Yiddish phrasebook

Yiddish is spoken as a daily language in some parts of America, mostly in New York City, and in some parts of Europe, particularly Eastern Europe, and South America, as well as in Israel. It is slightly higher than standard German, with a large admixture of words of Hebrew, Slavic, or other origin. As Yiddish is roughly 75% Germanic in origin, German speakers can understand a large part of it. Yiddish is written with the same alphabet as Hebrew, with a few additional letters, and is written from right to left. Pronunciation guide Yiddish has several dialects which differ in their vowel sounds and certain vocabulary items. Words of European origin are spelled out phonemically. On the other hand, words of Semitic (Hebrew and Aramaic) origin are written just as in the original Hebrew or Aramaic, without vowels. In many cases, you must learn how to pronounce these words in Yiddish on a word-by-word basis; you cannot necessarily work it out from their spelling, and they are mostly pronounced differently from Israeli Hebrew. א shtumer alef  silent; used before ו vov and י yud when they are vowels; e.g. איר (ir) you subj. אַ pasekh alef  father אָ komets aleph  orange ב beys  like bear בֿ veys  like volume; only used in words of Hebrew or Aramaic origin ג giml  like gone ד daled  like dog ה hey  like harp ו vov  like or or tune וּ melupm vov  used in place of ו vov when it appears beside װ tsvey vovn װ tsvey vovn  like violin ױ vov yud  like boy ז zayin  like zebra ח khes  like the Scottish Gaelic loch, German ach, or as in חנוכּה (khanuke); used only in words of Hebraic or Aramaic origin ט tes  like tuck י yud  like yet (as a consonant) or internet (as a vowel) יִ khirek yud  used beside another vowel instead of י yud, to show that it is to be pronounced separately; e.g. ייִדיש (yidish) Yiddish ײ tsvey yudn  like bay ײַ pasekh tsvey yudn  like pie כּ kof  like keep; used only in words of Hebraic or Aramaic origin כ ך khof  like loch ל lamed  like leave מ ם mem  like mother נ ן nun  like never ס samekh  like some ע ayin  like set פּ pey  like upon פֿ ף fey  like free צ ץ tsadek  like boots ק kuf  like coo, but further back in the throat ר reysh  voiced gargle as in French, can be pronounced as root ש shin  'shoe שׂ sin  like seem; only used in words of Hebrew or Aramaic origin תּ tof  like teeth; only used in words of Hebrew or Aramaic origin ת sof  like smooth; only used in words of hebrew or aramaic origin Phrase list Some phrases in this phrasebook still need to be translated. If you know anything about this language, you can help by plunging forward and translating a phrase. Basics Hello.  שלום־עליכם (sholem-aleykhem) Hello (in response to a "Hello")  עליכם־שלום (aleykhem-sholem) How are you?  װאָס מאַכסטו? (Vos makhstu?) (informal) / װאָס מאַכט איר? (Vos makht ir?) (formal) Fine, thank you.  גוט, אַ דאַנק (Gut, a dank) גאָט צו דאַנקן (Got tsu danken) ברוך השם (Borukh Hashem) What is your name?  װי הײסטו? (Vi heystu? [informal])/ װי הײסט איר?(Vi heyst ir? [formal]) My name is ______ .  איך הײס (Ikh heys ______.) Nice to meet you.  עס פֿרײַט מיר זיך צו קענען אײַך (Es frayt mir zikh tsu kenen aykh [formal]) עס פֿרײַט מיר זיך צו טרעפֿן דיך (Es frayt mir zikh tsu trefen dikh.) Please.  זײַט אַזױ גוט (Zayt azoy gut.) Thank you.  אַ דאַנק (A dank.) You're welcome  נישטאָ פֿאַרװאָס (nishto farvos) Yes.  יאָ (yo) No.  נײן (neyn) Excuse me. (getting attention)  ענטשולדיק (Entshuldik!) Excuse me. (begging pardon)  זײַט זשע מוחל (Zayt zhe moykhl! ) I'm sorry.  Zayt mir moykhl (formal) זײַ מיר מוחל (Zay mir moykhl [informal].) Goodbye  זײַ געזונט (Zay gezunt) אַ גרוס אין דער הײם (A grus in der heym.) Goodbye (informal)  אַ גוטן (A gutn.) I can't speak Yiddish [well].  (איך רעד נישט קײן אידיש (גוט (Ikh red nisht keyn Yidish (gut).) Do you speak English?  רעדסטו ענגליש Redstu English? (informal)/ רעדט איר ענגליש Redt ir English? (formal) Is there someone here who speaks English?  איז עס דאָ עמעץ װאָס רעדט ענגליש Iz es do emetz vos redt english? Help!  הילף Hilf! גװאַלד Gvald! Good morning.  גוטן מאָרגן Gutn morgn. Good evening.  גאָטן אָװענט Gutn ovent. Good night  אַ גוטע נאַכט A gute nakht. I don't understand.  איך פֿאַרשטײ נישט (ikh farshtey nisht) Where is the toilet?  װוּ איז דער באָדצימער/דער װאַנעצימער Vu iz der bodtsimer?/ der vanetsimer? Numbers Left: Sefarad - Right: Askhenaz Number ½ - halasikh ( halb + hetsi ) / halbeh 0 - nelfasah ( null + efes ) / nullah 1 - enkhath ( eins + ahat ) / ennah 2 - zwashtaym ( zwei + shtayim ) / zwash 3 - dreykhshalom ( drei + shalosh ) / dresh 4 - wekharbaakh ( vier + arbah ) / wakh 5 - fihamash ( fünf + hamesh ) / fish 6 - sekhesh ( sechs + shesh ) / sekh 7 - sibwanzakh ( sieben + sheva ) / sibwah 8 - asseksamonah ( acht + shmoneh ) / assah 9 - nuythtakkah ( neun + tesha ) / naih 10 - zehasar ( zehn + eser ) / zaah 11 - elfakth'asiran ( elf + ahatesreh ) / alah 12 - zwalfhah'shtam-asiran ( zwölf + shtamesreh ) / zweshah 18 - assahn'shmonkh-asiran ( achtzehn + shmonahesreh ) / aszeh 20 - zwashzeh'askhiram ( zwanzig + esrim ) / zweshukh 25 - fihamashan-zwashzehu'askhirammah ( fünfundzwanzig + esrimwehamesh ) / fishunzweshukh 30 - draykzeh'saloshiram ( dreizig + sloshim ) / droshah 40 - wekharzeh'arbaakhim ( vierzig + arbaim ) / wakzyah 50 - fikhzeh'hamaskam ( fünfzig + hameshim ) / fizkhah 100 - khundmeeyah ( hundert + meah ) / khundard 200 - zweshundarkh'matyah ( zweihundert + matayim ) / zweshundard 500 - fikhundarkh'hamashmeeytkh ( fünfhundert + hameshmeot ) / fishundard ( or "fiysundard" ) 1000 - dawsukth ( tausend + ? ) / tawsenth This article is still a stub and needs your attention. 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