意第绪语(Yiddish language)

德系犹太人所操的语言。用希伯来字母书写。意第绪语文献最早可溯至12世纪，是在闪米特语和日耳曼语成分错综复杂的融合而起。闪米特语包括希伯来语和阿拉米语。意第绪语由操日耳曼语的起源地扩展到近乎整个欧洲东部，在欧洲东部并获得斯拉夫语成分。西意第绪语是意第绪语最早期历史上所使用的唯一形式（止於1500年左右），东意第绪语约从1700年起便取代了西意第绪语，从而派生出现代全部意第绪语口语。主要方言有东南方言、东中方言和东北方言。18～19世纪，意第绪语由大批东欧移民带至全世界各个大陆，扩大其传统的作用，成为犹太人的通用语。纳粹大屠杀、大量移民以及被其他语言同化，致使操意第绪语的人数进一步减少。目前全球使用的人口约三百万，大部分是中年人或老年人。

English version：

Yiddish language

Language of Ashkenazic Jews and their descendants (see Ashkenazi), written in the Hebrew alphabet. Yiddish developed from southeastern dialects of Middle High German carried into central and eastern Europe from the 12th century on; it has been strongly influenced by Hebrew and Aramaic, from which it draws 12-20% of its lexicon. The isolation of eastern European speakers from High German, and their exposure to Slavic languages, particularly Polish and Ukrainian, led to a primary distinction between West and East Yiddish dialects. From the late 18th century, most Jews remaining in central Europe gave up Yiddish in favor of German; it has now virtually died out. East Yiddish dialects differ markedly in realization of vowels; there are central, NE, and southeastern dialects. A flourishing literary language in the 19th and early 20th century, Yiddish declined dramatically due to massive migration, assimilation, and Nazi genocide. Today Yiddish may still be spoken by 3 million people worldwide, but most of its speakers are middle-aged or older.