Draft:Jewish American English

Jewish American English
Region	New York City, Los Angeles, and elsewhere
Ethnicity	American Jews and Canadian Jews
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Ingvaeonic Anglo-Frisian English American English Jewish American English
Writing system	Latin (English alphabet) mixed with the Hebrew Alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

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

English

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.

Yiddish

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 klutzcode: yid promoted to code: yi or schpielcode: yid promoted to code: yi , have become widespread among non-Jewish speakers. Others, such as nachescode: yid promoted to code: yi , are still mostly used by Jewish speakers. The Yiddish word shmoozecode: yid promoted to code: yi has a widely used definition by Jews ('to chat') and a definition more used by non-Jews ('to kiss up to').

Hebrew

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.

Selected Words and phrases

Selected Words and phrases

Word	Source Language	Source Word	Meaning	Notes
mench	Yiddish	מענטשcode: yid promoted to code: yi	gentleman
yalla	Modern Hebrew	יאללהcode: heb promoted to code: he	let's go!, c'mon (interjection)	borrowed from Arabic
chas v'shalom	Hebrew	חס ושלוםcode: heb promoted to code: he	god forbid!
macher	Yiddish	מאַכערcode: yid promoted to code: yi	an influential person
shlep	Yiddish	שלעפּןcode: yid promoted to code: yi	to haul, drag	used to imply tediousness
naches	Yiddish	נחתcode: yid promoted to code: yi	contentment with another's achievements	ultimately from Hebrew נחתcode: heb promoted to code: he ("comfort")
behatzlacha	Hebrew	בהצלחהcode: heb promoted to code: he	A wish for good luck
klutz	Yiddish	קלאָץcode: yid promoted to code: yi	a clumsy person	common in non-Jewish American English
shpiel	Yiddish	שפּילcode: yid promoted to code: yi	a lengthy speech, argument	used to emphasize tediousness
kvetch	Yiddish	קוועטשןcode: yid promoted to code: yi	to whine, complain
schmutz	Yiddish	שמוץcode: yid promoted to code: yi	dirt
nu?	Yiddish	נוcode: yid promoted to code: yi	so?, well?
l'chaim!	Hebrew	לחייםcode: heb promoted to code: he	lit. to life!, a toast
yafe	Hebrew	יפהcode: yid promoted to code: yi	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

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]).

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

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. Bernie Sanders is a notable user of that reduction.

Grammar

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)

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.

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

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).

Orthography

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

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. 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

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

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:

• Molly Goldberg from The Goldbergs
• Ida Morgenstern from The Mary Tyler Moore Show
• Mrs. Wolowitz from The Big Bang Theory
• Sheila Broflovski from South Park

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

External Links

Jewish English page on jewishlanguages.org

Jewish English lexicon from jewishlanguages.org