MAME-LOSHN OR MUTTERSPRACHE? LANGUAGE CHOICES AND THE COMPLEX IDENTITY. THE EXAMPLE OF JEWS IN 19th-CENTURY BRESLAU

The purpose of this article is to illustrate the process of language change in the 19th century, taking examples from the following four areas: education, literature, liturgy and onomastic data from grave inscriptions. The analysis of school programs and reports, literature, including prayer books and grave inscriptions point to a multilingualism, partial linguistic acculturation and confirm the complex identity of Breslau Jews. In the late 18th century the maskilim had a reluctant attitude toward Yiddish as a Jewish jargon. In the 19th century Jüdischdeutsch was still used in print. The phenomenon of giving children Hebrew, Yiddish, and non-Jewish names and the multiplicity and diversity of the Yiddish given names, especially female names in the grave inscriptions bespeak the vitality of both Yiddish onomastics and the Yiddish language. All that confirms an intermediate stage in linguistic acculturation, a passage from the use of Yiddish to German. At the same time, Hebrew remained the language of the liturgy, and it was still taught in Jewish schools. However, it was German that was the first language of Breslau Jews. In fact, they were compelled to choose and oscillate between the language of religion and liturgy and the language of the country. The use of Hebrew, Yiddish, Jüdischdeutsch, and German determined the distinct (religious, linguistic) and complex cultural identity of Breslau Jews.916117310Studia Europaea Gnesnensi