Thanks to Intercultural Talk reader Cara for sending this Survey opportunity on language and identity (actually, it’s a forwarded email from my sister, but it sounds more important the other way, not to ‘dis’ my sister…speaking of which, where does the word ‘dis’ originate?…enough already, here’s the survey)
Subject: FW: Survey on Language and Identity
You are invited to participate in an interesting and entertaining survey about language. Essentially, we’re asking about the spread of Yiddish (and some Hebrew) among English speakers in North America. We’re turning to both Jews and non-Jews to answer questions like these: Who uses Yiddish words like “shmooze” and “daven” and phrases like “Money, shmoney.” Why do some people say “temple” while others say “shul”? Who prefers biblical names for their babies? Your responses will help us answer these and other questions, and you might learn something about yourself in the process. Please set aside 15-20 minutes, and click on this link to participate.
Please share this link with your friends and family. We are hoping to get thousands of responses from people of all religions, ages, and regions of the United States and Canada. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail Prof. Sarah Bunin Benor sbenor@huc.edu or Prof. Steven M. Cohen
Steve34nyc@aol.com
Sincerely,
Prof. Sarah Bunin Benor
Prof. Steven M. Cohen
Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion
