Can German and Yiddish Speakers Understand Each Other?

Can German and Yiddish speakers understand each other? In this episode we showcase some of the similarities and test the degree of mutual intelligibility between German and Yiddish. Instead of a list of words and sentences, Pinchas (Yiddish speaker) and Tayfun (German speaker) will each read short sentences and paragraphs in their respective languages to see how well they can understand one another.
Please follow and contact us on Instagram if you have any suggestions or if you speak a language that has not been featured before and would like to participate in a future video: / bahadoralast
Be sure to check out Pinchas' Virtuoso Music account on Instagram: / virtuosolessons
Yiddish (ייִדיש / יידיש /אידיש) is a language that originated in the 9th century in Central Europe, as a Hebrew-High German language spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It is an Indo-European language with many elements taken from Hebrew and to a lesser extent from Aramaic, with some forms eventually taking part of Slavic languages, and traces of Romance languages. Yiddish writing uses the Hebrew alphabet and is mostly spoken by Hasidic and Haredi Jews. Colloquially, the term מאַמע־לשון‎ (meaning 'mother tongue') is sometimes used in order to distinguish it from "holy tongue", referring to Hebrew and Aramaic. Today, the majority of Yiddish speakers are are Hasidim
and other Haredim (Orthodox Jews), with the majority of them living in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Israel. In the U.S, there are several major Hasidic communities where Yiddish remains the majority language, most notably in Brooklyn, New York, in the Crown Heights, Borough Park, and Williamsburg neighborhoods, as well as in Kiryas Joel in Orange County, New York.
Starting in the Middle Ages and for centuries after, an immense amount of Yiddish literature arose in Europe. As the community began to spread out, many more Yiddish writers, in different regions of the world, began to produce works of literature. In addition to I. L. Peretz (יצחק־לייבוש פרץ‎), who we mentioned in the video, for those who are interested, some of the more recent Yiddish literature produced, in the last two centuries, are by Sholem Aleichem (שלום עליכם), Mendele Mocher Sforim (מענדעלע מוכר ספֿרים), Isaac Bashevis Singer (יצחק באַשעװיס זינגער), awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978, Sholem Asch (שלום אַש), Jacob Glatstein (יעקב גלאטשטיין), Abraham Sutzkever (אַבֿרהם סוצקעווער), David Bergelson (דוד בערגעלסאָן), Israel Joshua Singer (ישראל יהושע זינגער), Moyshe Kulbak (משה קולבאַק), Chaim Grade (חיים גראַדע‎), Peretz Markish (פּרץ מאַרקיש‎), Kadia Molodowsky (קאַדיע מאָלאָדאָװסקי), Joseph Opatoshu (יוסף אָפּאַטאָשו‎), Anna Margolin (אַננאַ מאַרגאָלין‎), and numerous others.
The German language (Deutsch) is a West Germanic language with official status in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. In Luxembourg, Belgium and parts of Poland, German is a co-official language, and one of several national languages of Namibia. German has many similarities with West Germanic languages such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, and Yiddish. The German-speaking countries are ranked among the top in the world in terms of annual publication of new books, and a great amount of German literature, from medieval works to modern times, has been produced. Among many others, there are the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a literary genius who is considered to be like the German Shakespeare. Goethe is best known for his novel, "The Sorrows of Young Werther" (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers), which was published when he was only 25. Other classics include Simplicius Simplicissimus by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, Hyperion by Friedrich Holderlin, The Devil’s Elixirs by ETA Hoffman, Debt and Credit by Gustav Freytag, Effi Briest by Theodor Fontane, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke, and many others.
In more recent times, several German language authors have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. They are Theodor Mommsen, Rudolf Christoph Eucken, Paul Heyse, Gerhart Hauptmann, Carl Spitteler, Thomas Mann who is perhaps best known for Buddenbrooks and Death in Venice, Hermann Hesse, Nelly Sachs, Heinrich Böll, Elias Canetti, Günter Grass, Elfriede Jelinek, Herta Müller, and Peter Handke.

[@BahadorAlast]

Hope you enjoy this week's episode as we feature the Yiddish language for the first time! I would also like to share the link to Pinchas' Virtuoso Music page: instagram.com/virtuosolessons/ Please follow and contact us on Instagram if you have any suggestions or if you speak a language that has not been featured before and would like to participate in a future video: instagram.com/BahadorAlast === Transliteration of the Yiddish part: === א מענטש טראכט און גאט לאכט a mentsh trakht aun gat lakht זאלסטו וואקסן ווי א ציבעלע - מיטן קאפ אין דר'ערד און די פיס ארויף Zolstu vaksn vi a tzibele - mitn kop in dr'erd un di fis aroyf זאלסט פארלירן אלע ציינער א חוץ פון איינעם, און דער זאל דיר וויי טאן ‏Zolst farlirn alle tseyner achuts eynem, un der zol dir vey ton און דער נעמיראָווער פֿלעגט סליחות־צײַט יעדן פֿרימאָרגן נעלם ווערן, פֿאַרשווינדן מען פֿלעגט אים נישט זען אין ערגעץ: נישט אין שול, נישט אין ביידע בתּי־מדרשים, נישט בײַ אַ מנין, און אין דער היים אַוודאי און אַוודאי נישט. די שטוב איז געשטאַנען אָפֿן. ווער עס האָט געוואָלט, איז אַרײַן און אַרויס געגאַנגען: געגנבֿעט בײַם רבין האָט מען נישט, אָבער קיין לעבעדיק באַשעפֿעניש איז אין שטוב געווען Un der Nemirover flegt sliches tzeit yedn frimorgen neelam vern, farshvundn. Men flegt im nisht zen in ergetz: nisht in shul, nisht in baide botei midroshim, nisht by a minyan un in der heim avadai nisht. Di shtub iz geshtanen ofen. Ver es hot gevolt, is arein un arois gegangen. Gegannvet beim Robin hot men nisht ober kein lebedike bashefenish iz in shtub geven.

[@franzaepinus2498]

Just when I think you've topped yourself you come out with something interesting again! Well done!!

[@doncorleone3082]

Is Yiddish still spoken in Germany or Central Europe?

[@longlivepalestine8134]

I respect Yiddish because this is the language spoken by anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews, including the Neturei Karta, who are very active in standing against Zionism and supporting Palestine. While we are seeing that than most Arabs and Muslims of today are abandoning Palestine or using it for their politics only.

[@faizullah6671]

Please more videos with Bengali.

[@santosh-un2bj]

Sir in India we have Cochin Jews and they speaking Judeo-Malayalam and also we have bigger community that is Bene Israel and they are speaking the Judeo-Marathi

[@shelbygabriellelafollette73]

That awkward moment when you can understand a Yiddish speaker better than Swiss German speakers in Zurich and Lucerne. XD

[@hassanjamal4212]

Can u understand hebrew

[@j-e]

Hey was isch ächt schwirig a Schwiizerdütsch? Völlig easy 🇨🇭

[@generalstrike7187]

@@hassanjamal4212 Hebrew is a totally different language family to both German and Yiddish.

[@hassanjamal4212]

@@generalstrike7187 not really... modern hebrew is just a mish mash of various languages esp yiddish and german

[@GetRidOfCivilAssetForfeiture]

When I worked in what was then West Germany in Ueberlingen am Bodensee. I found the regional dialect pronounced many words the same as in Yiddish and the indefinite article was also the same. However, the two are distinct languages. Also, the diminutive in Yiddish is the same in Southern Germany.

[@nelegrund5041]

As a German, I very much relate to the German guy having the worst internet connection 😂

[@tayfun8975]

Hahaha das beste Kommentar was hier drunter zu finden ist!😂

[@hitzkinnemaher248]

Uff

[@throngalaxyxy2862]

True

[@Sam-cj1nr]

Neuland

[@stiegelzeine2186]

Woran willst du denn erkennen das er schlechtes Internet hat? Hat er das irgendwo gesagt oder hatte er irgendwo Internet Probleme im Video? Oder denkst du weil seine Kamera nur in 30fps aufnimmt das er schlechtes Internet hat?

[@GrimReaper-rc7fs]

A Jew, a German and a Persian go into a bar... or just have a conversation and have a good time. This is the world I want to live in.

[@JaWilli96]

You do!

[@jaredini]

Go to Israel and this is the reality.

[@JacobIX99]

Well, I'm from a Persian and Babylonian Jew ("Mizrahi"), and up till the Islamic revolution Persians and Jews were the most close friends culturally and historically.

[@MaticTheProto]

@@jaredinigood one. The genocidal pigs made sure that is impossible

[@AntiFurry_Jihad]

​@@jaredini cope rabbi. They spit at Christains and call Jesus as Illegitimate son of adulterous Mary. Stop pretending be real.

[@Bassalicious]

As a native German speaker I had no clue Yiddish was easier to understand than Bavarian. I never heard the language being spoken before I don#t think. Super interesting stuff.

[@borisrohin127]

a mei, gstei di hoid ned so o! 😉

[@Bassalicious]

@@borisrohin127 Gesundheit :) Edit: Lesen ist aber tatsächlich einfacher als Gesprochenes zu verstehen. Quasi wie bei Niederländisch.

[@borisrohin127]

@@Bassalicious 😄 Da hast du Recht

[@JM-yn8mb]

I wonder why...

[@karou.8947]

Classic German move. "Say something in German!" (Guy presents one of the longest sentences he could come up with)

[@unnutz5231]

Some long Word like Donaudampfschiffgeselschaftfahrtkäpitänkombüseentürschlüsselanhänger could also be funny.

[@karou.8947]

@@unnutz5231 a Dutch friend recently had to put up with Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher and was quite shocked to learn that this really exists :')

[@unnutz5231]

@@karou.8947 Sometimes German Words like Dreirädrigerkipplader sounds als funny for me. I had to google it ,to belive that germans uses this word in serious context.

[@karou.8947]

@@unnutz5231 what's your native language if I may ask?

[@Kig_Ama]

@@unnutz5231 German is a lot of things but not funny at all.

[@vanessagiesbrecht4885]

"Du sollst alle deine Zähne verlieren bis auf einen, und der soll dir wehtun" SAVAGEEEEE

[@timokohler6631]

Im gonna use this haha

[@actionmarco8556]

love it!

[@lounthery956]

How's that savage

[@Tommusix]

Das ist schon sehr böse.

[@bestofelmar3495]

Luuul ehre genimmt eyy

[@emiliacalabro3186]

I am from Baden-Württemberg and we speak the Swabian dialect here and Yiddish is really way closer to Swabian than to German and I understand it really well 🤩

[@joshii32]

Jo des isch wohr

[@marillameier8406]

True, the guy in the video is from northern Germany 😅, it‘s much harder for him

[@user-wc6pz6ht1q]

You are right.

[@user-wc6pz6ht1q]

​@@joshii32richtig.

[@zentrum9042]

Zwiebele

[@yoops66]

As their "secret language", when they didn't want us (their children) to understand what they were saying to each other, my father spoke German (learnt in Buchenwald) and my mother Yiddish (learnt from her parents). They understood each other much too well. 😅

[@christinestotzel2671]

I am from Frankfurt am Main and my Great grandmother was from inner city Frankfurt. Her dialect was formed around the turn of the last century and her German Frankfurt dialect was almost indistinguishable from Yiddish. Also, in the south of Germany we also use 'le or 'je to make things small. Zwiebele or in Frankfurt Zwiebelje. ❤

[@gingerjoe4759]

Thats very wholesome and dark at the same time

[@mylupylu]

Your father made something positive out of his worst experience. Wow! You can be extremely proud of him!

[@compphysgeek]

good to see an Iranian, Jew and German having a good time together. That's how it should always be.

[@sonjarutkowsky4140]

Das is so wunderschoen wenn Menschen miteinander Freundlich sein koennen ❣️ ❣️

[@muratbektas5290]

Actually german boy is a turkish orginally:)

[@compphysgeek]

@Luis Alonzo hopefully.

[@Nellsbells79]

An Iranian, a Jew and a German walked into a bar…… as the old joke goes 😉 everyone had a great time

[@WisdomPrevails369]

Now Germany is a shit hole, Cohencidence?

[@myralove1651]

My mother was a Yiddish speaker. I grew up hearing it but not speaking it much. I did study German in college and learned it fairly easily because I understood Yiddish. When I was 19, I spent a summer in Germany studying at a program for foreign students. When the course was over my mother came to travel with me. She had help getting from Amsterdam to Germany. Two older German women helped her and she spoke Yiddish to them on the train and they spoke a German dialect to her. When we ran into one of the German ladies, my mother asked me to speak to her in German, which I did, but in standard Hochdeutsch which I was studying. The lady smiled and said my German was pretty good, but my mother's was better! I told Mom and she replied, of course, "For this I sent you to college?"

[@manuelkluge383]

The ladies surely spoke 'Plattdeutsch', comes close.

[@myralove1651]

@@manuelkluge383 Yes, they did speak Plattdeutsch. We were in Kiel.

[@JonaxII]

@@myralove1651 hi fellow kieler

[@myralove1651]

@@JonaxII I’m not from Kiel, but spent a bit of time studying in Kiel a long time ago. When I went back to visit the city hD grown and changed. It was amazing!

[@philomelodia]

@@manuelkluge383 not possible. Yiddish is much closer to southern dialects than it is to Platt. Austrians appear to have a very easy time understanding it.

[@zerofra5297]

It's so funny, I am an Austrian farmer in the styrian Alps and I understand the Yiddish quit good. Seams like an old dialect. Please more from this stuff!

[@user-xj9du3kx7u]

My German grandmother chatted with her Yiddish-speaking neighbor when they sat outside on their rowhome porches and understood each other perfectly. This was back in the first quarter of the 20th century. My grandmother's ancestors came before 1850 and managed to hold onto their German because Germans are so insular.

[@Asendra01]

Pinchas: *Tells the whole story of the Yiddish language* Tayfun: Hi, I'm Tayfun and I speak german.😅

[@SoWhat89]

I thought the same

[@tayfun8975]

Hahaha i was quite nervous

[@SoWhat89]

@@tayfun8975 Dikka ich feier dich!

[@SoWhat89]

@@tayfun8975 Wir sind die auf dich gekommen?

[@tayfun8975]

@@SoWhat89 ich hab Bahador mal vor nem Jahr angeschrieben ob er denn mal Lust hat Videos zumachen die Deutsch involvieren. Dann kam er vor ein paar Monaten auf mich zu und meinte er hätte jetzt eine Videoidee wo ich mitmachen könnte , daraus ist das entstanden :)

[@gabircik]

I'm a Turkish native speaker living in Germany for more than ten years now. German is the the first foreign language I learnt. While watching Shtisel, I couldn't believe my ears how I could understand most of the scenes in Yiddish and ended up here. I still have problems understanding Swiss German and some Austrian dialects but Yiddish is like a piece of cake.

[@thuringian1127]

I as a German myself also have problems with Swiss and Austrian dialects. So it's not a foreign thing 👍

[@gabircik]

@@thuringian1127 Viele Grüße aus Sachsen.

[@Ch-ew9tm]

Schwitzer dütsch isch halt schono schwär zum lärne abr d‘r walliser dialäkt chönen zum teil nid emol anderi schwizer verstah.

[@thuringian1127]

@@Ch-ew9tm Meine Augen wollen sich ertränken und mein Gehirn hat sich bei der Versuchung dies zu verstehen, kurzzeitig auf die Oberseite gedreht. Bitte mach das nie wieder und versteh mich nicht falsch :)

[@viddl8267]

@@Ch-ew9tm i fingä z Bärner Oberland spannend, wes so langsam faht afah walliserä. Im Oberland heisi ono rächt luschtigi Usdrück, womä im Standartdütsch chum meh brucht. Quasi autdütschi Begriffä wos aber hankherum im änglischä no git. Fingä so züg extrem spannend.

[@forgiven212]

This made my day. 😂 Shalom and Guten tag! We are one people! 🙏

[@sandrareiling8769]

Herrlich ! Ich liebe diesen Kanal 😍. Sprache spaltet nicht ,sie drängt uns tiefer zu hören ,zu blicken und zu spüren! Danke mit tiefer Verneigung ☺

[@MrOnePieceRuffy]

"tracht" is still a german word, just pretty uncommon. We use it in phrases like "Jemanden nach dem Leben trachten" (to think about the life of another one [and end it])

[@luckyluke1038]

yeah but trachten always has a bad meaning fine, most of the time.

[@stewartzayat7526]

@@luckyluke1038 but it's still cognate. Words change meaning over time. Just like german schauen and english show are cognate, even though they mean something different.

[@luckyluke1038]

@@stewartzayat7526 true

[@Einstein52]

Yes the word "trachten (nach etwas)" is a still existing german word, but not only with a negative meaning. It is no more used very often, the modern german expression is "sich sehnen nach ..", and this is more used with a positve meaning. -- By the way, this whole yiddish sentence has an equivalent in german meaning exactly the same: "Der Mensch denkt und Gott lenkt.", direct translation "People think and god steers.", so may be better translation "People make their plannings, but god decides where to go."

[@d.h.1999]

@@Einstein52 Der Mensch trachtet und Gott lacht. Men desires and god laughs.

[@mark-o-man6603]

As a German I have to say that Yiddish is actually easier to understand than some local German dialects. I've once heard a very rural version of the Bavarian dialect and didn't understand a single word. Back in school we learned about Ephraim Kishon, which was probably my first encounter with "Yiddish", loved it since then, because it makes some German words "cuter" - like "Zwiebel" (German) vs. "Tsibele" (Yiddish)

[@arktana]

Haha true

[@flintb6559]

Historically there was no one "Yiddish", each german region had it's own kind of Yiddish which was very close to the local dialect.

[@bineplumpi1249]

Zwiebele ist das nicht auch Schwaebisch 😁

[@SharkJ002]

In my opinion „Zwiebel” actually sounds cuter and better than „Tsibele”

[@kmit9191]

@@bineplumpi1249 in Franken würde man auch ca. so reden wie Jiddisch. La, Le, Li als adiminutiv, a als Artikel, etc.

[@killumkindly7432]

This is awesome! I had no idea I was this close to understanding Yiddish in this way.

[@franzneubauer6877]

So funny ... I am Austrian and I basically understood everything ... it is very similar to south German dialects

[@turan2815]

stimmt 😂😂😂😂

[@FrancisJoa]

Yiddisch wurde kreiert aus einem ostdeutschen Dialekt (Ost Preußen), der gemixt wurde mit ein paar Wörter Hebräisch. Daher können wir fast alles davon verstehen.

[@42033]

Deis scho 😂 Is scho lustig Vo wo kummst du Franz ?

[@acogsupercute]

same

[@gustaviii8299]

Ich dachte gerade das selbe

[@berkcandar8013]

I like the Jewish gentleman. He seems very knowledgeable, easy going and funny. Would love to chat with someone like that and learn more their history and culture.

[@ShahlaSultanova]

totally agree.

[@pennycooks1389]

You should watch Peter Santellos channel he did a whole series on Hasidic Jews in NY

[@mrbtm35]

@@pennycooks1389 I came here to say this lol. I recommend Peters video too.

[@berkcandar8013]

@@pennycooks1389 Thanks for the recommendation. I am watching now.

[@turan2815]

yes

[@annakey5841]

Wow great video, thanks for this work ❤

[@lokibloom1586]

Loved that video, there are a lot of beautiful Yiddish songs you can partially understand as german too

[@chrishd84]

It's kind of funny that you guys chose the German guy from a Northern State. The Northern German States speak the "cleanest" German. Yiddish sounds partwise like a Southern German dialect, the guy from Bremen probably would have had the same level of difficulty understanding Yiddish as understanding an old Swabian Grandmother 😁😂 For me it was so much easier to pickup Yiddish, coming from the South

[@LVZVRUS]

It’s kind of funny I only know Afrikaans and reading German and understanding it is super easy.

[@SteamCheese1]

I know right!? It sounds like a mix between the Swabian, Badisch and Palatine dialect with some Jewish words sprinkled in.

[@linab4901]

Somehow. I‘m from Stuttgart and My father is from Prague and this kind of Yiddish dialekt he speaks I understand very well.

[@Shiva-mh6td]

Bin leider selbst aus dem Süden und kenne niemand der unironisch mit einem Dialekt spricht.

[@linab4901]

@@Shiva-mh6td ? Wie meinst du das? Hier sprechen sehr viele sehr unironisch schwäbisch 😅

[@user-ig5he2wj3k]

I think I’m the only Japanese who expect this video to come out for years since ever I found the Yiddish language and started to learn German. Thank you so much for everyone in this video !!

[@adriancostachel-baksa8089]

Nice, I was born in Germany and study Japanese.

[@dan-3268]

That's exactly what happened to me! There hasn't been much material on KZbin dedicated to Yiddish

[@titusmagnuseinuniversumaus6354]

How interesting, do you still learn German?

[@Recut]

I'm sure you'll succeed in learning german! 頑張って!!

[@dermitdenfruechten]

I'm from Germany and I learn Japanese

[@GoenndalfTheBlue]

This was so cool. That's the stuff i rarely see... people having a good time and talking about their languages and learning. German still uses a lot of yiddish words and the other way around. I think that's fantastic, that's a natural evolving thing of both through time. I think that is so cool. As a german i did understand a lot of it, but i must say i have a few jewish friends that speak yiddish so i maybe know a few words more. I would love to see much more videos like this.

[@Banananaish]

This was 50 minutes of how the world should, and could be. So wholesome..

[@davidbaldwin9023]

The word "trachten" is also a fairly infrequent verb used in German, meaning "to strive/aspire," which makes sense here: "A human aspires, and God laughs."

[@martinn.6082]

True, and it's still used in some expressions, like "jemandem nach dem Leben trachten" - to be after someone's life.

[@littlemermaid8638]

The word 'Tracht' is a word (in my region here in Lower Austria) for the traditional Austrian clothing - the 'Dirndl' and the 'Lederhose' :)

[@ScherrHrenner]

@@littlemermaid8638 That word however is not related to above verb. Instead, it belongs to 'tragen' in the sense of 'to wear'.

[@mariadamen7886]

Trachten is a Dutch word too.

[@davidklein1903]

My Dad used to say, “Man plans and G-d laughs” which is very similar. Today would have been his 101st birthday.

[@forestmanzpedia]

I can understand like 80% Yiddish as a German native speaker.

[@jonahs92]

Interesting to see a German with a Hebrew letter in their username 😂

[@vincent-ti5lz]

@@renedupont1953 lol youre mad

[@guywhousesapseudonymonyout4272]

@@renedupont1953 You shouldn't respond with such animosity towards someone who is probably a young person. I also come from Holocaust survivor heritage (my mother herself survived the Holocaust in Hungary) and although we must never forget, and never forgive, the actual perpetrators, it's uncalled to be be rude to someone who was probably born many decades after the end of the Holocaust. While it's quite possible that this person's grandfather or great grandfather was involved in the atrocities, it's almost guaranteed that the person you are addressing had nothing to do with it. Also, this person may have been making the claim of 80% comprehension based on the video, which deliberately cherry-picked examples of sentences that are likely to be understood. So you could have made the same point that due to the many Hebrew and Aramaic words in Yiddish a native German speaker will not understand much, but more politely without accusing someone who you don't know of being a liar and exaggerating. And you just deliberately picked two examples of such sentences. I personally can understand a lot of Yiddish not because I am Jewish (my father was Sephardic and not from a Yiddish-speaking background, and my mother, though Ashkenazic, has Hungarian as her native language and later learned modern Hebrew and English). But much of my Yiddish comprehension also comes from having learned German. Aber ich kann auch viel Jiddisch wegen ich habe Deutsch studiert (als Fremdersprache). Ich kann nicht so gut Deutsch, aber ich verstehe viel, und wegen spreche ich Hebraisch auch es ist nicht so schwer Jiddsich zu versthehen.

[@suikafan12]

@@renedupont1953 What's even your problem? They didn't say he could understand Yiddish 100% but around 80% which is mostly true. Nobody denied the atrocities that Germany did to the Jews however to deny that Yiddish is a Germanic language or the be more clear descends from the German language is stupid.

[@renedupont1953]

@@suikafan12 It's obvious that you're not qualified to discuss this matter. Your comment is full of mistakes.

[@OttQwumm]

Such a great video! Could watch the Yiddish vs German for many hours :)

[@laughsmileslife4084]

This was great!

[@balabochur]

The Jewish guy gives off such wholesome vibes

[@aseriesoftriangleswecalltr6065]

Says the Jew...

[@jtabendland]

@@aseriesoftriangleswecalltr6065 I find it, too and I'm German and not jewish at all 😊 The problem with the German guy is that he does not speak English perfectly (like myself). I am very interested in Jewish culture and know many single jiddish words and developed a little feeling for the differences between Jiddish and German. In fact, it is so similar, the one is almost the other, the Jewish guy was a bit quicker in getting many of the similarities. Also the German guy had a slower internet connection, it seems like he was reacting very slowly. One could misinterpret it as arrogance? (I only say that because of the comment above). But that's not true, he is an intelligent and friendly guy, no doubt. The Jew (don 't wanna be disrespectful - what's his name, let's see ah: Pinchas), is someone I'd really like to have a conversation with. Because he is so smart and knows a lot about topics I like (Judaism, maybe he also knows famous writers and artist I am interested in). I live in a small town in Germay so my only connection to Jewish culture is self-taught 👨🏻‍🎓 Anyway I liked the video 👍

[@georgyzhukov6409]

@@aseriesoftriangleswecalltr6065 your name makes sense...

[@etherospike3936]

@@georgyzhukov6409 In Greek that name is Odisseus !

[@aseriesoftriangleswecalltr6065]

@@etherospike3936 Hahaha, you know your classics!

[@modestoney1577]

As a native German speaker from Vienna, Austria it is absolutely no problem to understand Yiddish right away. I was surprised how hard it was for the guy from Bremen. Also he doesn´t know a lot about german dialects, because the ending "-le" as a diminuative form is very common in certain german speaking regions.

[@tesfuweldemikael2902]

It would also help if he actually knew the English for the few words that he understands. I won't compromise myself saying more.

[@vomm]

I don't think you have "absolutely no problem" except you understand hebrew too. There are too many hebrew or words of other languages in Yiddish to understand it with "absolutely" no problem when you only speak German or the austrian dialect.

[@modestoney1577]

@@vomm Maybe i wasn´t precise enough, that´s right. I meant the first examples with little/no hebrew in them. Still, we did actually transfer some yiddish/hebrew words into the German language and especially the Viennese dialect like "mischpoche", "Hawerer", "Schmonzes", "Masel", "Bahö", "Ezzes", "Zores", "Tacheles"......so yeah i have absolutely no problem understanding it.

[@tesfuweldemikael2902]

@@vomm Also, there's context. If there's just one word one doesn't understand in every sentence, that's not a real problem. But yeah, there are some difficulties.

[@modestoney1577]

@@vomm btw. there is no such thing as "the Austrian dialect", there are plenty varieties, and especially the Viennese has incorporated quite some Hebrew words. But of course you can think and believe whatever you want.

[@elvisd3947]

That was awesome. My family is of German origin, but they have lived in Russia for ~250 years. The way they spoke German is so incredibly similar to Yiddish, that I, now as a German speaker, was astonished how much I understood. Didn't even sound or feel like a foreign language to me. Mind-blowing stuff

[@Milchsnitte791994]

Nice video was rly fun maybe more from him :)

[@i.e.5089]

In my opinion the German sentences are too specific (I am German), also the guy did not explain very well. The Yewish guy is much better in choosing the texts and giving much better hints

[@eineeins1848]

Ich fande den letzten Text von dem jüdischen Mann viel zu lang aber die anderen waren gut für sowas

[@thomashering1482]

...and talking about Mördern Things Like sicher Clubs....and Brötchen ein Sandwich ????

[@MrCmon113]

It'd be better if they had someone with better knowledge of German dialects. I saw a lot more parallels between Yiddish and Swabian, Bavarian, etc.

[@Stuntmandouble08]

The standart German we speak today is a reformated modern language. It is easier for you to understand Yiddish then vice versa.

[@mudde123]

I totally agree with you. The German guy was not a very good choice; his first German sentence with 'Werder Bremen' in it was nonsense. 🙄

[@MrAdrien1999]

As a Swiss German speaker I adore how much I can understand Yiddish, such a beautiful and fascinating language!

[@byronofrothdale]

Is Yiddish much similar to Low German then?

[@MrAdrien1999]

@@byronofrothdale I think you’re getting things muddled. Yiddish is a high German/allemanic dialect and so are the German dialects of Switzerland (some of them even classified as highest German), together with Bavarian, vorarlbergisch and other variants. Standardised German is closer to central and lower German. But I’m pretty sure a conversation between a Swiss German speaker and yiddish speaker could occur with both speaking in their native tongue without too many problems. I’d love to test this myself one day...

[@Grizzly_mike_00]

@@MrAdrien1999 Yes I am from Vorarlberg and our dialect is much closer to Swiss German than to austrian. It's fascinating how "easy" Yiddish sounds for ous to understand.

[@porky1118]

When I heard Yiddish for the first time, I thought it's Swiss German.

[@byronofrothdale]

@@MrAdrien1999 Thanks, bro. That was very clarifying indeed. For linguistics purposes, at least what they told me at primary Spanish school, Yiddish is considered a dialect of German, not more details. Until now, I did not knew about its specific relationship with High German. Personally, when I think in High German in general, my mind goes to Swiss German rather than Austrian or Bavarian. But it's my brain, no reason attached.

[@Kruiwagenchauffeur]

As a native Dutch speaker that can understand German quite well, I actually understood more of Yiddish than I thought I would. Amazing.

[@waddeballe]

This is a great video, just like my professor once said it, languages are only dialects in comparison to other languages, visible in the similarities between jiddisch and modern day german, and we are all connected to each other through our speech in some way. I think we can learn a lot if we look into the past of our spoken languages.

[@thomastschetchkovic5726]

Funny thing is that I (as a native German) actually understood Yiddish better than the guy in this Video, and that is because of my accent. I speak allemannisch and it seems to be a lot closer to Yiddish than standard German

[@alexj9603]

Indeed. Tayfun is from northern Germany, but knowing southern dialects helps a lot in understanding Yiddish.

[@tayfun8975]

Ja glaube auch das ich da besser weggekommen wäre wenn ich mit süddeutschen Dialekten aufgewachsen wäre 😄

[@alexj9603]

@@tayfun8975 Aufgewachsen oder zumindest in Kontakt gewesen. Mich schockt inzwischen zwischen der Schweiz und Sachsen kein Dialekt mehr. Dafür ist der Norden nicht so mein Ding.

[@aliceche714]

Yo, ikh hob dos oykh bamerkt! :)

[@davidbraun6209]

I'll write in English, but "tzibele" in Yiddish should remind one of the Swabian (schwäbisch) diminutive -le (e.g., Mädle for standard Mädchen).

[@theusersam]

I'm German-Iranian and I've always been kind of fascinated by the fact that I understand Yiddish so well :-) Thanks for the episode.

[@patriciacortese4917]

This was fun to watch. I speak some German and was at one point in time able to help a person who spoke Yiddish on the NY subway with directions. It was a pleasure to be able to communicate .

[@user-qv2qf1jk5o]

a NY yiddish speaker who can't speak english...?

[@stevef.8708]

Absolutely enthralled by this. Great content!

[@asherabensour4873]

thx for the video i rly enjoyed it haha

[@christoph3187]

Im German and understood everything the Yiddish speaker said right away. Amazing! 😮 It reminded me of southern German dialect (Swabian).

[@gloria7334]

most of the southern dialect especially the alleman ones use the -le and have similar words which explains why people southern germany understand yiddish a bit better than people from bremen for example

[@_metastabil9570]

Yes or the old-german language my grand grand mother spoke

[@knueppeldick]

Zwiebele 🤭

[@ifly2themoon171]

@@gloria7334 just don't confuse allemanic with swebian

[@hyenalaughingmatter8103]

CHRIS yiddish is a german dialect...

[@jlp6864]

as a german i had NO IDEA just how similar our languages were! thank you for this

[@aaronfitzgerald9109]

They basically stole the German language and added their own crap

[@jlp6864]

@@aaronfitzgerald9109 you can't steal a language jewish and German peoples are just somewhat siblings

[@FrancisJoa]

@@jlp6864 Wrong. Yiddish was created out of an East German dialect from East Prussia mixed with some Hebrew words. It was never a real Jewish language it was/is more like a made up slang Jews were speaking in Germany.

[@aaronfitzgerald9109]

absolutely not, they are not German in any way shape or form.

[@Maigodseki]

@@aaronfitzgerald9109 How can you steal a language :D languages change and develop over time. How do u think English came to be?

[@thorbenkaufmann5682]

Das war sehr interessant!

[@grb2015]

i did not know, that yiddish and german are so familiar. I am german and understand nearly everything

[@salalal7491]

yiddish dude's first sentence: short and simple german dude: haha long sentence go brrrrrrr

[@whukriede]

Yes, he should have broken it down more, to single words and then recombine from there.

[@larissarilling1928]

As someone from Baden Württemberg, the “Zibbele” part was really interesting to me. Bc in Schwäbisch (one of the most common dialects in this part of Germany) we do actually use -le instead of -chen in order to express that something is small or cute. I had no idea that it was the same in yiddish…

[@Yorgos2007]

In Austrian German -el, in Swiss -li, as far as I know. Hungarian Schwabs also used -le or -li, for example cvekedli (zweckedli?) is a famous Schwäbisch food in Hungary, it is something like noodles with cabbage :)

[@jimgulick9773]

My wife, who speaks the dialect from Middle Franken (Nuremburg and environs), says it is exactly the same there. She was surprised to find out she could understand spoken Yiddish pretty well.

[@Nick-js8qh]

Ich habe vor 3 Jahren an der Uni Tübingen studiert, und hab ja sofort an "Spätzle" und "Mädle" gedacht als er fragte ob man "-le" am Ende des Wortes stellen könnte. lol Hört sich wohl besser an, wenn eine Deutsche, statt einen Amerikaner, solche Fragen antwortet ahahaha

[@acboesefrau7729]

Exaclty! I also thought of schwäbisch!

[@EVPaddy]

In Bernese German ‘Zibele’ or Zybele or however you’d write it is just onion, not a small onion. That would be a Zibeleli

[@web-navigator]

Love this! ❤

[@Balladenkind]

Wow, I really like Yiddish and it‘s so easy to understand the meaning. Amazing

[@Labroidas]

I feel like yiddish is a lot closer to my dialect (Austrian), or in general south-german. If you ever want to make a video with an Austrian German speaker and Yiddish, I would volunteer ;D

[@DelgonidoDargo]

The languages diverged from middle German in Swabia. So its closer to Swabian and Swiss accents

[@SirKingquote]

Yeah I'm swiss and I generally get the same words he gets in the video, but much quicker.

[@ingoinka6083]

actually it derives from middle age german spoken on the rhine between Mainz (Magenza), Worms (Warmaisa) and Speyer (Spira) (jewish names). but of course there are many influences of later times. and there was also a diffenrence between northern and southern yiddish like meschugge or meschigge (for meschugga משוגע) the first known written sentence is in the Worms Machzor from 1272 😉

[@PeiGuy]

Jiddisch ist eine westgermanische Sprache

[@kiksmika]

To me it seemed as German with some Slavic influence. Actually I remember, being Slovak translating to my German friends Menu/Speisekarte in Austria (Blumenkohl/Karfiol, Kartofreln/Erdäpfeln) etc. Anyway, really great video.

[@breakthroughmoment1647]

“Le” is also the diminutive used in the Swabian (Schwäbisch) dialect spoken in southwest Germany. So, one would say “Zwiebele” for little onion. Perhaps, Yiddish was influenced more by Swabian than standard German. Even the way you pronounced the word “today” in Yiddish was more like they would say it in Swabian (instead of the two-syllable standard German “heute”).

[@sprachschlampe353]

Bahador should try this again with a speaker from southwest Germany.

[@breakthroughmoment1647]

@@sprachschlampe353 Exactly!! With somebody from Stuttgart, etc.

[@viddl8267]

Or just all Swissgerman.

[@helenna_me]

I'm pretty sure it's based on the alternative diminutive suffix -lein (FreuLEIN) that has just changed through the time and because of people in all cultures cutting things of to make them shorter. It's less used nowadays in Hochdeutsch (which is spoken in Bremen), but it exists and is theoretically legitimate for all words as well. And was definitely used more before.

[@joschkanetzerco4534]

@@tomekg6629 An area with a high concentration of Jewish population throughout the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age was on the banks of Rhine River and it's affluents, first of all Moselle and Main (coties: Metz, Treves/ Trier, Mainz, Speyer, Worms, Landau, Frankfurt, Würzburg and Bamberg). There are many words in Yiddish that sound more like the German of the regions of Palatinate and Franconia than Swabia, as the tribe who settled there were the Franks. E.g. a bit: - a bisl (Yiddish) - e bissel (Palatine German) small town - shtetl (Yiddish) - Stettel (Palatinate German, pronounced exactly like the Yiddish equivalent) girl - meydl :: - Mädel Older word for the Yiddish language: - (yiddish) taytsh - daitsch (Palatinate German) There are many other examples. It's also very close to neighboring dialects like Alsatian and the northern dialects of Baden.

[@kragiharp]

Sehr schönes interessantes Video! Dankeschön!

[@diggie9598]

As a German i wasn't even remotely aware of how close these two languages actually are. Bravo!

[@kaderathebeekeeper22m3]

This is amazing. As a Kenyan 🇰🇪 German speaker I was surprised to realize how much of Yiddish I actually understand. So basically I’ve learned a little bit of Yiddish 🇮🇱 by learning German 🇩🇪😁.

[@MitsukiHashiba]

Wohnst du in Deutschland oder in Kenya? Do you live in Germany or Kenya?

[@kaderathebeekeeper22m3]

@@MitsukiHashiba Ich wohne in Deutschland 🇩🇪 Du auch?

[@kaderathebeekeeper22m3]

@ranjirapperstar2011 I’m Kenyan born but moved to Hessen Germany 14 years ago. You?

[@kaderathebeekeeper22m3]

@ranjirapperstar2011 Servus Bro. How’s the going in Düsseldorf? Actually I had a lot of friends who had taken German classes in Kenya. Every time I visit, we speak as much German as we can just for fun 😁 Do you speak any other languages besides German and English? Thanks for the warm welcome! Much appreciated! I don’t pay too much attention to the right wing scene. Mostly because it’s just too depressing. I’d rather mingle with kind folks like you and the folks in this video who show the world that we can coexist peacefully on this planet despite cultural differences. Our differences should be seen as something positive ✌🏼 🌎

[@PeiGuy]

@@kaderathebeekeeper22m3 why do you live in Germany?

[@AC-hi4ni]

I'm Jewish and I just loved absolutely everything about this video. Mostly the fun and connection between these three men. I wish the whole world could be so beautiful!

[@kaderathebeekeeper22m3]

This is amazing. As a Kenyan 🇰🇪 German speaker I was surprised to realize how much of Yiddish I actually understand. So basically I’ve learned a little bit of Yiddish 🇮🇱 by learning German 🇩🇪😁.

[@adrianj6795]

@@TheOwlHead Yiddish is a Jewish language so of course they'd mention that they're Jewish

[@adrianj6795]

@@TheOwlHead that's like asking why a person mentioned being German when talking about the German language

[@adrianj6795]

@@TheOwlHead wtf are you on about? The guy in the video literally explained that Yiddish is a mixture of Hebrew and whatever language that was spoken where the Jews speaking it were, there are many variations of Yiddish, the one that this guy spoke just had more German influence since it's likely that his family lived in a German speaking country.

[@adrianj6795]

@@TheOwlHead honestly mate, you sound like some kind of neo-nazi with your nonsensical ramblings

[@mahopp]

Sehr interessant, very interesting, thank you! Danke!

[@eg4016]

So cool to see how people get connected through languages! I think the understanding of Yiddish, first, depends on where from Germany you come, because I translated tracht into "trachten" and this can also mean "to think" in some parts of south Germany. And second, it depends on your knowledge of the old meanings of the words. If you know the old meanings or the origin of the word, you can understand Yiddish better because it is more similar to old German than to the German that is spoken today. Today for example, you can still find these old words in German bibles.

[@amym.694]

I’m Jewish, so thank you for doing this. One of the biggest reasons why Yiddish isn’t widely spoken is because the Jewish parents who came from Europe didn’t teach their children Yiddish so they could speak with each other so their children wouldn’t be able to understand what they were saying to each other.

[@Lagolop]

I know people say that but that is not always true. The kids typically didn't want to speak it. My great grand parents immigrated to Canada in the 1800s. Up to my parent's generation they spoke fluent Yiddish (and English of course). My generation weren't so interested but as I grew older I became more interested.

[@michelnahasfilho2973]

I'm Brazilian , my folks came from Syria (Christians) and they used to do the same. it's very rare for a third generation (grand children to immigrants) to be able to speak the Arab.

[@dashingdave2665]

It's not "cool" for kids to speak another language than the other kids! It's hard to keep them fluent but access to other language media like cartoons help.

[@Lagolop]

@@michelnahasfilho2973 Jewish people ( and linguists) are learning Yiddish more and more. So it is not just being spoken by the Ultra Orthodox. In fact German linguists are studying Yiddish to get a better understanding for eh roots of modern German. Yiddish is taught in most Jewish schools as well. Even in Israel Yiddish (once frowned upon) is now being taught. Int was a shame it was not made an official language after Hebrew. Hebrew was revived as a spoken language in an attempt to unite the Jewish people that came back from 4 corners of the world. Int would be a common language, not like Latin which is just used in prayer.

[@Lagolop]

@@michelnahasfilho2973 PS Interesting that the Yiddish speaker is from Brazil too. You can tell his accent when he speaks English. He doesn't look especially Ashkenazi so I find it interesting that he speaks Yiddish so well!

[@BWWolves1337]

As a German the first one could have been understood easily because 'trachten' is an older german version of 'longing'. "Nach etwas trachten" could be translated to "to want something really bad"

[@manzanasrojas6984]

Ye, was my first thought as well. Guess the guy was just slightly too young to immediately think of a word that isnt used as commonly nowadays.

[@binaa2309]

It also means striving or aspiring - freely translated it means basically that „god laughs about a human‘s lifeplan - bc things will change“

[@jonathanjonsson9205]

That's interesting! I'm Swedish and "eftertraktad" means something that is desired or sought after. "efter" is Swedish for "nach", similar to English, so it would be "nachgetrachtet". There are so many older German terms in Swedish, that sometimes when I try to speak German, I've been told that I sound like I'm trying to be Goethe - but with terrible grammar :)

[@andreasdracker8018]

Der Mensch denkt und Gott lenkt.

[@Adam210394]

My first thinking was betrachten 🤔

[@forgiven212]

THIS makes me soooo happy!

[@biedl86]

9:28 The German guy is right. The German diminutive is the -chen (the grammatical morpheme which makes things small). But we do have -lein too in some dialects (which is pronounced like the English "line"), especially in east Germany. He might not be too familiar with those dialects. He spoke pretty high German, which hints at Hanover.

[@panthersprung5161]

German speakers use the -le as diminutive in parts of Austria and North Italy as well

[@Lak62_101]

Hints to Hanover would be a oxycodone overdose or carrying a gun. spaß

[@NKOTCstuggi]

In swabian its -le not-chen

[@pyruvicac.id_]

​@@NKOTCstuggiSwabian is similar to Pennsylvanian Dutch too I believe, which would explain why Yiddish and Pennsylvanian Dutch have a lot of overlap as well..

[@NKOTCstuggi]

@@pyruvicac.id_ Pennsylvania Dutch derives from germans that came from the palatine region in Germany mostly, that’s close to the swabians and belongs to the alemannic dialects too. So yeah you’re right

[@kouroshmarx8646]

As being half Iranian half German this becomes very interesting for me as I also love the Jewish people. That -le at the end of words to show that things are small exists in standard German as well in the form of the suffix -lein and not only -chen so the small onion (Zwiebel) can be both "Zwiebelchen" or "Zwieblein/Zwiebelein". I believe in the southern German dialects such as Swabian or Swiss German they even use the suffix -le instead of -lein so it would be "Zwiebele/Zwieble". بهادر جان مانند همیشه برای کارت ازت سپاسگزاری میکنم! :)

[@odaenathus7825]

There is no “Jewish peoplel, there are Jews who come from dffierent racial and cultural backgrounds that have nothing in common besides religion. What you said doesn’t make sense, but I doubt you will be able to comprehend what I just said.

[@kouroshmarx8646]

@@odaenathus7825 and I believe you're to arrogant to have a good conversation.

[@samb2]

@@kouroshmarx8646 Very wise response 👏🏻

[@odaenathus7825]

@@kouroshmarx8646 Who said I intend to have a conversation with you?! That would be a waste of time, my time.

[@berserk9085]

so viel ich weiß ist die Basis des yiddischen bayrisch.

[@joaopedrodamasio9833]

Bahador, you're better than UN to unite different cultures. Keep doing your awesome work, Kuddos from Portugal 🇵🇹

[@M_SC]

Not impressed that in the notes he links to a known women basher’s show that he WENT ON. All the cultures minus women, I guess.

[@jimvasquez4336]

I love talking to Yiddish people it's always nice to share cultures even though I only know a bit of German.

[@dagostork9545]

Ein wunderbarer Kanal, da werde ich viel lernen, so eine schöne Sprach, klingt sehr liebevoll ❤ Liebe Grüße

[@lumarei1]

Just to clarify. The ending “le” is used in South Germany and “chen” is used in the north to minimise a word.

[@RacTac]

-lein could also be used

[@strattybird5310]

"chen" und "lein" machen alles klein. Those suffixes are added for diminutive. In South Germany they use "le" a lot.

[@murryjcohen]

@@strattybird5310 "Le" is the one used in Yiddish. It's the diminutive that is sometimes used in English, as many Yiddishisms are found in English.

[@murryjcohen]

@@RobVaderful How is this different from what I and others have said? "-Le" is the one used in Yiddish, which makes sense given the similarity between Yiddish and southern German (and Schweitzer Deutsch) dialects. For instance an endearing term for a young boy in Yiddish is "yingele".

[@foosonnenkern1885]

"le" is also used in austria and in switzerland we add "li"

[@Aaron-sy5yx]

Given the way I grew up, with the shadows of the holocaust every present in my upbringing, it's beautiful to see a German and a Jew laughing and sharing each other's language.

[@nieselpriem]

I'm a German Jew. There is nothing unusual about that. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@robbb512]

@@nieselpriem he didn't said that its unusual, he just said that its nice to see

[@TitovIgorBro]

You are being fucking weird

[@lemes1154]

Dont want to be Toxic PR something But this guys Name is Tayfun But maybe hes half german

[@nieselpriem]

@@lemes1154 I don't get your point. Why shouldn't he be fully German? Just because of his name? I went to school with an Aranka, a Marcella, a Siv, a Pierre, a Jean-Pierre, a Roger and lots of other people who doesn't sound very German but totally were. And that even was in the GDR, which wasn't exactly well known for being very "multicultural". 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@haraldafling2111]

As a Southern German/High German speaker, I could understand almost everything and was rather surprised how Tayfun did in fact not understand some of the Yiddish. At first, I thought, it might be because of his regional dialect/background or maybe his young age. After watching another clip of yours with a Dutch and an even younger Upper Austrian as well as watching clips on other channels and speaking to an Israeli about it these days myself, I figured that it's probably about age and experience with other dialects rather than the exact background. But mutual understanding is in fact very possible. All in all an interesting video. Thank you for bringing together people of various backgrounds to communicate and share this with us!

[@MartialGlobe]

as someone with German as his mother tongue I am hugely entertained and simply amazed by how closely related some of these languages are, I've got some roots in Slovenia aswell and there are also plenty of words in the balkan countries that are somewhat similar, well obviously but when you experience it it's still mind boggling, how closely related and equal we are but how equally divided we are, on grounds of social economic state, heritage, language, political believes and traditions, very refreshing to see a simply grounded conversation where the upbringing is not of value. Much love and respect! Edit: I'd love to have heard some german proverbs, some missed potential right there

[@MartialGlobe]

@@ivanhoewindsor4749 I am from southern Germany we would probably use Mäuschen but you're right

[@marcwittkowski5146]

I was honestly surprised how hard it seemed to be for the German guy to understand the Yiddish sentences. They were basically like a German talking in some Rheinländisch/ Bavarian dialect to me. Love it. Edit: Okay,that paragraph was tough.

[@istkeingeheimnis8093]

His performance was pretty weak. Gegannvet - ergaunert Gegannvet beim Robin hat men nisht. Ergaunert beim Rabbi hat man nicht. He didnt even recognize the “man” man oh mann

[@istkeingeheimnis8093]

Avadai nisht. Erwarte nicht.

[@istkeingeheimnis8093]

Men flegt - Man pflegt

[@woltschgal]

@G P "His performance was pretty weak", aber geganvet ist gestohlen, nicht ergaunert... flegt ist engl. "used to", also vergangenheit... avadai ist hebräisch, hat mit erwarten nichts zu tun... und anspruchsvolles jiddisch findet man natürlich in der literatur, wie bei dem literaturbeispiel (that paragraph) oder bspw. hier auf youtube in "parshes" und dergleichen...

[@istkeingeheimnis8093]

@@woltschgal ich hab nur den möglichen zusammenhang mit deutschen wörtern zeigen wollen, die noch heute benutzt werden stehlen ist in der synonymgruppe von ergaunern. Den rest gehe ich jetzt nicht durch. Ich glaube dich stört einfach nur meine arroganz.

[@leonig01]

As an Israeli who studied German, Yiddish is like 90% German written in Hebrew letters and some Hebrew loan words. It is nice reading the Hebrew letters, waiting for the word to transform into its German equivalent in your mind. So I started Duolingo's Yiddish course and were able to check out the first 5 checkpoints simply by knowing German.

[@denkedeligekanal9059]

i am a danish person and we have learned german in school. i tried once being in estonia talking with an israeli guy, who of course spoke hebrew but didnt know yiddish. i had a short text in yiddish, and i couldnt read it, as i dont know hebrew letters. and he couldnt read it as he didnt understand the german words. but he could read it for me what it sounded like, and then i could recognize the word from german and then translate it for him into english. this was a quite interesting and nice experience to see how far you can get when you cooperate.

[@martenkats6915]

I'm a German-speaker (I'm from The Netherlands but I learnt German as a child so I'm near-native) and I find it interesting how much I can understand of Yiddish. I'm a linguist and have always been interested in Hebrew, despite not speaking it. I've got friends in Israel, been there before and planning to go there again post-Covid. I'm starting to consider looking into learning basic Yiddish to get familiar with the letters in order to help me doing Hebrew later.

[@leonig01]

Also hast du wahrscheinlich die meisten von Yiddish Sätze verstanden?

[@martenkats6915]

@@leonig01 Ja, ich habe ziemlich viel verstanden. :)

[@TheoEvian]

I am a Czech and I studied german in school (sadly not as proficient in it in speaking as I would like but I can read news basically). I have done a lot of work in performing folk culture of Bohemia and by extension of Czechia generally and we have also done a little bit of Jewish folklore (because that was a part of the reality of 19th century, so we shouldn't ignore it either) where I have of course came across Yiddish because that is what most of the songs are written in (there are also some surviving in Czech but that is a minority). The biggest difference between standard German and Yiddish for me is the pronunciation, mostly long vowels changing into diphtongs and a few other shifts. Of course there are Hebrew words too but the main thing for me is the pronunciation makes it much harder for me to recognise those ordinary german words for what they are. Of course there is always the question of language vs dialect but I think of the difference most of the time as political, if you want to call Yiddish a dialect you can but calling it a language is just as valid, as Max Weinreich said, "אַ שפּראַך איז אַ דיאַלעקט מיט אַן אַרמיי און פֿלאָט a shprakh iz a dialekt mit an armey un flot" :D

[@leonardsaffrinnowitz2684]

I'm a Yiddish speaker and it was interesting to notice the differences between both languages Yiddish and German. I see the two have a long history of the past. Of course there are notable similarities between the two as well.

[@sasha95111]

Wow, what an unexpected comparison of languages! interesting!

[@alyssarosenbaum1]

As someone who is Jewish and a German speaker, I can attest that someone who knows German should probably automatically understand maybe around 70-80% of Yiddish. I remember after I had started learning German in high school when I went to peruse my friend's family's bookshelf and pulled a book off the shelf with Hebrew characters that didn't have vowels. Having gone to Hebrew school growing up, I could read the aleph-bet--but not without the vowels. But then I looked at it more closely and found that I could, in fact, read it, because it turned out the book was Yiddish and was following Germanic phonemes and some of the syntax. And yes, it is easier to understand than some other German dialects. But if you know both German and Hebrew, it especially plugs in to your prior knowledge quite neatly, almost like you automatically know Yiddish that way. The pronunciations and grammars are a little different, though.

[@dunkel-zombi_fiziert-heit]

i love your great last-names... rosenbaum is wonderful.

[@novadhd]

I used to speak hebrew and knew a lot of Yiddish growing. Remembered a lot of the funny/bad words of course.

[@dunkel-zombi_fiziert-heit]

@@novadhd i first read "yiddish growling"... lots of good metal coming from israel. 🤘

[@Quallenkrauler]

If you study a bit of "Mittelhochdeutsch" (medieval German), the pronounciation becomes even easier to understand. Which makes sense, since Yiddish derived from it and then became its own language, it never had the "Lautverschiebung" (sound shift) that formed the modern German pronounciation. For example, the way "ei" is pronounced in Yiddish is exactly how it was pronounced in medieval German.

[@slXD100]

I have a question, I've seen this proverb "dying while young is a boon in old age." everywhere, but i've never found the yiddish or hebrew version. is there any?

[@Danke1982]

I'm German, German is my native tongue. Yiddish is easily to unterstand, just a few differences in the pronunciation but with careful listening and thinking it is easy to unterstand. Even the word Yiddish sounds like the german word Jüdisch(Yiddish). Very interesting the video.

[@dougbennet2035]

There's a difference between jüdisch and Jiddisch, what would be the correct word for the language. Jüdisch is an adjective to describe e.g. a Jewish person or practice.

[@britishcigarettejude144]

It is like the Dutch word Jiddisch

[@seanpennhauer9133]

@@dougbennet2035 In german jüdisch is used in both cases, so he was actually right

[@dougbennet2035]

@@seanpennhauer9133 no it's actually not

[@ctlspl]

@@dougbennet2035 Doch. A person can be jüdisch and speak jüdisch. It just means jewish.

[@tp2046]

Le is -lein, Zwiebelein… small onion, still used today. Love this and all your videos. And understanding Persian and old English it’s all the more enlightening 😊

[@ami443]

In south of germany, they use "LE" as a diminutive.

[@MrThetaphi]

There are many words with Yiddish origin in today's German, and we are mostly unaware of that. Very interesting to see, what roots we have in common. Thanks for the video!

[@claraowens6830]

When i was in Israel my jewish friend, who was not able to speak jiddish but hebrew, once read out jiddish letters out loud to me, so i could translate to her from german to english. So i could understand it and she was able to read it! It was a very connecting feeling (:

[@craigistheman101]

Teamwork!

[@dangerdouglas6700]

how was the sex?

[@caitlinwarren461]

@@dangerdouglas6700 weirdo

[@doomprophetess6286]

Spending time around Yiddish-speaking friends in Brooklyn has taught me more German than I learned from my German-speaking father

[@murryjcohen]

My former mother-in-law, who knew no German, got along fine in Germany speaking Yiddish.

[@Wideolink]

haha nice one !

[@fayereaganlover]

No one cares

[@Blackbirdinthedeadofnight]

Lol that’s cool actually

[@gastarbeiter8384]

We got dialects in germany from different parts that sre way harder to understand then yiddish lol

[@hakimmohamad6216]

It's interesting how much the use of language reflects the cultural context. And It's fun to see how people explore each other's worlds through the window of small language samples.

[@hirschland]

That is great❤! I guess the people from south German may have more in common, as the germans of the north. Even the example with smaller things we are using the (le) behind. Thanks for this project this is soooo sooo great ! Thanks❤🎉

[@joelleson3313]

I served seven years in the Army in what was West Germany. I found that the Yiddish I learned from my parents enabled me to understand much of what my German friends and others were saying.

[@montanus777]

it still _is_ west germany. :P

[@jeouseth]

Can you please make a video of “Can Spanish speakers understand Ladino speakers?”

[@curiousmind_]

Ladino?

[@fivantvcs9055]

@@curiousmind_ The Jewish version of medieval Spanish.

[@curiousmind_]

@@fivantvcs9055 ohhh

[@samb2]

Do Ladino speakers still live in Spain?

[@daniel3139]

@@samb2 not since 1492

[@helgafellay4352]

I am fluent in German, but don't speak Yiddish, however, I understand Yiddish, enough to get the gist of it. Yiddish is very similar to the local dialect spoken in Frankfurt, Germany, which is the financial capital of Germany. Yiddish uses German words, pronounced like they are in the Frankfurt dialect, but it has no grammar. Some Hebrew words are intermixed in Yiddish. In sum, it cannot be understood verbatim by a non-Yiddish speaking German, but the gist of the conversation can be well understood.

[@FHIPrincePeter]

The book that helped me, an English man, crack German was Astrid Stedje's "Deutsche Sprache gestern unde Heute" it made me realise that Language is a living and evolving means of communication where the rules and meanings change , new words are added and old deleted.

[@g.v.3493]

Yiddish is a precious, precious treasure. I am acutely aware of this because my grandparents were among the last speakers of the East Prussian dialect. I had the chance to learn it, but as a dumb kid I didn’t know what I was losing by not having the interest. Just try to learn it somewhere today. Keep Yiddish alive!

[@user-po9iy3pk2y]

Luckily doulingo added it recently and there are a lot of people learning it these days and interested in reviving it😊

[@Rynbur]

De Lorbass un de Marjell een wirklich scheener Schlach

[@asatrv]

My grandmother grew up in Königsberg, I guess I should try to learn that dialect.

[@magicAAA]

Yiddish with an icing of icke speak must be hilarious! x)

[@joewitt5638]

@ G. V. Belive me, jiddisch Wont die in 1000 years bc in 45 years a third of Israel will speak it.

[@elizaa.367]

Haha, I think I can add Yiddish to my CV, since I understand 80-90% of it, as I speak German 😂 Two very intelligent gentlemen, fantastic work 😊👏

[@tayfun8975]

Vielen Dank :)!

[@elizaa.367]

@@tayfun8975 Sehr gerne! Du hast es geschafft 😊👍

[@jonahs92]

@@tayfun8975 Liebe Grüße nach Deutschland, aus Israel! 🇮🇱💚🇩🇪

[@tayfun8975]

@@jonahs92 Grüße zurück aus Deutschland nach Israel !😁

[@renedupont1953]

Liebe Eliza --- Please read my answer to 1847. Your statement about understanding 80-90% is completely wrong. I can provide thousands of typical Yiddish sentences that you wouldn't even begin to understand --- so don't be ridiculous. During World War II, your "wonderful" German mother tongue was the language of mass-murderers. Die schrecklichen und schändlichen Verbrechen gegen die Menschheit, welche Deutschland begangen hat, wird die Welt nie vergessen. Sie haben keine Jiddischkenntnisse und Ihre Äusserung ist nicht wissenschaftlich begründet.

[@CZpersi]

Fascinating stuff. Mutual understanding is very dependent on dialects of Yiddish, since some may feel closer to modern German than others. I am not a Yiddish speaker, but I do speak German and Hebrew and while I can listen to some speakers of Yiddish with little problems as long as they speak slower and pronounce well, I struggle to catch even a single word in others.

[@CrassSpektakel]

I am surprised how similar Yiddish sounds to Silesian. My Grandparents were native speakers of Silesian and because I grew up at their house I know it pretty well. There aren't many people left speaking or understanding that old Silesian. Though I can speak a couple of words I don't consider myself in any way proficient. I would be surprised if even 100 people were still alive who speak it and 10.000 who understand it. Silesian was spoken by two million peoples 100 years ago. Pretty much dead nowadays. The few true Silesians, less than 50.000 as far as I know, still living in Silesia speak nowadays either speak polish or high-german with a strong accent.

[@walther7147]

In silesian there lived very much jews. So may be it is more than a coincidence.

[@AndersGehtsdochauch]

Der Mensch tracht (auf Hochdeutsch: *strebt)* und Gott lacht. Ein herrliches Sprichwort. So wahr 💜

[@Lindalindali]

Bei uns ist diese Version geläufiger: "Der Mensch denkt und Gott lenkt."

[@AndersGehtsdochauch]

@@Lindalindali Genau, so kenne ich es auch.

[@ullielch7592]

Der Mensch denkt und Gott lenkt. - Der Mensch dachte und Gott lachte.

[@Max77Prime]

Gott lacht auch wenn kinder sterben, vergewaltigt werden, menschen sterben bomben explodieren ect. Er ist ein voyorist

[@AndersGehtsdochauch]

@@Max77Prime Ein Voyeurist, meinst du? Das ist etwas Anderes. Aber ein Sadist, der würde das tun, was du hier beschreibst.

[@mschnayd]

In 1989 my family and I were moving from USSR to USA via a long route that included stay in Austria. My grandmothers were very well versed in Yiddish and were very successful in communicating basics with Austrians. They are both long gone, but the memory of them walking into grocery stores and having a conversation with a cashier or people on the street is always with me.

[@mithridatesi9981]

I speak German and I understand your surname, Mr. Schneidermann ^^

[@karunakar2229]

Which region of ussr you belonged to? Can you still speak russian language

[@Cyrano1987]

Love it!

[@puppenbuhnebauchkribbeln1183]

Wow - so interessant 👂🏼👌🏼

[@musicxxa6678]

Yiddish dude is so nice. Greetings from Turkey. Good video as always Bahador.

[@RealMrSmit]

As a native Austrian German and afrikaans speaker I could understand the Yiddish very good. It kind of sounds like a Swiss German I can more easily understand.

[@Rainer.W1510]

super interesting!