52
votes
Accepted
Days of the week in Yiddish -- why so similar to Germanic?
The short answer is that Yiddish is a Germanic language, just one with a significant Hebrew/Aramaic adstrate. Despite many Hebrew borrowings, the majority of Yiddish vocabulary is Germanic, and in ...
- 63.8k
27
votes
When did Hebrew start replacing Yiddish?
Did Hebrew replace Yiddish?
I would say the decline of Yiddish and the rise of Hebrew are separate.
Yiddish declined suddenly because of the Holocaust. It arguably would have declined anyway, but it ...
- 7,531
19
votes
Accepted
When did Hebrew start replacing Yiddish?
It's an even more complicated story than that! In fact, in the 19th C, there was a strong literary scene of modern novels in Hebrew among European Jews before there was a strong Yiddish literary scene....
- 2,364
9
votes
Days of the week in Yiddish -- why so similar to Germanic?
Is it possible that alternate words for days of the week exist or at one time were used?
No. The Jewish custom of using foreign names for parts of the calendar dates back far beyond the earliest ...
- 299
5
votes
Is Hebrew more efficient and more grammatically logical than English?
The short answer is no, all languages are about equally efficient. All natural languages are under a similar evolutionary pressure, to communicate information efficiently. Speakers need to convey ...
- 63.8k
4
votes
Fewest number of vowels in a Germanic language?
Tok Pisin and East African (Kenyan, Tanzanian) English both have the 5-vowel systems /i u e o a/, and no vowel length contrast, both features of Swahili.
- 81.9k
4
votes
Days of the week in Yiddish -- why so similar to Germanic?
According to Surface Languages, the Yiddish name for Wednesday is Mitvokh, which follows the German Mittwock: mid week. I think the early Christian missionaries were not comfortable with naming a day ...
- 41
4
votes
When did Hebrew start replacing Yiddish?
The answers above are excellent and on track.
What is not clearly discussed is that the rise of Hebrew, pre-1948 (e.g. in the decades prior to the establishment of the State of Israel) was actively ...
2
votes
Polish transliteration of בֵּית, בֵית, הֵא, פֵּא, פֵא, רֵישׁ
The best solution to your problem is probably using IPA.
- 4,440
2
votes
Transliteration/Transcription of מְלאוּפּם
That וּ niqqud is called "Melopum" (מלאפום) in Ashkenazi tradition.
In A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, 1987, by Ernest Klein, the word ...
- 17.7k
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