Locale Yi 001

Reference data for the Yiddish locale — endonym ייִדיש, written in the Hebrew script, right-to-left (RTL).

Identifiers

• BCP 47 tag: yi-001
• ISO 639-1: yi
• ISO 639-3: yid
• Script: Hebr (Hebrew)
• Region: 001 (World)
• Text direction: rtl — right-to-left (RTL)

Speakers (approximate)

• L1 (native): 600,000
• L2 (additional): 400,000
• L1+L2 (total): 1,000,000

Set dir="rtl" for this locale (per Locale's text-direction guidance) rather than assuming left-to-right layout.

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, other (2 forms).

• one — i = 1 and v = 0 (e.g. 1)
• other — everything else (e.g. 0, 2~16, 100, 1000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Yiddish is a Germanic language written in the Hebrew alphabet, right to left. The YIVO standard orthography (1937) is the common academic and secular standard; Hasidic communities use their own orthography with traditional Hebrew-Aramaic spellings. Choose the audience and orthography before translating.

Translate ideas, not words.

• Yiddish word order and idiom come from German, Slavic, and Hebrew sources; translate into Yiddish idiom instead of calquing English or Modern Hebrew.
• Words of Hebrew-Aramaic origin are spelled phonetically in the YIVO orthography and in the traditional Hebrew spelling in Hasidic usage; keep one system throughout.
• Re-express idioms by meaning; Yiddish has many proverbs and expressive formulas.

Grammar.

• Three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), a case system reduced to nominative, accusative, and dative, and verb-second word order in main clauses.
• Use the correct diminutive and plural forms; there are many irregular plurals.

Register.

• "Du" is informal singular; "ir" is the polite/plural form. Printed text and public communication use "ir".

Orthography and typography.

• Right-to-left Hebrew script with niqqud-like pointing used sparingly (pointed letters such as אַ and אָ distinguish vowels).
• Use the Yiddish ligatures ײ, ײַ, װ, יִ where appropriate; Unicode has precomposed Yiddish digraphs.
• Quotation marks „…“ or Hebrew-style "…"; numbers and Latin text run left to right inside the line.

Common pitfalls

• Mixing YIVO and Hasidic orthographies.
• Using Hebrew grammar or modern Hebrew vocabulary where Yiddish has its own word.
• Breaking right-to-left rendering with unmarked Latin text or numerals.
• Writing German spellings in Hebrew letters.

Learn more

• Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
• Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
• YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (https://yivo.org), Yiddish orthography
• Uriel Weinreich, Modern English-Yiddish Yiddish-English Dictionary