The Centre for Jewish Studies
University of Manchester
Extra-Mural Lectures 1998-99
For the full list of lectures, click here
Feb 16 Yaron Matras: Jewish languages as secret
languages: the case of cattle traders' jargon in Germany
Abstract:
It is not uncommon for small communities that specialise in particular
trades, especially itinerant trades, to form in-group or secret languages,
often referred to in the literature as 'jargons'. Such jargons usually consist
of a manipulated or camouflaged lexicon, intended to exclude outsiders from
portions of the conversation.
In rural Jewish communities in Germany and adjoining regions (in Switzerland,
Alsace, and the Netherlands), secret jargons are documented as early as
the 18th century. They were common among Jewish hawkers, thieves, and cattle
traders. The latter called their secret language 'Lekoudesch', 'Lechoudesch',
'Lotter-Lekoris', etc., all derived euphemistically from 'Loshn ha-Koudesh'
('the holy tongue', i.e. Hebrew).
'Lekoudesch' drew mostly on Hebrew-derived vocabulary that was accessible
to community members via their religious education and familiarity with
scriptures. In this sense it reminds us of Judeo-German and Yiddish. But
there are some important differences: Hebrew-derived vocabulary is used
that is not commonly employed in Judeo-German or Yiddish; furthermore, it
undergoes creative processes of word formation unknown in the Hebrew sources.
Finally, the Hebrew-derived vocabulary is enriched by a number of lexical
items of other sources (French, Romani) adopted from other neighbouring
secret languages of non-Jewish itinerants.
Once Lekoudesch became widespread in the context of the cattle trade,
it was also adopted by non-Jewish traders and farmers who had extensive
contact with Jews in the trade. In the early 1980s I was able to document
the use of Lekoudesch among farmers in rural communities with a once significant
Jewish population, in south-west Germany. Basing my observations mainly
on a corpus or recordings collected there, I will discuss the formation
process of Lekoudesch and the problems of reconstructing the original functions
it once had.
Résumé of talk and discussion prepared by
Irene Lancaster:
What is jargon? It tends to be thought of negatively. Some people think
that Yiddish is a jargon, but it has actually been a written language since
the 13th century. For linguists the term is not derogatory, but represents
a manipulation of language, often a secret language or code, so that outsiders
(or bystanders) cannot understand.
There are communities throughout the world who transmit their secret
language from generation to generation, eg peddlers, hawkers and itinerants,
i.e. socially margialised groups who organise their economic activities
around the family unit and ethnic community. They switch syllables, or
pick up vocabulary from far-off places on their travels. This jargon is
then transmitted as a whole. The users are usually either in specific trades
or of specific ethnicities.
In the second half of the 19th century many German Jews moved from rural
to urban communities, in the wake of the Enlightenment. This had not been
allowed before. They gradually integrated and became an important component
in German life. Rural Jewish communities diminished. In the south-west
part of Germany, near Stuttgart, rural Jewish communitites were therefore
sparse by the turn of the century. Most of these were in the cattle trade,
which was thought of as a Jewish profession. The villages had been owned
by counts in the 17th and 18th centuries. These counts had difficulty raising
taxes from the peasants, so they asked itinerant Jewish merchants and Gypsy
traders to settle. Such was the history of the Jewish community of Rexingen,
where Jews were granted settlement priveleges in the second half of the
17th century.
What language did these Jews speak daily? Not Yiddish, as is thought,
but a variety of German, with only occasional Hebrew vocabulary used to
designate specifically Jewish institutions (e.g. holidays), and with some
particular pronunciation of the German words. This 'dialect' was not restricted
to a particular region, but was spoken by Jews throughout the German-speaking
(and adjoining) territories. It is therefore better defined as an "ethnolect".
For instance, to say kaafa for the German kaufen, one did not have to be
Jewish. It depended on where one lived, but all Jews said kaafa [to buy].
Alongside this everyday form of German used by the Jewish rural population,
Jews engaged in particular trades developed secret varieties or jargons.
They were based on their German speech, but used Hebrew-derived vocabulary
extensively in order to conceal meanings from outsiders. There are several
different forms of Jewish jargon. Kochemer Louschn wise guys speech ie
secret language of the Jewish underworld. Louschn ha-Koudesh sacral language
(euphemistically), jargon of cattle traders in Germany, Switzerland, Alsace
and Holland.
Before 1938, of the Jews of Rexingen one third emigrated; another third
emigrated to Palestine and founded a settlement still known as the Swabian
village; and a third were murdered in German concentration camps. After
the war there were no Jews left in the village, but amazingly the jargon
used by Jewish cattle traders had survived among those who had traded with
them, especially German farmers, and those who moved cattle for them. In
the 1980s it was still in use among Germans in their 80s, who I recorded
it in their pubs, but it will not survive the death of these old people.
Examples of Jewish cattle traders jargon from (non-Jewish) farmers in
Rexingen.
1 Dr guj veroumelt lou = Der goy veraumelt lo = the outsider [not gentile]
does not understand 2 Lou dibra, dr guj schfft! = lo diber, der goy shev
= do not speak, a stranger is sitting [Irene a mix of German and Hebrew,
but not Yiddish]. 3 Alle gimmel doff = Alle gimmel tov = all three are
good. 4 Die bra isch mechtz = Die parah ist *mechetz = the cow is sick,
ie dont close the deal. *is from a written mediaeval Hebrew word no longer
in use 5 Die goja isch haggel doff, dia kennt-mr lekaecha = Die goya ist
ha-kol tov; die können wir lakachat = the woman is very pretty; one
could take her [ie sleep with her] 6 Der schaefft de ganze jomm im uschpiss
un duat immer harme schasskenna und meloucht lou = Der shev der ganze yom
im uschpiz und tut immer harbe shteiya und melacha lo = he sits the whole
day in the pub and drinks alot and does not work.
In this last example note the word uschpiss, from the Aramaic word for
guest, taken from Greek, from which we obtain hospice.
Hebrew derivations include Kassirrosch = pig-head; seifel bajiss = zevel
bait = toilet; schocha Majim lou Kuhlef = shachor maim lo chalav = black
water minus milk = black coffee. Galach =shaven-headed= priest [taken from
the story of Joseph and his audience with Pharaoah, cited by Sidney Baigel]
Douflemonischer = tevel emuna = dipping faith= Catholic [baptism]. The
jargon also includes a small number of words of Romani (Gypsy) and of French
origin, transmitted through contact with other secret trade jargons of the
region, which are often heavily influenced by these languages.
Question/Answer Session
Q [Irene] Was Yiddish spoken by Jews in Germany, and if not, where
was it spoken?
A In Germany the Jewish language spoken was an ethnolect (dialect
status). The Jews in Germany knew various forms of German - depending on
where they were. When the Jews were expelled to Poland they imported their
language with them, but lost contact with the German-speaking community.
The product of this move became the independent language of Yiddish, incorporating
some elements from the Slavonic languages.
Q [Dr. Baigel] What about the chronology of Yiddish over 1000 years?
A Difficult to define. It did not appear in embryonic form until Jews
came to Germany and learned German, but it took time to develop from a dialect
to a language with its own literature etc. When does a community define
its own speech as a different language? We can tell from the Jews own
writings. There is lashon ha-kodesh, and there is taitsch. Only in 17th
century Poland do they refer to their written language as Yiddish. It emerged
after the refugee movements of the 13-14th century, and developed.
Q Yiddish kept the Jewish people together. They could all speak to
each other in America. Are the troubles in the world today due to the inability
to communicate in one language?
A Many people see Esperanto as a solution. I do not agree.
Q According to Koestler, Yiddish may have been influenced by the Khazar
language. Is this true?
A We do not know what the Khazar language was. There is no precise
linguistic evidence for this.
Q A language can die if its function fails. Nowadays only certain
Orthodox corners of the world use it daily. Does it still have a chance?
Hebrew has a chance because of the necessity of choosing it when so many
different nationalities emigrated to Israel, and therefore one language
was needed.
A You are right about the Orthodox, as nowadays this is the community
where Yiddish is passed on. But they only live in self-contained pockets.
Irene Like this part of Manchester.
A In Israel I have noted a shift in the Orthodox to using Hebrew.
Some who have become religious from the outside use Yiddish, and not only
the Ashkenazim.
Q (Irene): What about the popularity of Yiddish in the non-Jewish world,
eg, the Oxford Centre and other similar places in Israel, especially since
the receipt - for whatever reason - by Isaac Bashevis Singer of the Nobel
Prize for Literature?
A I wonder what you mean by for whatever reason? Irene I am referring
to the politics involved in the awarding of the Nobel prizes.
A What you refer to is interest rather than revival. I dont think
Yiddish can be revived, though in places such as N. Manchester, there is
a viable, transmitting community.
Q How much is it spoken by South Africans?
A Dont know.
Q We can see a sprinkling of Yiddish within the English language now?
A It is a well-known phenomenon that foreign languages enrich slang, ultimately
making an appearance in the OED - there are even a couple of Romany words
in there now.
Q Often they are absorbed in a different context to the original,
eg kosher.
A This is known as a semantic shift, because the word would have a
specific meaning in the dialect not needed in general parlance, eg goy as
outsider.
Q Do we never create new words, or do they just shift in meaning?
A Technical terms are new, or language planning can be done by academies,
eg in Israel. These are influential, but not always successful. When I
go back to Israel there are new words which I do not understand, such as
kaletet, rather than kassetah for cassette. This is a successful academy
invention, based on the verb to absorb. My nieces and nephews do not understand
the term kassetah, on which I was brought up.
Q (Irene) Would you say this was a political decision by the Academy
to hebraize modern Hebrew vocabulary?
A Yes. This has also happened in the former Yugoslavia - where dialects
have become separate languages. Political processes intervene all the time
in language. For instance, Urdu and Hindi are practically the same language,
but are named differently by Moslems and Hindus respectively.
Q Do languages create nationalism?
A Nationalism often creates languages - not necessarily the other way
around.
Q (Frank Adam) You have said that language is dialect with an army
and civil service. One definition of a language may be when the community
translates the Bible or Koran into their dialect/language, thereby freezing
the use of language. Returning to Yiddish, the Orthodox use a Hebrew, not
a Yiddish, Bible.
A There is, actually, a Yiddish translation of the Koran. But yes,
in religious societies translating a holy book is a token of their devotion
to their own language, and also their institutionalization of it. But many
languages do not have a written tradition or holy scriptures. These languages
are not disappearing because of this lack, but by process of acculturation.
Orthodox communities try to resist change by retaining original dress,
language etc - but they also compromise - adapting in some way to the greater
community. Yiddish depends on communities as part of an oral tradition,
not as an ideology. Some Orthodox communities and non-Orthodox communities
sacrifice their own language to communicate with others. There are no one-track
solutions.
Q In order to study the Gemara you need Yiddish.
A Not in Yemen. In the Orthodox communities of Jerusalem, such as
Mea Shearim, Yiddish is a written language. They also read and write in
Hebrew - but some posters are in Yiddish.
Q [German-born member of audience] The Bible was translated into Yiddish,
because my mother didnt know any Hebrew, but read it in Yiddish.
A Yes.
Q (Irene) The question of which language is a sign of Orthodoxy seems
to go in fashions. Last week we had a lecture on the doyen of 19th century
German Orthodoxy, Samson Raphael Hirsch. The question of language did not
arise in that talk, but in fact he was anti- Zionist who, nevertheless,
espoused modern Hebrew rather than Yiddish. On the other hand there have
been, and still are, many non-religious speakers of Yiddish. It does appear
that insisting on Yiddish in ultra-Orthodox circles is a political statement.
I remember being approached by a Hungarian ultra-Orthodox Jew in Jerusalem,
some years ago, who could tell by my dress that I was not ultra-Orthodox
and that I was otherwise probably too young to be a speaker of Yiddish.
Without looking at me he asked the way to the bus-stop in Yiddish. As
I speak German I was able to understand him enough to answer his question
in Hebrew, to which he was able to make some suitable reply in Yiddish.
I rest my case.
---------
Yaron Matras is Research Fellow in Linguistics at the University of
Manchester. He comes from Jerusalem where he studied Linguistics and Arabic
at the Hebrew University. He then studied German dialects at Tübingen
University and took an MA in Lingusitics focusing on Kurdish and a PhD on
the Romani language at Hamburg University. The main focus of his current
research is the influence of language contact in multlingual communities
on the development of langauge and includes Jewish languages (Hebrew, Yiddish,
Ladino, Judeo-Persian, Judeo-Kurdish, Neo-Aramaic); Major Publications include
Lehrbuch der Hebräischen Umgangssprache (1986)
The Centre for Jewish Studies
The Department of Religions and Theology
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
United Kingdom
Tel +44 (0)161 275 3614; Fax +44 (0)161 275 3613
e-mail: Bernard.Jackson@man.ac.uk