Why do we call the language spoken for centuries by European Jews “Yiddish”? The word, “Yiddish”, means, in that language, “Jewish”. My grandfather, who spoke English poorly despite having lived in the US for around 30 years when I met him, referred to his native language as “Jewish” when speaking English. “Go to the mailbox and get me Jewish newspaper”. “Why can’t you ever learn to speak Jewish?”
We don’t refer to the language spoken in Germany as “Deutch”, although curiously we do refer to the language spoken in the Netherlands as “Dutch”, go figure. We don’t refer to the language spoken in Japan as “Nihongo”. We don’t even refer to the second most widely spoken language in the US as “Español”. We have words in English that serve to name those languages. But we say “Yiddish” when speaking English, to name the language of European Jews. Even Jewish people do this. Even people who speak Jewish do this. Why?
I have decided to believe that it is rooted in antisemitism and shame. To say “Jewish” connotes that, more than the language itself, the speaker is, in fact, a Jew. And further, that this is a bad or shameful thing. Much like people accusing President Obama of being a “secret” Muslim. It’s an insult although there’s nothing insulting about it. I reject this. I am not ashamed that I’m Jewish. I don’t subscribe to the mythology, or if you prefer, religion, and I don’t even speak the language (or the other one). But I’m Jewish enough for jazz and I don’t see anything shameful or embarrassing about that.
Yet the people who talk about the “Yiddish theater” of the ‘30s and ‘40s, or Yiddish music, whether gentile or Jew, must feel that calling it “Jewish” theater or music carries baggage that imputes in some way the otherwise worthwhile attributes of the cultural experience. Bullshit! Bubbamaise!, if you prefer. There is nothing pejorative about calling the language “Jewish” and to avoid that appellation is to be complicit in the tacit understanding that “Jewish” is, indeed, undesirable.
4 comments:
Do you really remember Grandpa cajoling you to learn Jewish?
Also, do you mind if I post your blog entries now and then on my FB page?
Yes.
And no.
I agree, but I think that the "Yiddish" theater and such uses, or used, that word to distinguish it from such phenomena as Hebrew literature, Jewish lit written in German or Russian, etc., because of the great diversity of Jewish experiences before the Holocaust (and after, in different ways). Also I guess thanks to Israel a lot of people think the Jewish language is Hebrew (which is more like what you said, the "other one"). In Mexico, speakers of Nahuatl call their language "mexicano", whereas for the mainstream Spanish-speaking Mexican it has taken this long (centuries) for them to call indigenous languages "language" and not "dialect." So probably the same descriminatory dynamic that you suggest is at work in both cases. (And then there are those who resent the Nahuatl-speakers' monopoly on "mexicano" because there are dozens or once hundreds of other languages spoken here... the culture wars go on.)
Anyway I didn't know about your blog but now will try to follow! xoxox, Elissa
@Elissa,
You probably know this already but I've learned that the standard linguistic difference between a "dialect" and a "language" is an "army".
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