Yiddish vs Hebrew: Difference and Comparison

By failing to differentiate between Yiddish and Hebrew, a whole culture and memory of a people are hushed and their stories are left unwritten for all time.

Due to the inadvertent amalgamation of the two languages into a single language, the public is led to believe that Yiddish and Hebrew are the same languages. 

Key Takeaways

1. Yiddish, a fusion language with German, Slavic, and Hebrew elements, is the primary language of Ashkenazi Jews. In contrast, Hebrew, a Semitic language, has ancient origins and acts as the official language of Israel.
2. Yiddish uses the Hebrew alphabet for writing, but its grammar and vocabulary diverge significantly from Hebrew, which follows a unique root system and structure.
3. Yiddish literature focuses on daily life and folklore, whereas Hebrew literature encompasses religious texts like the Torah and secular works, including modern Israeli literature.

Yiddish vs Hebrew

Yiddish is a Germanic language spoken by Ashkenazi Jews, primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, that originated in the 10th century. Hebrew, a Semitic language that originated in the Middle East over 3,000 years ago, it is the language of the Jewish people and the official language of Israel.

For centuries, Yiddish was referred to as lotion-Ashkenaz, or Ashkenazic and Taytsh.

According to the most widely accepted definition, “mame-lotion” describes Yiddish.

Yiddish began to be used as a noun in the late eighteenth century. The two languages are still fundamentally different.

Because of the name Eber, Abraham’s ancestor, the Hebrew word “ivri” denotes “Jewish people.” To cross over, ‘avar’ is the source of the word ‘Eber’.

Because Yehuda, or Judah, was the only surviving monarchy, Hebrew is mentioned in Isaiah 19:18 as the language of Canaan in the Bible.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Yiddish	Hebrew
Origin	Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family.	Semitic language of Afro-Asiatic language family.
Type of dialect	High German Yiddish is an Ashkenazi Jewish dialect of German that is spoken all over the globe.	According to Jewish tradition, it is considered a “Jewish dialect.”
Spoken in	United States, Argentina, Israel, Brazil,	Israel, West Bank, and Gaza
Language Family	Indo-European Germanic, High German Yiddish, West Germanic	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Northwest Semitic Canaanite Hebrew, West Semitic Central Semitic
Total Speakers	About 3 million people	About 10 million people.

What is Yiddish?

Hebrew, Slavic, Romance, Aramaic, and German dialects were all included in the development of Yiddish.

The origin of Yiddish may be traced back to Ashkenazi culture in the Rhineland, which subsequently migrated to Eastern and Central Europe.

Once recognized as the language of the Ashkenazi Jews, Yiddish has now earned the title of mame-loshn (literally, “mother tongue”) among those who speak it.

Hebrew and Aramaic, referred to as losing-Kodesh or holy tongues, were not Yiddish languages.

The literary usage of Yiddish began in the 18th century.

Regarding Yiddish dialects, Ashkenazi Jews are the primary speakers, with Litvish, Polish, and Ukrainian dialects making up the Eastern Yiddish group.

Eastern Yiddish, unlike Western Yiddish, employed a large number of Slavic-derived terms.

Eastern Yiddish is still widely spoken, whereas Western Yiddish is becoming less common.

In the final position, the phonology of Yiddish does not permit the devoicing of voiced stops due to the impact of Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, and Polish dialects.

Male, female, and neuter nouns are separated into three categories: masculine, feminine, and neuter.

In the case of genders and numbers, adjectives are appropriate. Specific verbs, pronouns, and articles are used. 

What is Hebrew?

Canaanite languages are part of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, and Hebrew is one of them.

It wasn’t until the 10th century that Hebrew became a widely used language.

Hebrew has been the primary language of all written communication in Jewish communities across the globe for millennia.

There were books and legal papers produced, published, and read in Hebrew that educated Jews could use to communicate with one another.

It has been resurrected several times in the 19th century by diverse groups.

Due to Hibbat Tziyon’s national rebirth concept, contemporary Hebrew has become a modern spoken language.

In the 19th century, the literary works of Hebrew intellectuals influenced the development of Hebrew.

The English, Russian, French, and German languages inspired the creation of new terms.

British-ruled Palestine made Hebrew its official language in 1921, and Israel formally adopted it as its official language in 1948.

Studying Hebrew may benefit those interested in Judaism, archaeology, and language studies of the Middle East.

Israeli Hebrew has five distinct vowel phenomena.

Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech are all part of the Hebrew lexicon; the presence of a verb in a phrase is optional in Hebrew. 

Main Differences Between Yiddish and Hebrew

1. Yiddish has a plethora of grammatical rules that are less well-defined. whereas Hebrew has a well-defined grammar
2. in Yiddish, there are dozens of ways to make a singular noun plural, whereas, In Hebrew, there are just two ways to make a singular noun plural.
3. Yiddish is the second most common language spoken by Jews worldwide, whereas Israel’s Jews speak Hebrew as their primary dialect.
4. Yiddish is a German dialect that combines some languages, including German, Hebrew, Aramaic, and several Slavic and Romance languages, whereas Hebrew is a Semitic language,
5. Yiddish conjures images of European Jewish communities and European culture. whereas Memories of Israel and Middle Eastern culture come to mind when people hear Hebrew,

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0271530910000364
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/josl.12451

Last Updated : 13 July, 2023