Codified traditions? YIVO’s filologishe sektsye in Vilna and its relationship to German Academia
ENIn June 1938, Max Weinreich, then head of YIVO’s (Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut) philological section in Vilna, published an article which became one of his most popular texts to appear during his long career as a leading scholar of Yiddish language. The pamphlet, Daytshmerish toyg nit ‘Germanisms are not acceptable,’ is widely known for its strong impetus against the influence of German on Yiddish. In blaming the Yiddish speaking masses, and even famous lexicographers and writers, for their thoughtless adaption of vocabulary and grammatical elements from German, Weinreich insisted on the purity of Yiddish klal-shprakh: in cases where there was no suitable term in Yiddish, he recommended using internationalisms. In addition to this, he instructed his readers not to be too anxious when picking up expressions from Slavic languages, while introducing German words to Yiddish was regarded as a sincere “act of linguistic impotence.”.
