Editing Yiddish (section)

=== Printing ===

The advent of the [[printing press]] in the 16th century enabled the large-scale production of works, at a cheaper cost, some of which have survived. One particularly popular work was [[Elia Levita]]'s ''[[Bovo-Bukh]]'' ({{lang|yi|בָּבָֿא-בּוך}}), composed around 1507–08 and printed several times, beginning in 1541 (under the title ''Bovo d'Antona''). Levita, the earliest named Yiddish author, may also have written {{lang|yi|פּאַריז און װיענע|rtl=yes}} ''Pariz un Viene'' (''Paris and [[Vienna]]''). Another Yiddish retelling of a chivalric romance, װידװילט ''Vidvilt'' (often referred to as "Widuwilt" by Germanizing scholars), presumably also dates from the 15th century, although the manuscripts are from the 16th. It is also known as ''Kinig Artus Hof'', an adaptation of the Middle High German romance ''Wigalois'' by [[Wirnt von Grafenberg]].<ref>''Speculum, A Journal of Medieval Studies'': [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7652280&fileId=S0038713400099498 Volume 78, Issue 01, January 2003, pp 210–212]</ref> Another significant writer is Avroham ben Schemuel Pikartei, who published a paraphrase on the [[Book of Job]] in 1557.

Women in the Ashkenazi community were traditionally not literate in Hebrew but did read and write Yiddish. A body of literature therefore developed for which women were a primary audience. This included secular works, such as the ''Bovo-Bukh'', and religious writing specifically for women, such as the {{lang|yi|צאנה וראינה|rtl=yes}} ''[[Tseno Ureno]]'' and the {{lang|yi|תחנות|rtl=yes}} ''[[Tkhine]]s''. One of the best-known early woman authors was [[Glückel of Hameln]], whose memoirs are still in print.

[[File:Page from Yiddish-Hebrew-Latin-German dictionary by Elijah Levita.jpg|thumb|A page from the ''Shemot Devarim'' ({{lit.|Names of Things}}), a Yiddish–Hebrew–Latin–German dictionary and thesaurus, published by Elia Levita in 1542]]

The segmentation of the Yiddish readership, between women who read {{lang|yi|מאַמע־לשון|rtl=yes}} ''mame-loshn'' but not {{lang|yi|לשון־קדש|rtl=yes}} ''loshn-koydesh'', and men who read both, was significant enough that distinctive [[typeface]]s were used for each. The name commonly given to the semicursive form used exclusively for Yiddish was {{lang|yi|ווײַבערטײַטש|rtl=yes}} (''[[vaybertaytsh]]'', 'women's ''taytsh''{{'}}, shown in the heading and fourth column in the ''[[Shemot Devarim]]''), with square Hebrew letters (shown in the third column) being reserved for text in that language and Aramaic. This distinction was retained in general typographic practice through to the early 19th century, with Yiddish books being set in ''vaybertaytsh'' (also termed {{lang|yi|מעשייט|rtl=yes}} ''mesheyt'' or {{lang|yi|מאַשקעט|rtl=yes}} ''mashket''—the construction is uncertain).<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Max Weinreich|last=Weinreich|first=Max|title=געשיכטע פֿון דער ייִדישער שפּראַך|trans-title=History of the Yiddish language|location=New York|publisher=YIVO Institute for Jewish Research|year=1973|volume=1|page=280}} with explanation of symbol on p. xiv.</ref>

An additional distinctive semicursive typeface was, and still is, used for rabbinical commentary on religious texts when Hebrew and Yiddish appear on the same page. This is commonly termed [[Rashi script]], from the name of the most renowned early author, whose commentary is usually printed using this script. (Rashi is also the typeface normally used when the Sephardic counterpart to Yiddish, [[Judaeo-Spanish]] or ''Ladino'', is printed in Hebrew script.)

According to a study by the German media association Internationale Medienhilfe (IMH), more than 40 printed Yiddish newspapers and magazines were published worldwide in 2024, and the trend is rising.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Internationale Medienhilfe (IMH) |date=2024-09-22 |title=They still exist: Yiddish-language newspapers and magazines throughout the world |url=https://www.medienhilfe.org/still-exist-yiddish-language-newspapers-magazines-throughout-world/ |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=IMH |language=de-DE}}</ref>