Cover not available
Part of
Keys to the History of English: Diachronic linguistic change, morpho-syntax and lexicography
Edited by Thijs Porck, Moragh S. Gordon and Luisella Caon
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 363] 2024
► pp. 212–232

Investigating the dynamics of the lexicon

A socio-historical perspective of the borrowing of Yiddish words into English

| University of Basel
This chapter focuses on the lexical influence of Yiddish on English throughout its history. The findings rely on an analysis of the linguistic evidence in electronic dictionaries and corpora. Specific value will be accorded to the use of Yiddish borrowings in informal language. Yiddish has provided English with a number of terms relating to various semantic domains, ranging from gastronomy, faith and religion, to people and everyday life. An important objective is to provide an overview of the domains influenced by Yiddish over time. Particular attention will be given to socio-cultural and historical reasons that might explain the introduction and spread of Yiddish borrowings into different domains over the centuries, contributing to variation in the English lexicon.
Keywords: Yiddish influence on English throughout its history, language contact, lexicology, online dictionaries, corpora in lexicological research
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous studies on the impact of Yiddish on English
  • 3.Methodology
  • 4.Types of loan influences
  • 5.Subject areas influenced by Yiddish over the centuries
    • 5.1Discussion of the results
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 4 April 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.363.10lan
References (34)
References
Benor, S. B. 2000. Loan words in the English of modern Orthodox Jews: Yiddish or Hebrew? In S. Chang (Ed.), Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistic Society’s 25th annual meeting, 1999, 287–298. Berkeley Linguistics Society.Google Scholar
2010. Ethnolinguistic repertoire: Shifting the analytic focus in language and ethnicity. Journal of Sociolinguistics 14(2). 159–183. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011. Mensch, bentsh, and balagan: Variation in the American Jewish linguistic repertoire. Language & Communication 31. 141–154. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bernstein, C. G. 2006. Representing Jewish identity through English. In J. Brutt-Griffler & C. Evans Davies (Eds.), English and ethnicity, 107–129. Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
BNC = British National Corpus. Originally compiled by Oxford University Press. [URL]
Carstensen, B. 1968. Zur Systematik und Terminologie deutsch-englischer Lehnbeziehungen. In H. Brekle & L. Lipka. (Eds.), Wortbildung, Syntax und Morphologie. Festschrift zum 60. Geburtstag von Hans Marchand am 1. Oktober 1967, 32–45. Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
COCA = Corpus of Contemporary American English. Compiled by M. Davies. [URL]
Durkin, P. 2014. Borrowed words. A history of loanwords in English. Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Feinsilver, L. M. 1958. Like influences from Yiddish and Pennsylvanian German. American Speech 33(3). 231–233. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1962. Yiddish idioms in American English. American Speech 37(3). 200–206. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fishman, J. A. 1965. Yiddish in America. Socio-linguistic description and analysis. Bloomington: Indiana University.Google Scholar
(ed.) 1982. Never say die: A thousand years of Yiddish in Jewish life and letters. Mouton.Google Scholar
Geeraerts, D. 2010. Theories of lexical semantics. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Haspelmath, M. 2008. Loanword typology: Steps toward a systematic cross-linguistic study of lexical borrowability. In T. Stolz, D. Bakker & R. Salas Palomo (Eds.), Aspects of language contact: New theoretical, methodological and empirical findings with special focus on Romancisation processes, 43–62. Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2009. Lexical borrowing: Concepts and issues. In M. Haspelmath & U. Tadmor (Eds.), Loanwords in the World’s languages: A comparative handbook, 35–54. Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hellerstein, K. 1980. Yiddish voices in American English. In L. Michaels & C. Ricks (Eds.), The state of the language, 182–201. University of California Press.Google Scholar
Horn, D. 2006. The future of Yiddish – in English: Field notes from the New Ashkenaz. The Jewish Quarterly Review 96(4). 471–480. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hyman, C. 2004. Die jüdische Küche. Christian Verlag.Google Scholar
Katz, D. 2015. Yiddish and power. Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Landmann, J. 2023. The dynamic lexicon of English: A socio-cognitive approach towards loan processes and their linguistic effects. Brill. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Landmann, S. 1995. Die jüdische Küche. Mary Hahn Verlag.Google Scholar
Movie Corpus. Compiled by M. Davies. [URL]
Myers-Scotton, C. 2002. Contact linguistics: Bilingual encounters and grammatical outcomes. Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
OED = Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. [URL]
Ornstein-Galicia, J. L. 1988. The bottom line: Affective borrowing from Yiddish in colloquial American English. Orbis: International Journal of General Linguistics and Linguistic Documentation 35. 171–190. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rosten, L. 1990. The joys of Yinglish. Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Schmid, H. 2018. Ein integratives soziokognitives Modell des dynamischen Lexikons. In S. Engelberg, H. Lobin, K. Steyer & S. Wolfer (Eds.), Wortschätze: Dynamik, Muster, Komplexität (Institut für Deutsche Sprache Jahrbuch 2017), 215–231. De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schultz, J. 2019. The impact of Yiddish on the English language: An overview of lexical borrowing in the variety of subject areas and spheres of life influenced by Yiddish over time. English Today 35(3). 2–7. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Soap Corpus = Corpus of American Soap Operas. Compiled by M. Davies. [URL]
Steinmetz, S. 2001. Yiddish and English: The story of Yiddish in America, 2nd edn. The University of Alabama Press.Google Scholar
Thomason, S. 2003. Contact as a source of language change. In R. D. Janda & B. D. Joseph (eds.), A handbook of historical linguistics, 687–712. Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
TV Corpus. Compiled by Mark Davies. [URL]
Weinreich, M. 2008. History of the Yiddish language. Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Weinstein, M. 2002. Yiddish: A nation of words. Ballantine Books.Google Scholar