Yiddish (low class) | Hebrew (middle class) | Aramaic (high class) | |
1.Spoken | Everyone's native language | Nobody's native language | Nobody's native language |
2.Studied | Study of reading and writing as part of elementary education | Study of parts of the Bible and Recitation of prayers (nearly everybody) | Study of the Talmud as part of higher education (a small minority) and of the Kabbalah (an even smaller minority) |
3.Written | Popular literature (written by and for all social groups) | Formal, legal, and communal literature (written by and for an educated minority) | Talmudic and Kabbalistic literature (written by and for an even smaller minority) |
Figure 2.1 Function and status of the three Jewish languages in Ashkenaz
From page 47 of the book: Words on Fire: The Unfinished Story of Yiddish by: David Katz, 2004, Basic Books. Maps and Graphics
By: Giedre Beconyte of the Center for Cartography at Vilnius Univerisity, Lithuania (www.kc.gf.vu.lt)
Page 301, Population Figures on eve of Holocaust in the late 1930s
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