Yenish language
| Yenish | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Germany,Switzerland,Austria,France,Netherlands,and elsewhere |
| Ethnicity | Yenish |
Native speakers | 16,000 (2006)[1] |
| Latin(German Alpha bet) | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | yec |
| Glottolog | yeni1236 |
Yenish(French:Yeniche,German:Jenisch) is avarietyofGermanspoken by theYenish people,formernomadsliving mostly inGermany,Austria,Switzerland,Alsaceand other parts ofFrance.
Components[edit]
Yenish has been documented since the 18th century. Yenish speakers generally speak their local Germandialect,enriched by the Yenish vocabulary,[citation needed]which is derived in part fromRotwelsch,with influences fromYiddish,Romani,and other minority languages of the region.
The Yenish vocabulary contains many words ofRomaniandYiddish(and through the latter route,Hebrew) origin; it also has many unusual metaphors and metonyms that replace the standard German words. Some original Yeniche words have become parts of standard German.
The Yenish were originally travelers, i.e. people with professions outside of mainstream society that required them to move from town to town, such as showpeople,tinkers,and door-to-door salesmen. Today, the Yenish jargon is only used in certain isolated locations, such as certain poor districts ofBerlin,Münster,someEifelvillages, andLuxembourg.[citation needed]
Individual variants of the Yenish language can be quite distinct, and have names of their own, such asMasematte,Lepper Talp,Heenese Vlek,and others.[citation needed]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^YenishatEthnologue(18th ed., 2015)(subscription required)
- ^"Yenish in Switzerland".Database for the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.Public Foundation for European Comparative Minority Research.Retrieved4 July2013.
External links[edit]
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