The North Manchester Yiddish Dictionary, compiled by the Alevai Jewish Women’s Group for the Bury New Road project and launched last year at the Bury New Road Festival and at the Jewish Museum with two hundred limited edition print copies, has now been digitalised.
It features over one hundred ‘slang’ words used by the secular Jewish community, as opposed to the full language spoken by the orthodox community…“This is some of the language secular Jewish people still use today to express ourselves in words that can’t be said the same in English” says Denise Librae of the Alevia Group.
Some Yiddish words like ‘shlep’ have seeped into the common English language but the Dictionary also features hidden words that few from outside the community will have heard. Enjoy!
There is also an online short film to accompany the Dictionary, in which actor and journalist Nigel Pivaro tries to get his head around the guttural language – to view it click here
See aslo Steven Pearlman’s Yiddish Show at the Bury New Road festival – click here
