Yiddish

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Yiddish is a language derived from Middle High German and spoken primarily by Jews of Eastern European (Ashkenazic) descent; up until the Holocaust it was the most commonly spoken language of Jews in Slavic lands, and though largely replaced by English and Modern Hebrew as a mother tongue due to massive post-World War II population transfers, it is still regarded with great affection by many members of the Jewish diaspora in Western countries.

As a Germanic language, Yiddish shares a common linguistic ancestor with German. Yiddish has developed on its own since the late Middle Ages, being written in a version of the Hebrew alphabet and absorbing large numbers of loan words, primarily from Hebrew and the surrounding Slavic languages. Yiddish takes two thirds of its vocabulary from German, with the remainder coming from Slavic, Hebrew, and other languages (in that order). Much of its grammar structure and syntax are Slavic. Due to the grinding poverty of much of eastern European Jewry and the frequent threat of Anti-Semitic violence, Yiddish also happens to be one of the best languages in the world for insulting someone, a fact that has led to a significant adoption of Yiddish profanity into American English, you schmuck.

Isaac Bashevis Singer was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978 for works written in Yiddish.

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