ABSTRACT
Many people today think of Yiddish as a dying language, spoken only by Ashke-nazi Jews who were born before World War II. It is widely believed that the language was not really passed on to younger generations and that in the 21st century it is spoken only by very elderly people. Most ultra-Orthodox Yiddish speakers belong to one of the various Hasidic groups that have flourished since the emergence of that Jewish spiritual movement in late 18th-century Ukraine. In the 21st century, Yiddish remains the first language of many Hasidic communities around the world. Contemporary Hasidic Yiddish differs dramatically from this historical and standardized model because it has completely lost grammatical gender. Throughout the history of Yiddish, speakers have borrowed words from surrounding languages. Yiddish is also used in many Hasidic workplaces as the main language of conversation, and Yiddish signs are visible on Jewish shops and notice boards.
