Jewish languages in the age of the Internet: An introduction

This introductory essay explains how the papers in this issue increase our understanding of Jewish languages, as well as diaspora and minority languages more broadly. Using a new approach to Jewish languages that focuses on the repertoires of distinctive linguistic features Jews have used in conjunction with local languages, this paper shows how analyzing old and new languages together can be theoretically fruitful. It also highlights the role of the Internet in the maintenance of endangered languages, in the negotiation of language ideologies and practices, and in sociolinguistic analysis.