How do you speak with a Jewish accent?

Answer 1

There is no such thing as a Jewish accent... There's an Israeli accent, a Yiddish accent, and maybe others that I'm unaware of. Jewish isn't a language.

Answer 2

I would disagree. I'd argue that there is a Jewish accent. Glasgow isn't a language, nor is London but could anyone seriously argue that there isn't a Glasgow or London accent? Its English spoken in accent shared by many people from those areas. The accent that non-pedants refer to as a Jewish accent is an accent shared by many Jewish people with an Central or Eastern European heritage. That a Jew from Hungary and a Jew from Ukraine sound similar when speaking English even though neither of these languages (Hungarian and Ukrainian) are in any way similar is down to their shared influence of Yiddish and to a lesser extant Hebrew. Would anyone non-Jew from Hungary or Ukraine ever speak English with this accent - no. So with that in mind, only someone who's accent has been influenced by Yiddish and Hebrew could speak in such a way - and only someone Jewish would be - so yes, there is obviously a shared Jewish accent.

Not sure how you'll learn to speak it though - try Fiddler on the Roof or perhaps a Woody Allen or Mel Brooks movie if you're looking for a 'New Yoik' Jewish accent.

Answer 2

There is no such thing as a Jewish accent. You can have a Yiddish accent or a Hebrew accent etc., but Jewish is not a language. Most Jews have the accent from where they were born, i.e. English, Germany, American, Russian, Spanish, etc.

Answer 3

Pejorative answer: Listen to New Yorkers. Adenoidal, fast speech, skip over the last few words of a sentence as being self-understood.

Give lots of information in a sort of monotone, as if you're praying.

Answer questions with questions.

Be subtly superior any time something, or someone, is not excellent.

Use the words <i>should</i> and <i>also</i> any time you can, ie, don't ever say "ought to" or "as well" when you could use them.

Of course, use Yiddish words freely.

Learn to say "no," not "yes," when you agree. Un-Jewish: "Yes, I agree completely." Jewish, "No, I agree completely."

Act like you don't want to waste a second of your listener's time, but act like they're wasting yours.

Answer 4

Do you mean Bronx Jewish, Miami Jewish, German Jewish, Polish Jewish, Toronto Jewish - take your pick, all are different.

Jewish accents have more to do with the general accent of a given region than anything particularly Jewish about the individual.

Answer 5

The question as posed is rather silly. Jews come from all over the world and therefore speak differently from one another. There are different speech patterns for Eastern European Jews, Israeli Jews, Liberal American Jews, Hasidic American Jews, etc. but no speech pattern common to all Jews. The Community Answer, while funny, is more about Jewish stereotypes in speech than actual documented speech patterns.