How does the Yiddish we speak in Boston compare to other Yiddish communities, especially those outside the traditional Haredi world? In this English-language discussion, linguist Emma Breslow will present results from her doctoral research which begin to answer that question. Her dissertation, entitled “Diversity in a diasporic language: Sociolinguistic variation in minority Yiddish contexts,” studies the pronunciations and linguistic opinions (“language attitudes”) of Yiddish speakers and learners in Boston, Montreal, and New York City. 

Emma will give an overview of her project and discuss some of her major findings. There will then be time at the end for plenty of questions and further discussion of the topics. Some familiarity with Yiddish will be helpful, but everyone who’s interested in learning more about contemporary Yiddish communities is welcome. No registration requited.

About the speaker: Emma Breslow recently earned her PhD in linguistics from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, where her dissertation focused on Yiddish. She began learning Yiddish in 2021, and has since become an active member of the Boston Workers Circle, Yidish-Vokh, and broader Yiddish communities. Her research focuses on the interactions between language, society, and identity, as well as the study and support of minoritized, endangered, and/or diasporic languages.