Langue juive ou jargon : Les dénominations du yiddish en Pologne avant 1939

Abstract

The complex attitude of Yiddish and Polish speakers, Jewish and non-Jewish, towards Yiddish, is reflected in the way the language is named. These designations evolve along the years, often following international – and particularly German – terminology. This evolution is not confined to a merely linguistic question: it reveals deep identity splits and is strongly linked to ideological and political choices. This article provides a detailed analysis of this evolution in newspapers and literature as well as in dictionaries and encyclopaedias. It explains the variations of point of view subtly implied by each terminological choice.