1. Letters:
* Yiddish uses all the standard Hebrew letters, including the five final forms.
* It adds three extra letters:
* ayin (ע), representing the "e" sound.
* tsadi (ץ), representing the "ts" sound.
* shin (ש), used in a few words to represent a different "sh" sound than the regular "sh" represented by שׂ.
* It also sometimes uses khof (כ) for the "ch" sound.
2. Vowel Points:
* Yiddish doesn't use the full set of Hebrew vowel points.
* It mainly uses nikud (vowel points) for indicating vowels in unfamiliar words, for children's books, or for teaching purposes.
* In everyday writing, vowel points are rarely used. The vowels are usually understood from the context.
3. Diacritics:
* Yiddish uses various diacritics, including dagesh (a dot inside a letter), mappiq (a dot in the upper right corner), and rafe (a small line above a letter).
* These diacritics help clarify pronunciation and distinguish between different letters.
4. Spelling:
* Yiddish spelling is generally phonetic, meaning that words are spelled as they are pronounced.
* However, there are some inconsistencies and variations in spelling depending on region and dialect.
5. Writing Direction:
* Yiddish is written from right to left, just like Hebrew.
Overall, Yiddish writing is a unique blend of Hebrew and Germanic influences. While it uses the Hebrew alphabet, it has its own distinct spelling and pronunciation conventions.
Here's a simple example:
Hebrew: שלום (Shalom)
Yiddish: שלום (Shalom)
Notice that the same letters are used, but the pronunciation is different. In Hebrew, "Shalom" is pronounced with a long "o" sound. In Yiddish, "Shalom" is pronounced with a short "o" sound.
To learn more about Yiddish writing, I recommend checking out resources like:
* The Yiddish Language Institute: https://www.yiddish.org/
* The Yiddish Book Center: https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/
* The Yiddish Language Program at Columbia University: https://www.columbia.edu/cu/yiddish/
I hope this information helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.