lashon hakodesh

Edit

Pronunciations

loshen kodesh (LUH-shihn KOH-desh) listen
loshn koydesh (LUH-shin KOY-dish) listen

Record a Pronunciation

Definitions

Example Sentences

  • "I spoke to my siblings in English, but my parents always insisted I speak Lashon HaKodesh with them."

  • "Historically, the loshn koydesh component of Yiddish was substantial and pervasive, affecting various areas of the grammar, and has been fully integrated into the grammar of Yiddish." (source)

  • "But then again all those loshn koydesh words not spelled phonetically can be a real headache. Who knows the pronunciation?!" (source)

  • "The school curriculum includes times for group loshn koydesh prayer and girls chant these prayers together out loud, initially led by a teacher, as well as recite prayers aloud individually when religiously required." (Navigating Languages, Literacies and Identities: Religion in Young Lives edited by Vally Lytra, Dinah Volk, and Eve Gregory)

  • "When my grandfather wrote home to his father, it was always in Loshn Kohdesh." (Glinert)

  • View More

Record a Sentence

Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH לשון הקודש lashon ha-kodesh, lit. 'the holy tongue' > Y לשון־קודש loshn-koydesh

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
      • Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage
      • Yiddishists
      • View More

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa
      • Australia / New Zealand

      Dictionaries

      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).

      Alternative Spellings

      leshon ha-kodesh, loshen kodesh, loyshn kohdesh, loshn koydesh, loshen koydesh, loshen koidesh, loshn koidesh, loshn-koydesh, loshen-koydesh, loshn-koidesh, loshen-koidesh

Edit     Something missing from this entry? Inaccurate? Feel free to suggest an edit.