Elements of Language Contact between German and Yiddish in the Jewish Press of Interwar Bukovina
Elements of Language Contact between German and Yiddish in the Jewish Press of Interwar Bukovina

Summary/Abstract: Following the integration of Bukovina into the Habsburg Empire in 1775, the Jews began to settle in this region in increasing numbers. By the end of the nineteenth century, many of those Jews became German speakers, while another significant part remained speakers of Yiddish. Due to the use of both languages among the Jews of Bukovina, there are many recorded instances of mutual influences between Yiddish and German. These mutual influences, through language contact, were most evident in the first half of the twentieth century. The most relevant medium in which these language transfers were recorded is the Jewish press of Bukovina, in German and Yiddish. A comparative study of these Jewish periodicals may illustrate how, on the one hand, the language contact between German and Yiddish generated a particular semantic abundance, while on the other hand it contributed to the remarkable cultural diversity and complexity of interwar Bukovina.

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