Re: Yiddish language decline

[I. Oppenheim <i.oppenheim...>]

On Tue, 19 Mar 2002, Richard Kamins wrote:

> This past year, the University has made it a regular
> part of its language curriculum -

Latin is probably also part of the regular language
curriculum---scholarly interest alone is not enough to
keep a language living, no more than a few chasidic
groupings or music enthusiasts can sustain a language
on their own.

In fact there are still some isolated tribes in Iraq
and Syria that do speak Aramaic, and contemporary
rabbinical writings are still full with Aramaic phrases
but does that make Aramaic a living language?

Irwin

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