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Draft:Jewish American English

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  • Comment: It looks like the term "Jewish American English" is mostly used by https://www.jewishlanguages.org/jewish-english, so I'll consider it the primary source and perhaps not a reliable one. It's not a standard terminology or accepted ethnolect. Yiddish/Hebrew loan words subject is covered by List of English words of Yiddish origin. Other sources, like New York City English, are about New York English, and that's more broad than "Jewish English". Artem.G (talk) 19:36, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

Jewish American English
RegionNew York City, Los Angeles, and elsewhere
EthnicityAmerican Jews and Canadian Jews
Language codes
ISO 639-3
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Jewish American English, American Jewish Accent, or simply Jewish English is an ethnolect of American English spoken by American Jews and Canadian Jews (especially among North American Ashkenazi Jews). It is closely related to New York English, but is charactarized by a large number of loanwords from Yiddish, Hebrew, and occasionally Judeo-Spanish or Arabic.

Source Languages

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English

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As many Jews arriving in the United States either passed through or directly settled in New York City, Jewish American English has been heavily influenced by New York City English. Even as many Jews left New York City, their speech preserved many New York characteristics, such as high, gliding /ɔ/ vowel (in words like talk and caught); a split of the "short a" vowel into two separate sounds; variable dropping of r sounds; and a lack of the cot–caught, Mary–marry–merry, and hurry–furry mergers heard in many other American accents.[1]

Yiddish

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The majority of American Jews are the descendants of Yiddish-speaking immigrants, and thus a large amount of Yiddish has entered the Jewish American lexicon. In some cases words, such as klutz or schpiel, have become widespread among non-Jewish speakers. Others, such as naches, are still mostly used by Jewish speakers. The Yiddish word shmooze has a widely used definition by Jews ('to chat') and a definition more used by non-Jews ('to kiss up to').[2]

Hebrew

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Hebrew words and phrases are commonly used in reference to religious or cultural ideas. Many of these are borrowed through Yiddish, thus using the Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation.

Others

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Selected Words and phrases

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Selected Words and phrases
Word Source Language Source Word Meaning Notes
mench Yiddish מענטש gentleman
yalla Modern Hebrew יאללה let's go!, c'mon (interjection) borrowed from Arabic
chas v'shalom Hebrew חס ושלום god forbid!
macher Yiddish מאַכער an influential person
shlep Yiddish שלעפּן to haul, drag used to imply tediousness
naches Yiddish נחת contentment with another's achievements ultimately from Hebrew נחת ("comfort")
behatzlacha Hebrew בהצלחה A wish for good luck
klutz Yiddish קלאָץ a clumsy person common in non-Jewish American English
shpiel Yiddish שפּיל a lengthy speech, argument used to emphasize tediousness
kvetch Yiddish קוועטשן to whine, complain
schmutz Yiddish שמוץ dirt
nu? Yiddish נו so?, well?
l'chaim! Hebrew לחיים lit. to life!, a toast
yafe Hebrew יפה lit. beautiful, wow!, great!
balagan Hebrew בלגן disaster, mess Ultimately from Persian via Russian and Polish
baruch HaShem Hebrew ברוך השם lit. blessed be the name, thank god a common response to "how are you", or related phrases
mazal tov! Hebrew מזל טוב good job, congratulations
bavajadas Ladino באב׳אז׳אדאס nonsense
yasher koach Hebrew יישר כוחך good job often shortened to shkoyach
bivas, krekas, engrandekas, komo un peshkado en aguas freskas! Ladino ב׳יבאס קריקאס אינגראנדאקאס קומו ואן פישקאדו אין אגואס פ׳ריסקאס lit. live, grow, enlargen, like a fish in fresh water!, an elongated way to say 'bless you' can be shortened to 'bivas, krekas, engrandekas'

Phonetics

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Jewish American shares many of its phonologic features with New York English.

William Labov found that Jewish American New Yorkers were more likely than other groups to use the closest variants of /ɔ/ (meaning towards [ʊə]) and perhaps fully released final stops (for example, pronunciation of sent as [sɛnt] rather than the more General American [sɛnt̚] or [sɛnʔ]).[3]

There is also general replacement of /ŋ/ with /ŋɡ/ such as /lɔəŋɡ ˈɑɪlənd/ ('Long Island').[4]

There is general reduction of /hj/ to /j/: many speakers (especially those in New York) typically do not allow /h/ to precede /j/; this gives pronunciations like yuman /ˈjumən/ and yooge /judʒ/ for human and huge.[5][6] Bernie Sanders is a notable user of that reduction.

Grammar

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Certain Yiddish grammatical contact features, such as topicalizations of direct objects (e.g., constructions such as Esther, she saw! or A dozen knishes, you bought! as well as Enough, already!). There are loan grammar uses from Yiddish: I'm eating by her; He doesn't know from that; I want that you should see this)[7][4][8]

Shm-reduplication is a form of reduplication originating in Yiddish, that has been inherited into Jewish American. The construction is generally used to indicate irony, sarcasm, derision, skepticism, or lack of interest with respect to comments about the discussed object.

Jewish American English speakers are also more likely to speak in a collaborative manner. Interruptions, either to add information, ask a question, or to comment on what was said, are common. Many grammar constructions account for this, postponing the most important part of a sentence for the end, in (conscious or unconscious) anticipation of the conversation partner collaborating.[9]

An example of a collaborative conversation:

Speaker A: Do you remember that book that I bought Chaim,

Speaker B: The Mitch Albom?

Speaker A: Punkt. I was with Abe,

Speaker B: For Sukkos?

Speaker A: No, no, just for Shabbos. And he had the gufa copy!

Speaker B: Where was it from?

Speaker A: Just sitting on the blech, he says it's from...

Speaker B: From Chaim? What a tipesh.

Intonation

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Rachel Burdin has found that many speakers of Jewish American, especially those with exposure to Yiddish were more likely to use a rise fall contour (L+H* L-L%), fewer H-L% boundary tones and H* pitch accents, and more rising pitch accents (L+H* and L*+H).[10]

Orthography

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English Jewish American English utilizes the American English Orthography, and renders Hebrew and Yiddish words variably, mostly utilizing the Common Israeli method of romanization with some allowances towards Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation.

Heth and Kaph (with dagesh) (usually pronounced as /χ/) will either be rendered as 'ch' or 'kh'. Rarely, 'ḥ' will be used. In some communities that retain Sephardic Hebrew, a distinction is made between 'kh' and 'ḥ', representing /χ/ and /ħ/ respectively.

Tzadi (/t͡s/) is either rendered as 'tz' or 'ts'.

Occasionally, Hebrew orthography will be used to render Hebrew and Yiddish words, while English words are rendered in Latin orthography.

Rarely, Hebrew orthography for English words is used.

English Orthography English and Hebrew Orthography Translation
She came in, and she was a schmoozer, and she was telling me about buying all these farkakteh things! She came in, and she was a שמועסר, and she was telling me about buying all these פארקאקט things! She came in, she was very chatty, and was telling me about buying all these useless items.
There were a lot of siddurim, but I found a Chumash, with, obviously the Hebrew text, then there was Rashi, then there was a tafsir in, not Arabic, but Parsit! (excerpt from Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller) There were a lot of סידורים, but I found a חומש, with, obviously the Hebrew text, then there was רש״י‎, then there was a תפסיר in, not Arabic, but פרסית! There were a lot of prayerbooks, but I found a copy of the Hebrew Bible, with, obviously the Hebrew text, then there was Rashi's commentary, then there was commentary which wasn't written in Arabic, but in Judeo-Persian!

Classification

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As with many Jewish languages, there is little consensus on what Jewish American English should be classified as. It can be seen as an ethnolect or accent of English, although in earlier generations, it could also be characterized closer to a mixed language.

Many speakers of Jewish American code-switch. A form of the variety much closer to Yeshiva English might be used within Jewish community spaces such as synagogues or among family and friends (especially Jewish ones), while a more subdued form could be utilized in public spaces such as school or work.

Sarah Bunin Benor has argued that Jewish English is currently developing into its own Jewish language.[11] This is not universally agreed upon, as some argue that Jews in the present-day United States are not as isolated and segregated as Jews in the Holy Roman Empire or Christian Spain, which led to the creation of the two most distinct and long-lasting Jewish Languages: Yiddish and Ladino.

Gesticulation

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American Jews, much like Italians, utilize their hands for communication. Common hand signs include:

  • 'Nu' or 'therefore' - the hand, clenched into a fist with only the thumb postrated (thumbs up), is dipped down, then hooked in a circular motion until upright. This is commonly used to support a line of reasoning.
  • 'Ani' or 'myself' - both hands have fingers spread, and palms facing towards the speaker, the hands are tapped against the chest a few times.
  • 'Ma?' - Both hands are open palmed and then shaken up and down. It is very similar to Che vuoi?, and also means "what?".
  • 'But' - A hand, with fingers spread, is motioned downwards. This is used to emphasize 'but', 'however', or 'yet'.
  • 'Placing' - While introducing multiple subjects, such as giving a list, or contrasting two ideas, the speaker will "place" these items in the air.
  • Stress motioning - the hands are used in conjunction with speech to emphasize certain words and phrases through the articulation of the fingers, and movement of the arm and hand.

Use in Media

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Jewish American English is common in media. It is used commonly in comedic senses, especially when utlizing Jewish stereotypes such as the Jewish mother, Jewish-American princess, or nice Jewish boy. Examples of these include:

Mel Brooks, Larry David, and Jerry Seinfeld are notable for their use a natural or enhanced version of Jewish American English.

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Jewish English page on jewishlanguages.org

Jewish English lexicon from jewishlanguages.org

References

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  1. ^ Labov, William (2006) [1966]. The Social Stratification of English in New York City (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 18. ISBN 0-521-82122-3.
  2. ^ Benor, Sarah Bunin. “Mensch, bentsh, and balagan: Variation in the American Jewish linguistic repertoire.” Language & Communication 31 (2011): 141-154.
  3. ^ Labov, William (1973) Sociolinguistic Patterns U. of Pennsylvania Press ISBN 0-8122-1052-2
  4. ^ a b Newman, Michael (2014). "Chapter 3." New York City English. Berlin/NY: Mouton DeGruyter. p. 86-87.
  5. ^ Gordon (2004), pp. 288–289
  6. ^ Newman, Michael (2014). "Chapter 3." New York City English. Berlin/NY: Mouton DeGruyter. p. 85.
  7. ^ Bunin Benor, Sarah. "Jewish English". Jewish Languages. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  8. ^ Gordon (2004), pp. 289
  9. ^ Bunin Benor, Sarah. "Jewish English". Jewish Languages. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  10. ^ Burdin, Rachel (20 May 2014). "Variation in list intonation in American Jewish English". Speech Prosody.
  11. ^ Bunin Benor, Sarah (25 April 2018). "Yiddish, Ladino and Jewish English (subtitled), Sarah Benor, JDOV Talk". YouTube.