This page will teach both Yiddish as it's spelled in the Hebrew alphabet, and YIVO (Jewish Research Institute) Yiddish transliteration, which we will use in our course. We use it because it has become a standardized way of spelling Yiddish, so it's clear how to pronounce things.

Yiddish is written in the Hebrew alphabet, and it is read from right to left. In a sense, it is easier to learn to read than both Hebrew and English because it is written totally phonetically, the vowels are almost always spelled the same.

 

Vowels are formed by letters and letter combinations, unlike Hebrew in which the vowels are sounded differently according to different grammatical rules, or indicated by symbols under or on top of each letter.

 

(The vowels אָ and אַand ײַ are exceptions in that they have symbols to indicate a difference in sound, but each of these three letter and symbol combination always denote a particular vowel sound. The other exception is Hebrew words that have entered the language and retained their original Hebrew spelling. During the course, we will spell these out in phonetic Yiddish, as well as transliterate them. And of course you can hear them pronounced!)

 

Click on the words with links to hear how they sound. You can play it again, or click the word to hide the player. The vowels are pronounced according to the Litvish, or Lithuanian dialect. Besides being the YIVO (Institute for Jewish Research, first founded in Vilna, Lithunia) standard, when you learn this dialect, the others are easy to master, as they usually have less differentiation.

Consonants

First we'll learn consonants, as the YIVO transliteration is usually the same as in English, and there aren't too many surprises. There are a couple sounds that may be difficult for those new to Hebrew or Yiddish. I've recorded my pronunciation.