LITVISH

An Atlas of
Northeastern Yiddish


by
Dovid Katz


Cartography by Giedre Beconyte



A WORK IN PROGRESS
DRAFT OF JANUARY 2012


AUTHOR’S WORKS ON YIDDISH DIALECTOLOGY

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE ATLAS

NOTE ON TRANSCRIPTION
I
The Divergent Geography of Líte and Litvish
Líte: Jewish Lithuania. Approximate Territory of Northeastern Yiddish
The Cultural Territory of Classic Jewish Lithuania (Líte)
The Linguistic Territory of Litvish
Cultural and Linguistic Borders Compared



II
From the Baltic to the Black Sea
‘dreydl’
‘ear’
‘dove’ vs ‘deaf’
‘face’
‘homentashen’
‘mistake’
‘potato(es)’
‘probably’
‘such’



III
Linguistic Regions within Litvish

‘a lot, many’
‘nearby’
‘somebody’
‘suddenly’
(you) ‘are’
Interwar Zamet for Freydke Yokhelovitsh Niegnevitzky (1917–2003)
The Líte – Raysn border for Itske Gavenda (1920–2004)
Between Mólev (Mogilov) and Réshitse
Chernobyl Yiddish



IV
Southward Transition
‘(you) are’
‘quickly’



V
Proliferation of Local Forms
‘afikomen’
‘everything’
‘female relative by marriage’



VI
The ‘Real Litvish’ Word
‘fools’
‘Garden of Eden’



VII
External Borders
Section of the Litvish – Ukrainian boundary for Khariton Berman (1923–2007)
Section of the Chernobyl Litvish – Ukrainian boundary for Rokhl Rusakovsky (b. 1925)



VIII
Rarities
mashmós
sustéyrim