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Yeshivish (Yiddish:ישיבֿיש), also known asYeshiva English,Yeshivisheh Shprach, orYeshivisheh Reid, is asociolect ofEnglish spoken byYeshivastudents and otherJews with a strong connection to theOrthodox Yeshiva world.[1]
"Yeshivish" may also refer to non-HasidicHaredi Jews.[2] Sometimes it has an extra connotation of non-Hasidic Haredi Jews educated inyeshiva and whose education made a noticeable specific cultural impact onto them. In the latter case the term has ambivalent (both positive and negative) connotations comparable to those of the term "academic".[3]
James Lambert writes that the term may be aportmanteau word ofyeshiva andEnglish, or may simply be formed fromyeshiva + the adjectival suffix-ish.[4]
The first serious study about Yeshivish is a master's thesis by Steven Ray Goldfarb (University of Texas at El Paso, 1979) called "A Sampling of Lexical Items in Yeshiva English." The work lists, defines, and provides examples for nearly 250 Yeshivish words and phrases. The second, more comprehensive work isFrumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish by Chaim Weiser. Weiser (1995) maintains that Yeshivish is not apidgin,creole, or an independentlanguage, nor is it precisely ajargon.[5] Baumel (2006) following Weiser notes that Yeshivish differs from English primarily in phonemic structure, lexical meaning, and syntax.[6]
Benor (2012) offers a detailed list of distinctive features used in Yeshivish.[7] Katz describes it inWords on Fire: the Unfinished Story of Yiddish (2004) as a "newdialect of English", which is "taking over as thevernacular in everyday life in some ... circles in America and elsewhere".[8] Heilman (2006)[9] and others considercode-switching a part of Yeshivish.[10] Though Kaye (1991) would exclude English speakers in the context of a Yeshiva, studying the Talmud, from code-switching where he considers the terms "Yiddish English" or "Yiddishized English" ("=Yinglish") may be more appropriate.[11]
Yeshivish is primarily a male-spoken dialect.[12] Fathers and sons, particularly of teenage years and above, might speak Yeshivish, while mothers and daughters generally speak a milder variety of it, which generally features Yeshivish phonology but excludes many Talmudic words. This can be explained as much of the Yeshivish lexicon is learned inYeshiva where the studying takes place using a specialist nomenclature. Familiarity with these terms develops and they are then re-applied to other situations. There is a higher incidence of Yeshivish being spoken amongst Orthodox Jews that are regularly involved in Torah study, or belong to a community that promotes its study.
Commonly used platitudes among Orthodox Jews are frequently expressed with their Yeshivish equivalent. Examples include usingshkoyakh orshkoyekh for an expression of appreciation: "bravo" or "good job", or "thank you",[13] a contraction from the Hebrewיִישַׁר כּוֹחַ "Yishar Ko'ach", which literally translates as "May your strength be firm" and is used to indicate to someone that they have done a good job, andBarukh HaShem (sometimes written as B"H, using the quotation mark used for abbreviations in Hebrew), meaning "Blessed isHaShem [The Name (of God)]". Yeshivish dialogue may include many expressions that refer to HaShem.
As Weiser (1995) states inFrumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, this is neither a pidgin nor a technical ... Although some may initially categorize Yeshivish as a mere dialect, it differs from English in three ways: sound or ...
The code switching here, so characteristic of Yeshivish culture, and the use of acronyms and phrases that only Orthodox ... but wish to display that they have been 'transformed' following an extended stay in a Haredi yeshiva.
One similarly wonders what an analysis of British, Israeli, or Latin-American counterparts to Yeshivish might yield. The processes and contexts of code-switching between English and Yeshivish among Yeshiva students likewise warrant investigation.
I am willing to exclude, however, English-speaking New York Orthodox Jews in the context of a Yeshiva