Yiddish (ייִדיש, יידיש or אידיש, yidish/idish, literally "Jewish"; in older sources also "Yiddish-Taitsh" (Judaeo-German)) is the historical language of the Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with an extensive Germanic based vernacular fused with elements taken from Hebrew and Aramaic, as well as from Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages. Yiddish is written with a fully vocalized alphabet based on the Hebrew script. The earliest surviving references date from the 12th century and call the language לשון־א...