The conference of Yiddish Writers opened here today.
An important item on the agenda is to be a discussion of means whereby the “jargonizing” of Yiddish, a process which has been going on for centuries by the injection of national phraseology gleaned in all countries of the Diaspora, will come to ar. end. On the condemned list of foreign phrases are those culled from the Russian, Ukrainian, English and Hebrew languages.
The conference delegates will of course not declare open war on Hebraicisms which have for centuries been absorbed in the Yiddish language, but which are frowned upon by the Soviet. But all words and idioms which come under the heading of clerical and national will be eliminated if and when possible.
Yiddish is the official language of the Jewish people living in Russia and has been recognized as such by the Russian government since the Soviet revolution. But government officials who stand opposed to Zionism and the Hebrew language seek to prevent any nationalist movement from developing in the country.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
