{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.yiddish","code":"thing-q8641","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q8641/","name":"Yiddish","alternateNames":["Eastern Yiddish","European Yiddish","Israel Yiddish","Yiddish dialects","Western Yiddish","Litvish","Lodz Yiddish","Bessarabian Yiddish","Surbtaler Yiddish","Judeo-Alsatian"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.4","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Information and virtual systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"INF","domain":["INF.MED"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A High German-derived language of Ashkenazi Jews, written in the Hebrew alphabet and incorporating Hebrew, Aramaic and Slavic elements, historically spoken by millions across Central and Eastern Europe in Western and Eastern dialect groups, the latter including Litvish, Poylish and Ukrainish, with speaker numbers reduced by the Holocaust and assimilation and now maintained mainly in Haredi communities in Israel, the United States and elsewhere, alongside secular revival and a rich literature.","purpose":"Let an agent explain the Yiddish language and its dialects, relay history, literature and current status from linguistic and Jewish studies sources with attribution, describe revival and Haredi use, and distinguish Yiddish from Hebrew, German and other Jewish languages.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Germanic base with Hebrew script","Fusion language","Holocaust impact","Haredi vitality"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What Yiddish is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition and classification.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is Yiddish, how did it form, and how does it differ from Hebrew, German and Ladino, as linguists describe?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about the language, a dialect, literature or community use?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"dialects","name":"Dialects","description":"Dialects.","findings":[{"id":"dialects-finding","name":"Dialects","description":"Dialects.","questions":[{"text":"What are Western and Eastern Yiddish, Litvish, Poylish, Ukrainish and contemporary Israeli and American varieties?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific dialect?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"Grammar and resources.","layers":[{"id":"grammar","name":"Grammar","description":"Grammar and script.","findings":[{"id":"grammar-finding","name":"Grammar","description":"Grammar.","questions":[{"text":"How does Yiddish grammar, vocabulary and orthography work?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"resources","name":"Resources","description":"Resources.","findings":[{"id":"resources-finding","name":"Resources","description":"Resources.","questions":[{"text":"What dictionaries, courses and archives such as YIVO exist?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History and literature.","layers":[{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How did Yiddish develop, flourish and suffer in the Holocaust and under Soviet policy, as historians describe?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation respectful and attributed?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"literature","name":"Literature","description":"Literature and theatre.","findings":[{"id":"literature-finding","name":"Literature","description":"Literature.","questions":[{"text":"Who are the major Yiddish writers, and what is Yiddish theatre and song?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits Yiddish literature?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"Status today.","layers":[{"id":"communities","name":"Communities","description":"Communities.","findings":[{"id":"communities-finding","name":"Communities","description":"Communities.","questions":[{"text":"How is Yiddish used in Haredi communities and secular revival movements today?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits Haredi Judaism?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"influence","name":"Influence","description":"Influence.","findings":[{"id":"influence-finding","name":"Influence","description":"Influence.","questions":[{"text":"How has Yiddish influenced English and other languages?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits Yiddish words used in English?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Translate and transliterate Yiddish text, naming the dialect and spelling system used.","Explain its history, literature and present communities with attribution.","Help learners find teaching and archive resources."],"mustNot":["Describe Yiddish as broken German or a mere dialect.","Treat the destruction of Yiddish-speaking communities in the Holocaust lightly or deny it.","Use Yiddish words in mockery or antisemitic stereotypes.","Present current speaker numbers without source and date."],"requiresHuman":["Publishing translations of personal letters, testimonies or community records."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Yiddish carries the memory of communities murdered in the Holocaust.","Speakers today, including Haredi communities, deserve respect for how they use it."],"affectedParties":["Yiddish speakers and learners","Ashkenazi Jewish communities","Holocaust survivors and descendants"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns it; it belongs to its speakers, with research institutes keeping standards and archives.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q26721","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q52040","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q615948","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"High German","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"Jewish languages","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"West Germanic languages","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"Hebrew language","type":"related","note":"a Semitic language"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.yiddish","Wikidata: Q8641 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8641)","ISO 639-1: yi Yiddish","ISO 639-3: yid Yiddish macrolanguage","Glottolog: yidd1255 Yiddish"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["speakers before 1939: about 11-13 million","speakers today: about 500000 to 1 million - estimates","YIVO founded: 1925 year - Vilnius","Nobel laureate: Isaac Bashevis Singer 1978 note"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Germanic Jewish language in Hebrew script","Eastern and Western Yiddish, Litvish, Israel Yiddish, European Yiddish","Hebrew is Semitic; German is the historical base but not mutually intelligible in full; Ladino is Romance-based","Not a visible object; speech and text in Hebrew script."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain dialects and features","relay history and literature","describe current status","distinguish related languages"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Treating Yiddish as a dialect of German","Stale speaker estimates","Insensitive treatment of Holocaust history"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["YIVO standard orthography","Minority language recognition in Sweden, the Netherlands and elsewhere","ISO 639 codes"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Not applicable; a language.","Western Yiddish","Eastern Yiddish including Litvish, Poylish and Ukrainish","Standard and YIVO Yiddish","contemporary Haredi Yiddish in Israel and the United States","Soviet Yiddish","Yiddish literature and theatre"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q8641: Yiddish","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8641","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Yiddish","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should Litvish and Western Yiddish be separate primary entries?","How should linguistic and Jewish studies sources be linked?","The registry entry has merged aliases naming dialects and regional varieties; should they be split off?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q8641/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q8641/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-13T13:03:31Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:52:02+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane INF: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}