An Overview of the Language History of the Hungarian Jewish Community in the Carpathian Basin and Diaspora with a Special Emphasis on Yiddish
This paper presents a brief language history of the Hungarian Jewish community since their establishment in the Carpathian Basin to the present, with a special focus on Yiddish. Between the Middle Ages and the nineteenth century, Yiddish became the group’s majority language; after the 1850s, the Hun...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University Library System, University of Pittsburgh
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Hungarian Cultural Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ahea.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/ahea/article/view/395 |
| _version_ | 1819008266836901888 |
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| author | Siarl Ferdinand |
| author_facet | Siarl Ferdinand |
| author_sort | Siarl Ferdinand |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper presents a brief language history of the Hungarian Jewish community since their establishment in the Carpathian Basin to the present, with a special focus on Yiddish. Between the Middle Ages and the nineteenth century, Yiddish became the group’s majority language; after the 1850s, the Hungarian Jewry started a process of language substitution. By the 1930s, the use of Yiddish was mostly limited to the ultra-Orthodox communities of Eastern Hungary, while the rest mainly adopted Hungarian. In this research, a pilot study of the current situation of Yiddish has been mapped using several methods, including a questionnaire answered by a hundred and thirty individuals and unstructured interviews with linguists. Although this study’s results confirm the earlier research by Matras (2010) and Shandler (2006) in establishing that Yiddish is generally a post-vernacular language while Hungarian has acquired the role of an ethnic language, it was found that a considerable percentage of those living in the Carpathian Basin still preserve Yiddish. This paper aims to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the group dynamics in bilingual communities and, specifically, to provide a clearer view of the language situation among the Hungarian Jewry. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T00:37:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9199998ef3934820895ce31910b19ed2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2471-965X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T00:37:45Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | University Library System, University of Pittsburgh |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Hungarian Cultural Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-9199998ef3934820895ce31910b19ed22022-12-21T19:21:45ZengUniversity Library System, University of PittsburghHungarian Cultural Studies2471-965X2020-07-0113017819410.5195/ahea.2020.395379An Overview of the Language History of the Hungarian Jewish Community in the Carpathian Basin and Diaspora with a Special Emphasis on YiddishSiarl FerdinandThis paper presents a brief language history of the Hungarian Jewish community since their establishment in the Carpathian Basin to the present, with a special focus on Yiddish. Between the Middle Ages and the nineteenth century, Yiddish became the group’s majority language; after the 1850s, the Hungarian Jewry started a process of language substitution. By the 1930s, the use of Yiddish was mostly limited to the ultra-Orthodox communities of Eastern Hungary, while the rest mainly adopted Hungarian. In this research, a pilot study of the current situation of Yiddish has been mapped using several methods, including a questionnaire answered by a hundred and thirty individuals and unstructured interviews with linguists. Although this study’s results confirm the earlier research by Matras (2010) and Shandler (2006) in establishing that Yiddish is generally a post-vernacular language while Hungarian has acquired the role of an ethnic language, it was found that a considerable percentage of those living in the Carpathian Basin still preserve Yiddish. This paper aims to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the group dynamics in bilingual communities and, specifically, to provide a clearer view of the language situation among the Hungarian Jewry.http://ahea.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/ahea/article/view/395yiddishhungarian jewslanguage vitalityjewish sociolinguisticshungary |
| spellingShingle | Siarl Ferdinand An Overview of the Language History of the Hungarian Jewish Community in the Carpathian Basin and Diaspora with a Special Emphasis on Yiddish Hungarian Cultural Studies yiddish hungarian jews language vitality jewish sociolinguistics hungary |
| title | An Overview of the Language History of the Hungarian Jewish Community in the Carpathian Basin and Diaspora with a Special Emphasis on Yiddish |
| title_full | An Overview of the Language History of the Hungarian Jewish Community in the Carpathian Basin and Diaspora with a Special Emphasis on Yiddish |
| title_fullStr | An Overview of the Language History of the Hungarian Jewish Community in the Carpathian Basin and Diaspora with a Special Emphasis on Yiddish |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Overview of the Language History of the Hungarian Jewish Community in the Carpathian Basin and Diaspora with a Special Emphasis on Yiddish |
| title_short | An Overview of the Language History of the Hungarian Jewish Community in the Carpathian Basin and Diaspora with a Special Emphasis on Yiddish |
| title_sort | overview of the language history of the hungarian jewish community in the carpathian basin and diaspora with a special emphasis on yiddish |
| topic | yiddish hungarian jews language vitality jewish sociolinguistics hungary |
| url | http://ahea.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/ahea/article/view/395 |
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