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. 2016 Mar 3;8(4):1132–1149. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evw046

Table 1.

Two Hypotheses Regarding the Origin of the Yiddish Language and Lexicography

Hypotheses Lexicographical admixture Origins References
Rhineland 80% German, 15% Hebrew, and 5% Slavic Southwestern (Rhineland) and Southeastern Germany (Bavaria) King (2001) and Weinreich (2008)
Irano-Turko-Slavic Slavic (43%), German and Germanoid (35%), Hebrew and Hebroid (8%), and the remaining (14%) are Iranian, Turkic and unique Romance, Arabic (including Berberized Arabic), and Greek

  1. The Khazar’s Empire

  2. Kievan Rus' (today's Ukraine)

  3. Sorbian areas of Germany

 Wexler (2010)

The Rhineland hypothesis differs from the Irano-Turko-Slavic hypothesis by ignoring the Iranian component alongside the “Hebroidisms” and “Germanoidisms,” whose geographical origins are unclear. Both hypotheses, however, agree on the same three basic components: German, Slavic, and Hebrew, though they disagree on their proportions.