REPRESENTING JEWISH IDENTITY THROUGH ENGLISH

Abstract

The term Jewish English (JE) has come to refer to a variety of the English language influenced by Hebrew and Yiddish and spoken primarily by American Jews of Eastern European origin. Although some features of this complex variety have entered into the American mainstream, JE, like other ethnic varieties, serves primarily to represent affiliation with a shared cultural heritage. At the same time, Jewishness does not mean the same thing to all those who identify themselves as Jewish: members differ with respect to religious observances, holiday rituals, national origins, political views, places of residence, and so on. All of these factors influence the way people speak. This essay investigates how ethnic identity has affected the history and development of JE; how JE varies from general American English with respect to vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and discourse style; and how JE represents the struggle for the dual identity of being Jewish and being American.KeywordsJewish CommunityJewish IdentityJewish LifeReligious ObservanceHebrew WordThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.