Online Dictionary of Polish Borrowings in Yiddish

This is the demo version of The Online Dictionary of Polish Borrowings in Yiddish, that is one of the results of the research project “Long-Lasting Language Contact and its Lexical and Semantic Outcome Based on the Example of Polish Lexical Borrowings in Yiddish”, located at the University of Warsaw. Yiddish constitutes a vivid example of a mixed language that emerged as a result of language contact between Semitic, Germanic, and Slavic languages. The intense and long-lasting impact of Polish and other Slavic languages manifests itself primarily, although not exclusively, in the lexicon and semantics of Yiddish. The aim of the project is to survey the Polish-Yiddish lexical transfer and draw some general conclusions on the overarching topic of language contact. The dictionary is the first such collection of lexical testimonies to Polish-Yiddish language contact, constituting both a contribution to linguistic theory and a practical tool. Though the material collected in the dictionary is not comprehensive, it may still form a basis for anthropological, cultural, and historical discussions on contacts between different ethnic groups. Last but not least, the fact that the dictionary registers rare vocabulary in the context of respective lexical fields will make it a practical tool for Yiddish translators with no knowledge of Slavic languages, contributing to the elimination of numerous errors in translations of Yiddish literature as well as historic documents. 

The full version of the dictionary will be available in 2020. It is projected to include ca. 600 word families (see: How to use the dictionary; comprising around 2500 individual lexemes.