in 1991, when Moldova became an independent state.

BTW, Catalan totally escaped my attention. Thanks for the reminder.

[sabbat hunter]

9. Most of the stuff

on that YT channel is pretty good.