There is significant phonological variation among the various dialects of the Yiddish language. The description that follows is of a modern Standard Yiddish that was devised during the early 20th century and is frequently encountered in pedagogical contexts. Its genesis is described in the article on Yiddish dialects. The vowels of modern (Standard) Arabic and (Israeli) Hebrew from the phonological point of view. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος) is a variant, or variety, of a language spoken in a certain geographical area. ... Yiddish (Yid. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... // Regional variation Yiddish has two main branches: Western and Eastern. ...

Consonants

The consonant phonemes of Standard Yiddish are: A consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture of the vocal tract sufficient to cause audible turbulence. ... In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones (speech sounds or sign elements) that are cognitively equivalent. ...

[ŋ] is not a phoneme but an allophone of /n/ which appears before /k/ and /g/. The lateral /l/ is generally velarized [ɫ] in contrast to the palatalized /lʲ/. The rhotic /r/ may be realized either as an alveolar trill [r] or as a uvular trill [ʀ]. In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lips and the upper teeth, or viceversa. ... Dentals are consonants such as t, d, n, and l articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both, rather than with the gum ridge as in English. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ... A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... Affricate consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or ), but release as a fricative such as or (or, in a couple of languages, into a fricative trill) rather than directly into the following vowel. ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... Fricatives (or spirants) are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... In phonetics, an allophone is one of several similar phones that belong to the same phoneme. ... Velarization is a secondary articulation of consonants by which the back of the tongue is raised toward the velum during the articulation of the consonant. ... Palatalization means pronouncing a sound nearer to the hard palate, making it more like a palatal consonant; this is towards the front of the mouth for a velar or uvular consonant, but towards the back of the mouth for a front (e. ... Rhotic consonants, or R-like sounds, are non-lateral liquid consonants. ... The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages (such as Russian, Spanish, Armenian, and Polish). ... The uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

As in the Slavic languages with which Yiddish was long in contact (Russian, Belarusian, Polish, and Ukrainian), but unlike German, voiceless stops are unaspirated, and voiced stops are fully voiced. Moreover, Yiddish has regressive voicing assimilation, so that, for example, זאָגט /zɔgt/ 'says' is pronounced [zɔkt] and הקדמה /hakˈdɔmə/ 'foreword' is pronounced [hagˈdɔmə]. However, unlike both German and its nearest Slavic neighbors, final devoicing does not occur in Yiddish.  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup... Language contact occurs when speakers of distinct speech varieties interact. ... In phonetics, a voiceless consonant is a consonant that does not have voicing. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ... In phonetics, phonation is the use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... Assimilation is a regular and frequent sound change process by which a phoneme changes to match an adjacent phoneme in a word. ...  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup... The introduction of this article does not provide enough context for readers unfamiliar with the subject to understand later context. ...

Vowels

The vowel phonemes of Standard Yiddish are: Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

In addition, the sonorant consonants /l/ and /n/ can function as syllable nuclei: A monophthong (in Greek μονόφθογγος = single note) is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation; compare diphthong. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. ... -1... A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... The open-mid vowels make a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. ... An open vowel is a vowel sound of a type used in most spoken languages. ... In phonetics, a diphthong (Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds, or with two tones) is a vowel combination in a single syllable involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ... In phonetics and phonology, the nucleus is the central part of the syllable, mostly commonly a vowel. ... In phonetics and phonology, a sonorant is a member of a class of speech sounds that are continuants produced without turbulent airflow in the vocal tract. ... In phonetics and phonology, the nucleus is the central part of the syllable, mostly commonly a vowel. ...

• אײזל /ˈɛjzl̩/ 'donkey'
• אָװנט /ˈɔvn̩t/ 'evening'

[m] and [ŋ] appear as syllable nuclei as well, but only as allophones of /n/, after bilabial consonants and dorsal consonants, respectively. Dorsal consonants are articulated with the back of the tongue against either the hard palate, or the flexible velum just behind it, or even against the uvula. ...

The syllabic sonorants and [ə] are always unstressed. [ə] can be analyzed as the unstressed allophone of /ɛ/. In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis given to certain syllables in a word. ...

Comparison with German

In vocabulary of Germanic origin, the differences between Standard German and Standard Yiddish pronunciation are mainly in the vowels and diphthongs. Examples are the German long a as in Vater 'father', which corresponds to o in the Yiddish פֿאָטער foter, and the German long e and long o which are diphthongized in Yiddish to ey and oy. As in many Germanic languages, Yiddish lacks the German front rounded umlaut vowels ö and ü. They are replaced in Yiddish by e and i respectively. Diphthongs have also undergone divergent developments in German and Yiddish. Where Standard German has merged the Middle High German diphthong ei and long vowel î to ei (pronounced [ai]), Standard Yiddish has maintained the distinction between them as ey and ay respectively. The German au (as in kaufen 'buy') corresponds to the Yiddish oy (in קױפֿן koyfn); lastly, the German eu (pronounced [oi], as in Deutsch 'German') corresponds to ay in Yiddish (in דײַטש daytsh). Consonantal differences between German and Yiddish include the smoothing of the German affricate pf to plain f in Yiddish, and the fact that Standard Yiddish (but not Standard German) allows word-final voiced obstruents. Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... In phonetics, a diphthong (Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds, or with two tones) is a vowel combination in a single syllable involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... In linguistics the term Umlaut is used in a variety of closely related ways, some narrower, some broader. ... Middle High German (MHG, German Mittelhochdeutsch) is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. ... An affricate is a consonant that begins like a stop (most often an alveovelar, such as [t] or [d]) and that doesnt have a release of its own, but opens directly into a fricative (or, in one language, into a trill). ... A voiced consonant is a sound made as the vocal cords vibrate, as opposed to a voiceless consonant, where the vocal cords are relaxed. ... In phonetics, an obstruent is a consonant sound formed by obstructing the airway. ...

References

• Birnbaum, Solomon A., Yiddish: A Survey and a Grammar, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1979, ISBN 0-8020-5382-3.
• Herzog, Marvin, et.al. ed., YIVO, The Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry, 3 vols., Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tubingen, 1992-2000, ISBN 3-484-73013-7.
• Jacobs, Neil G., Yiddish: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005, ISBN 0-521-77215-X.

External links

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of

Yiddish

• Jewish Language Research Website