Judaeo-Spanish

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"Ladino language" redirects here. For Ladin language (ISO 639–3: lld) in Northern
Italy, see Ladin language. For other uses of the term "Ladino", see Ladino.
Judaeo-Spanish
Judeo-Espagnol
judeoespañol / españoljudió / jidiódjudeo-espanyol / espanyoldjudyo / djidyoLadino
‫ גﬞודﬞייואיספאנייולגﬞודﬞיאו־איספאנייול‬/ ‫גﬞידﬞייו‬ђудеоеспањол / еспањолτζ̲ουδέο-εσπανιόλ / εσπανιόλ /
τζ̲ουδέο‫اسپانيول‬-‫جوديو‬
judeoespañol / djudeo-espanyol
Judeoespañol in Solitreo and Rashi scripts
Pronunciation [dʒuˈðeo͜ s.paˈɲol] (About this soundlisten)[a]
Native to Israel, Turkey, Greece, Morocco, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina,
North Macedonia, Tunisia, and others
Region Mediterranean Basin (native region), North America, Western Europe and
South America
Ethnicity Sephardic Jews
Native speakers Fewer than 60,000 as of 2017,[1] mostly in Israel with 10,000 in
Turkey and 12,000 elsewhere, including 130 in the United States[2][3]
Language family
Indo-European
Italic
Romance
Western
Gallo-Iberian
Ibero-Romance
West Iberian
Castilian languages
Judaeo-Spanish
Early form
Old Spanish
Dialects
South-Eastern (Istanbul, Salonica)
North-Eastern
North-Western (Sarajevo)
Haketia (Tangier, Tétouan)[4]
Writing system Mainly Latin alphabet; also
the original Hebrew (normally using Rashi or Solitreo) and Cyrillic; rarely Greek
and Arabic[citation needed]
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
France
Israel
Turkey
Language codes
ISO 639-2 lad Ladino
ISO 639-3 lad Ladino
Linguist List lad Ladino[5]
Glottolog ladi1251 Ladino
ELP Ladino
Linguasphere 51-AAB-ba … 51-AAB-bd
IETF lad
Judeo-Spanish mediterranean speech communities.svg
Historical Judeo-Spanish speech communities in the Mediterranean. Ringed circles
represent modern speech communities.
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you
may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For
an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym djudeoespanyol, Hebrew script:
‫גﬞודﬞיאו־איספאנייול‬, Cyrillic: жудеоеспањол),[6] also known as Ladino, is a Romance
language derived from Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain, and then after the
Edict of Expulsion spreading through the then-Ottoman Empire (the Balkans, Turkey,
Western Asia and North Africa) as well as France, Italy, the Netherlands, Morocco
and England, it is today spoken mainly by Sephardic minorities in more than 30
countries, with most of the surviving speakers residing in Israel. Although it has
no official status in any country, it has been acknowledged as a minority language
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, France, and Turkey. In 2017, it was formally
recognised by the Royal Spanish Academy.[7]

The core vocabulary of Judaeo-Spanish is Old Spanish, and it has numerous elements
from the other old Romance languages of the Iberian Peninsula: Old Aragonese,
Astur-Leonese, Old Catalan, Galician-Portuguese and Mozarabic.[8] The language has
been further enriched by Ottoman Turkish and Semitic vocabulary, such as Hebrew,
Aramaic and Arabic — especially in the domains of religion, law and spirituality —
and most of the vocabulary for new and modern concepts has been adopted through
French and Italian. Furthermore, the language is influenced to a lesser degree by
other local languages of the Balkans, such as Greek, Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian.

Historically, the Rashi script and its cursive form Solitreo have been the main
orthographies for writing Judaeo-Spanish. However, today it is mainly written with
the Latin alphabet, though some other alphabets such as Hebrew and Cyrillic are
still in use. Judaeo-Spanish has been known also by other names, such as: Español
(Espanyol, Spaniol, Spaniolish, Espanioliko), Judió (Judyo, Djudyo) or Jidió
(Jidyo, Djidyo), Judesmo (Judezmo, Djudezmo), Sefaradhí (Sefaradi) or Ḥaketía (in
North Africa).[9] In Turkey, and formerly in the Ottoman Empire, it has been
traditionally called Yahudice in Turkish, meaning the "Jewish language.” In Israel,
Hebrew speakers usually call the language Espanyolit, Spanyolit, and only in recent
years Ladino.

Judaeo-Spanish, once the trade language of the Adriatic Sea, the Balkans, and the
Middle-East, and renowned for its rich literature, especially in Salonika, today is
under serious threat of extinction. Most native speakers are elderly, and the
language is not transmitted to their children or grandchildren for various reasons.
In some expatriate communities in Latin America and elsewhere, there is a threat of
replacement by modern Spanish. It is experiencing, however, a minor revival among
Sephardic communities, especially in music.

Contents
1 Name
2 Origins
3 Source languages
3.1 Spanish
3.2 Portuguese and other Iberian languages
3.3 Hebrew and Aramaic
3.4 Other languages
4 Phonology
4.1 Consonants
4.2 Vowels
4.3 Phonological differences from Spanish
5 Morphology
5.1 Verb conjugation
6 Syntax
7 Orthography
7.1 Aki Yerushalayim orthography
7.2 Hebrew orthography
8 History
9 Literature
10 Religious use
11 Modern education and use
12 Samples
12.1 Comparison with other languages
12.2 Songs
12.3 Selected words by origin
13 Modern singers
14 See also
15 References
15.1 Further reading
16 External links
Name

A 1902 Issue of La Epoca, a Judeo-Spanish newspaper from Salonica (Thessaloniki)

during the Ottoman Empire
The scholar Joseph Nehama, author of the comprehensive Judeo-Spanish-French
dictionary, referred to the language as Judeo-Espagnol. [10] The 1903 Hebrew-Judeo-
Spanish Haggadah entitled "Seder Haggadah shel pesaḥ 'im pitron be-lashon sefaradi"
(‫)סדר הגדה של פסח עם פתרון בלשון ספרדי‬, from the Sephardic community of Livorno,
Italy, refers to the language used for explanation as the Sefaradi language.[11]

The language is also called Judeo-Espanyol,[note 1] Judeoespañol,[12] Sefardí,

Judío, and Espanyol or Español sefardita; Haquetía (from the Arabic ħaka ‫حكى‬,
"tell") refers to the dialect of North Africa, especially Morocco. Judeo-Spanish
has also been referred to as Judesmo (also Judezmo, Djudesmo or Djudezmo),[13]
considered offensive by some native speakers, or even as widely unknown in the
native press. However, in limited parts of Macedonia, its former use in the past as
a low-register designation in informal speech by unschooled people has been
documented.[citation needed] The dialect of the Oran area of Algeria was called
Tetuani, after the Moroccan city of Tétouan since many Orani Jews came from there.
In Hebrew, the language is called ‫( ספאניולית‬Spanyolit).

An entry in Ethnologue claims, "The name 'Judesmo' is used by Jewish linguists and
Turkish Jews and American Jews; 'Judeo-Spanish' by Romance philologists; 'Ladino'
by laymen, initially in Israel; 'Haketia' by Moroccan Jews; 'Spanyol' by some
others."[14] That does not reflect the historical usage.

In the Judaeo-Spanish press of the 19th and 20th centuries the native authors
referred to the language almost exclusively as Espanyol, which was also the name
that its native speakers spontaneously gave to it for as long as it was their
primary spoken language. More rarely, the bookish Judeo-Espanyol has also been used
since the late 19th century.[15]

In recent decades in Israel, followed by the United States and Spain, the language
has come to be referred to as Ladino (‫)לאדינו‬, literally meaning "Latin". The
language used to be regulated by a body called the Autoridad Nasionala del Ladino
in Israel. However, its native speakers consider that term to be incorrect,
reserving the term Ladino for the "semi-sacred" language used in word-by-word
translations from the Bible, which is distinct from the spoken vernacular.[9]
According to the website of the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki, the cultural center
of Sephardic Judaism after the expulsion from Spain,

"Ladino is not spoken, rather, it is the product of a word-for-word translation of

Hebrew or Aramaic biblical or liturgical texts made by rabbis in the Jewish schools
of Spain. In these translations, a specific Hebrew or Aramaic word always
corresponded to the same Spanish word, as long as no exegetical considerations
prevented this. In short, Ladino is only Hebrew clothed in Spanish, or Spanish with
Hebrew syntax. The famous Ladino translation of the Bible, the Biblia de Ferrara
(1553), provided inspiration for the translation of numerous Spanish Christian
Bibles."[9]

The derivation of the name Ladino is complicated. Before the expulsion of Jews from
Spain, the word meant literary Spanish, as opposed to other dialects[citation
needed] or Romance in general, as distinct from Arabic.[16] (The first European
language grammar and dictionary, of Spanish, referred to it as ladino or ladina. In
the Middle Ages, the word Latin was frequently used to mean simply "language",
particularly one understood: a latiner or latimer meant a translator.) Following
the Expulsion, Jews spoke of "the Ladino" to mean the word-for-word translation of
the Bible into Old Spanish. By extension, it came to mean that style of Spanish
generally in the same way that (among Kurdish Jews) Targum has come to mean Judeo-
Aramaic and (among Jews of Arabic-speaking background) sharħ has come to mean
Judeo-Arabic.[17]

That Judaeo-Spanish ladino should not be confused with the ladino or Ladin
language, spoken in part of Northeastern Italy and which has nothing to do with
Jews or with Spanish beyond being a Romance language, a property that they share
with French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian.

Origins
At the time of the expulsion from Spain, the day-to-day language of the Jews of
different regions of the peninsula was hardly, if at all, different from that of
their Christian neighbours, but there may have been some dialect mixing to form a
sort of Jewish lingua franca. There was, however, a special style of Spanish used
for purposes of study or translation, featuring a more archaic dialect, a large
number of Hebrew and Aramaic loanwords and a tendency to render Hebrew word order
literally (ha-laylah ha-zeh, meaning "this night", was rendered la noche la esta
instead of the normal Spanish esta noche[18]). As mentioned above, authorities
confine the term "Ladino" to that style.[19]

Following the Expulsion, the process of dialect mixing continued, but Castilian
Spanish remained by far the largest contributor. The daily language was
increasingly influenced both by the language of study and by the local non-Jewish
vernaculars, such as Greek and Turkish. It came to be known as Judesmo and, in that
respect, the development is parallel to that of Yiddish. However, many speakers,
especially among the community leaders, also had command of a more formal style,
castellano, which was nearer to the Spanish at the time of the Expulsion.

Source languages
Spanish
The grammar, the phonology and about 60% of the vocabulary of Judaeo-Spanish are
basically Spanish but, in some respects, it resembles the dialects in southern
Spain and South America, rather than the dialects of Central Spain. For example, it
has yeísmo ("she" is eya/ella [ˈeja] (Judaeo-Spanish), instead of ella) as well as
seseo.

In many respects, it reproduces the Spanish of the time of the Expulsion, rather
than the modern variety, as it retains some archaic features such as the following:

Modern Spanish j, pronounced [x], corresponds to two different phonemes in Old

Spanish: x, pronounced /ʃ/, and j, pronounced /ʒ/. Judaeo-Spanish retains the
original sounds. Similarly, g before e or i remains [d͡ʒ] or /ʒ/, not [x].
Contrast baxo/baṣo ("low" or "down", with /ʃ/, modern Spanish bajo) and mujer
("woman" or "wife", spelled the same, with /ʒ/).
Modern Spanish z (c before e or i), pronounced [s] or [θ], like the "th" in English
"think", corresponds to two different phonemes in Old Spanish: ç (c before e or i),
pronounced [ts]; and z (in all positions), pronounced [dz]. In Judaeo-Spanish, they
are pronounced [s] and [z], respectively.
Contrast coraçón/korasón ("heart", with /s/, modern Spanish corazón) and dezir ("to
say", with /z/, modern Spanish decir).
In modern Spanish, the use of the letters b and v is determined partly on the basis
of earlier forms of the language and partly on the basis of Latin etymology: both
letters represent one phoneme (/b/), realised as [b] or as [β], according to its
position. In Judaeo-Spanish, /b/ and /v/ are different phonemes: voz/boz /bɔs/
voice vs. vos /vɔs/ you. v is a labiodental "v", like in English, rather than a
bilabial.
Portuguese and other Iberian languages
However, the phonology of both the consonants and part of the lexicon is, in some
respects, closer to Galician-Portuguese and Catalan than to modern Spanish. That is
explained by direct influence but also because all three languages retained some of
the characteristics of medieval Ibero-Romance languages that Spanish later lost.
There was a mutual influence with the Judaeo-Portuguese of the Portuguese Jews.

Contrast Judaeo-Spanish daínda ("still") with Portuguese ainda (Galician aínda,

Asturian aína or enaína) and Spanish aún or the initial consonants in Judaeo-
Spanish fija, favla ("daughter", "speech"), Portuguese filha, fala (Galician filla,
fala, Asturian fía, fala, Aragonese filla, fabla, Catalan filla), Spanish hija,
habla. It sometimes varied with dialect, as in Judaeo-Spanish popular songs, both
fijo and hijo ("son") are found.

The Judaeo-Spanish pronunciation of s as "[ʃ]" before a "k" sound or at the end of

certain words (such as seis, pronounced [seʃ], for six) is shared with Portuguese
(as spoken in Portugal, most of Lusophone Asia and Africa, and in a plurality of
Brazilian dialects and registers with either partial or total forms of coda |S|
palatalization) but not with Spanish.

Hebrew and Aramaic

Like other Jewish vernaculars, Judaeo-Spanish incorporates many Hebrew and Aramaic
words, mostly for religious concepts and institutions. Examples are haham/ḥaḥam
(rabbi, from Hebrew ḥakham) and kal, kahal/cal, cahal (synagogue, from Hebrew
qahal).

Other languages
Judaeo-Spanish has absorbed some words from the local languages but sometimes
Hispanicised their form: bilbilico (nightingale), from Persian (via Turkish)
bülbül. It may be compared to the Slavic elements in Yiddish. Because of the large
number of Arabic words in Spanish generally, it is not always clear whether some of
these words were introduced before the Expulsion or adopted later; modern Spanish
replaced some of these loans with Latinisms after the Reconquista, where Judaeo-
Spanish-speakers had no motivation to do so.

Phonology
Judaeo-Spanish phonology consists of 27 phonemes: 22 consonants and 5 vowels.

Consonants
Consonant phonemes[20]
Bilabial Labio-
dental Dental Alveolar Post-
alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ɲ (ŋ)
Stop p b t d k ɡ
Affricate t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Fricative (β) f v (ð) s z ʃ ʒ x (ɣ)
Trill r
Tap (ɾ)
Approximant l j w
Vowels
Vowel phonemes
Front Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid (ɛ) (ɔ)
Open a
Phonological differences from Spanish
As exemplified in the Sources section above, much of the phonology of Judaeo-
Spanish is similar to that of standard modern Spanish. Here are some exceptions:

It is claimed that unlike all other non-creole varieties of Spanish, Judaeo-Spanish

does not contrast the trill /r/ and the tap/flap /ɾ/.[21] However, that claim is
not universally accepted.[22]
The Spanish /nue-/ is /mue-/ in some dialects of Judaeo-Spanish: nuevo, nuestro →
muevo, muestro.[21]
The Judaeo-Spanish phoneme inventory includes separate [d͡ʒ] and [ʒ]: jurnal /ʒuɾ
ˈnal/ ('newspaper') vs jugar/djugar /d͡ʒuˈgar/ ('to play'). Neither phoneme is used
in modern Spanish,[21] where they have been replaced by the jota [x]: jornal
/xor'nal/, jugar /xu'gar/.
While Spanish pronounces both b and v as /b/ ([b] or [β]), Judeo-Spanish
distinguishes between the two with b representing [b~β] and v representing [v]:
bivir /biˈviɾ/ (to live)
Judaeo-Spanish has (at least in some varieties) little or no diphthongization of
tonic vowels, e.g. in the following lullaby:
(Judaeo-Spanish text) Durme, durme, kerido ijiko, [...] Serra tus lindos ojikos,
[...]
(Equivalent Spanish) Duerme, duerme, querido hijito, [...] Cierra tus lindos
ojitos, [...]
(Translation) Sleep, Sleep, beloved little son, [...] close your beautiful little
eyes, [...]
There is a tendency to drop [s] at the end of a word or syllable, as in Andalusian
Spanish and many other Spanish dialects in Spain and the Americas: Dios -> Dio
(God), amargasteis -> amargátex/amargatesh (you have embittered). The form Dió,
however, is usually explained as an example of folk etymology: taking the s as a
plural ending (which it is not) and attributing it to Christian trinitarianism.
Thus, removing the s produced a more clearly monotheistic word for God. This may,
however, be itself a folk etymology, as the Hebrew word for God is itself easily
mistaken for a plural form (Elohim), making it unlikely that religious Jews would
see a problem with Dios. Although the word dio does not exist in any other form of
Spanish, except as two conjugations of the verb dar, Dios is often pronounced as
Dio due to the aforementioned phonological phenomenon.
Morphology
Judaeo-Spanish is distinguished from other Spanish dialects by the presence of the
following features:

Judaeo-Spanish maintains the second-person pronouns tú/tu (informal singular), vos

(formal singular) and vosotros/vozotros (plural); the third-person
él/ella/ellos/ellas / el/eya/eyos/eyas are also used in the formal register.[21]
The Spanish pronouns usted and ustedes do not exist.
In verbs, the preterite indicates that an action taken once in the past was also
completed at some point in the past. That is as opposed to the imperfect, which
refers to any continuous, habitual, unfinished or repetitive past action. Thus, "I
ate falafel yesterday" would use the first-person preterite form of eat, comí/komí
but "When I lived in Izmir, I ran five miles every evening" would use the first-
person imperfect form, corría/koria. Though some of the morphology has changed,
usage is just as in normative Spanish.
In general, Judaeo-Spanish uses the Spanish plural morpheme /-(e)s/. The Hebrew
plural endings /-im/ and /-ot/ are used with Hebrew loanwords, as well as with a
few words from Spanish: ladrón/ladron (thief): ladrones, ladronim; hermano/ermano
(brother): hermanos/hermanim / ermanos/ermanim. [23] Similarly, some loaned
feminine nouns ending in -á can take either the Spanish or Hebrew plural:
quehilá/keilá (synagogue): quehilás/quehilot / keilas/keilot.
Judaeo-Spanish contains more gendering cases than standard Spanish, prominently in
adjectives, (grande/-a, inferior/-ra) as well as in nouns (vozas, fuentas) and in
the interrogative qualo/quala / kualo/kuala.[21]
Verb conjugation
Regular conjugation for the present tense:

-er verbs
(comer/komer: "to eat") -ir verbs
(vivir/bivir: "to live") -ar verbs
(favlar: "to speak")
yo -o : como/komo, vivo/bivo, favlo
tú/tu -es : comes/komes, vives/bives -as : favlas
él/el, ella/eya -e : come/kome, vive/bive -a : favla
mosotros/mozotros, mosotras/mozotras -emos : comemos/komemos -imos :
vivimos/bivimos -amos : favlamos
vos, vosotros/vozotros, vosotras/vozotras -ex/esh : comex/komesh -ix/ish :
vivix/bivish -ax/ash : favlax/favlash
ellos/eyos, ellas/eyas -en : comen/komen, viven/biven -an : favlan
Regular conjugation in the preterite:

-er verbs
(comer/komer: "to eat") -ir verbs
(vivir/bivir: "to live") -ar verbs
(favlar: "to speak")
yo -í : comí/komi, viví/bivi, favli/favlí
tú/tu -ites : comites/komites, vivites/bivites -ates : favlates
él/el, ella/eya -yó : comió/komió, vivió/bivio -ó : favló
mosotros/mozotros, mosotras/mozotras -imos : comimos/komimos, vivimos/bivimos,
favlimos
vos, vosotros/vozotros, vosotras/vozotras -ítex/itesh : comítex/komitesh,
vivítex/bivitesh -átesh/atesh : favlátex/favlatesh
ellos/eyos, ellas/eyas -ieron : comieron/komieron, vivieron/bivieron -aron :
favlaron
Regular conjugation in the imperfect:

-er verbs
(comer/komer: "to eat") -ir verbs
(vivir/bivir: "to live") -ar verbs
(favlar: "to speak")
yo -ía : comía/komia, vivía/bivia -ava : favlava
tú/tu -ías : comías/komias, vivías/bivias -avas : favlavas
él/el, ella/eya -ía : comía/komia, vivía/bivia -ava : favlava
mosotros/mozotros, mosotras/mozotras -íamos : comíamos/komiamos,
vivíamos/biviamos -ávamos : favlavamos
vos, vosotros/vozotros, vosotras/vozotras -íax/iash : comíax/komiash,
vivíax/biviash -avax/avash : favlavax/favlavash
ellos/eyos, ellas/eyas -ían : comían/komian, vivían/bivian -avan : favlavan
Syntax
Judaeo-Spanish follows Spanish for most of its syntax. (That is not true of the
written calque language involving word-for-word translations from Hebrew, which
some scholars refer to as Ladino, as described above.) Like Spanish, it generally
follows a subject–verb–object word order, has a nominative-accusative alignment,
and is considered a fusional or inflected language.
Orthography

The Rashi script, originally used to print the language

The following systems of writing Judaeo-Spanish have been used or proposed.

Traditionally, especially in religious texts, Judaeo-Spanish was printed in Hebrew

writing (especially in Rashi script), a practice that was very common, possibly
almost universal, until the 19th century. That was called aljamiado, by analogy
with the equivalent use of the Arabic script. It occasionally persists, especially
in religious use. Everyday written records of the language used Solitreo, a semi-
cursive script similar to Rashi script that shifted to square letter for
Hebrew/Aramaic words. Solitreo is clearly different from the Ashkenazi Cursive
Hebrew used today in Israel, but it is also related to Rashi script. (A comparative
table is provided in the article on Cursive Hebrew.) Hebrew writing of the language
freely uses matres lectionis: final -a is written with ‫( ה‬heh) and ‫( ו‬waw) can
represent /o/ or /u/. Both s (/s/) and x (/ʃ/) are generally written with ‫ש‬, as ‫ס‬
is generally reserved for c before e or i and ç. However, borrowed Hebrew words
retain their Hebrew spelling, without vowels.
The Greek alphabet and the Cyrillic script were used in the past,[24] but this is
rare or nonexistent nowadays.
In Turkey, Judaeo-Spanish is most commonly written in the Turkish variant of the
Latin alphabet. That may be the most widespread system in use today, as following
the decimation of Sephardic communities throughout much of Europe (particularly in
Greece and the Balkans) during the Holocaust, the greatest proportion of speakers
remaining were Turkish Jews. However, the Judaeo-Spanish page of the Turkish Jewish
newspaper Şalom now uses the Israeli system.
The Israeli Autoridad Nasionala del Ladino promotes a phonetic transcription in the
Latin alphabet, without making any concessions to Spanish orthography, and uses the
transcription in its publication Aki Yerushalayim. The songs Non komo muestro Dio
and Por una ninya, below, and the text in the sample paragraph, below, are written
using the system.
The American Library of Congress has published the Romanization standard it uses.
Works published in Spain usually adopt the standard orthography of modern Spanish
to make them easier for modern Spanish-speaking peoples to read.[25] The editions
often use diacritics to show where the Judaeo-Spanish pronunciation differs from
modern Spanish.
Perhaps more conservative and less popular, others, including Pablo Carvajal Valdés
suggest for Judaeo-Spanish to adopt the orthography that was used at the time of
the Expulsion.
Aki Yerushalayim orthography
Aki Yerushalayim magazine, owned by Autoridad Nasionala del Ladino, promotes the
following orthography:

Letter A a B b Ch ch D d Dj dj E e F f G g H h I i J j K k
L l M m N n Ny ny O o P p R r S s Sh sh T t U u V v X x
Y y Z z
IPA [a] [b~β] [t͡ʃ] [d~ð] [d͡ʒ] [e] [f] [g~ɣ] [x] [i~j] [ʒ] [k] [l]
[m] [n~ŋ] [ɲ] [o] [p] [r~ɾ] [s] [ʃ] [t] [u~w] [v] [gz] [j]
[z]
A dot is written between s and h (s·h) to represent [sx] to avoid confusion with
[ʃ]: es·huenyo [esˈxweɲo] (dream).
Unlike mainstream Spanish, stressed diacritics are not represented.
Loanwords and foreign names retain their original spelling, and q or w would be
used only for such words.
Hebrew orthography
Judaeo-Spanish is traditionally written in a Hebrew-based script, specially in
Rashi script and its Solitreo cursive variant. The Hebrew orthography is not
regulated, but sounds are generally represented by the following letters:
Square letter ‫א‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב׳‬ ‫ג‬ ‫ג׳‬ ‫ד‬ ‫ה‬ ‫ו‬ ‫ז‬ ‫ז׳‬ ‫ח‬
‫ט‬ ‫י‬ ‫יי‬ ‫ך‬-/‫ל כ‬ ‫ם‬-/‫ן מ‬-/‫נ‬ ‫ניי‬ ‫ס‬ ‫ע‬ ‫ף‬-/‫ף׳ פ‬-/‫פ׳‬ ‫ץ‬-/‫צ‬
‫ק‬ ‫ר‬ ‫ש‬ ‫ת‬
Rashi letter Hebrew letter Alef Rashi.png Hebrew letter Bet Rashi.png Hebrew
letter Bet Rashi.png‫׳‬ Hebrew letter Gimel Rashi.png Hebrew letter Gimel Rashi.png
‫׳‬ Hebrew letter Daled Rashi.png Hebrew letter He Rashi.png Hebrew letter Vav
Rashi.png Hebrew letter Zayin Rashi.png Hebrew letter Zayin Rashi.png‫׳‬ Hebrew
letter Het Rashi.png Hebrew letter Tet Rashi.png Hebrew letter Yud Rashi.png
Hebrew letter Yud Rashi.pngHebrew letter Yud Rashi.png Hebrew letter Kaf-
nonfinal Rashi.png/-Hebrew letter Kaf-final Rashi.png Lamed (Rashi-script - Hebrew
letter).svg Hebrew letter Mem-nonfinal Rashi.png/-Hebrew letter Mem-final Rashi.png
Hebrew letter Nun-nonfinal Rashi.png/-Hebrew letter Nun-final Rashi.png
Hebrew letter Nun-nonfinal Rashi.pngHebrew letter Yud Rashi.pngHebrew letter
Yud Rashi.png Hebrew letter Samekh Rashi.png Hebrew letter Ayin Rashi.png
Hebrew letter Pe-nonfinal Rashi.png/-Hebrew letter Pe-final Rashi.png Hebrew
letter Pe-nonfinal Rashi.png‫׳‬/-Hebrew letter Pe-final Rashi.png‫ ׳‬Hebrew letter
Tsadik-nonfinal Rashi.png/-Hebrew letter Tsadik-final Rashi.png Hebrew letter Kuf
Rashi.png Hebrew letter Resh Rashi.png Hebrew letter Shin Rashi.png Hebrew
letter Taf Rashi.png
AY equivalent letter a, Ø, e, o b v g dj, ch d a, e u, o,
v z j h t i, e, y y k, h l m n ny s
Ø, e, a p f (t)s k r sh, s t
History
In the medieval Iberian peninsula, now Spain and Portugal, Jews spoke a variety of
Romance dialects. Following the 1490s expulsion from Spain and Portugal, most of
the Iberian Jews resettled in the Ottoman Empire. Jews in the Ottoman Balkans,
Western Asia (especially Turkey), and North Africa (especially Morocco) developed
their own Romance dialects, with some influence from Hebrew and other languages,
which became what is now known as Judaeo-Spanish. Later on, many Portuguese Jews
also escaped to France, Italy, the Netherlands and England, establishing small
groups in those nations as well, but these spoke early modern Spanish or Portuguese
rather than Judaeo-Spanish.

Jews in the Middle Ages were instrumental in the development of Spanish into a
prestige language. Erudite Jews translated Arabic and Hebrew works, often
translated earlier from Greek, into Spanish. Christians translated them again into
Latin for transmission to Europe.

Until recent times, the language was widely spoken throughout the Balkans,
Turkey/Western Asia and North Africa, as Judaeo-Spanish had been brought there by
the Jewish refugees.[26]

The contact among Jews of different regions and languages, including Catalan,
Leonese and Portuguese developed a unified dialect, differing in some aspects from
the Spanish norm that was forming simultaneously in Spain, but some of the mixing
may have already occurred in exile rather than in the Iberian Peninsula. The
language was known as Yahudice (Jewish language) in the Ottoman Empire. In the late
18th century, Ottoman poet Enderunlu Fazıl (Fazyl bin Tahir Enderuni) wrote in his
Zenanname: "Castilians speak the Jewish language but they are not Jews."

The closeness and mutual comprehensibility between Judaeo-Spanish and Spanish

favoured trade among Sephardim, often relatives, from the Ottoman Empire to the
Netherlands and the conversos of the Iberian Peninsula.

Over time, a corpus of literature, both liturgical and secular, developed. Early
literature was limited to translations from Hebrew. At the end of the 17th century,
Hebrew was disappearing as the vehicle for rabbinic instruction. Thus, a literature
appeared in the 18th century, such as Me'am Lo'ez and poetry collections. By the
end of the 19th century, the Sephardim in the Ottoman Empire studied in schools of
the Alliance Israélite Universelle. French became the language for foreign
relations, as it did for Maronites, and Judaeo-Spanish drew from French for
neologisms. New secular genres appeared, with more than 300 journals, history,
theatre, and biographies.

Given the relative isolation of many communities, a number of regional dialects of

Judaeo-Spanish appeared, many with only limited mutual comprehensibility, largely
because of the adoption of large numbers of loanwords from the surrounding
populations, including, depending on the location of the community, from Greek,
Turkish, Arabic and, in the Balkans, Slavic languages, especially Serbo-Croatian
and Bulgarian. The borrowing in many Judaeo-Spanish dialects is so heavy that up to
30% of their vocabulary is of non-Spanish origin. Some words also passed from
Judaeo-Spanish into neighbouring languages. For example, the word palavra "word"
(Vulgar Latin = "parabola"; Greek = "parabole"), passed into Turkish, Greek and
Romanian[27] with the meaning "bunk, hokum, humbug, bullshit" in Turkish and
Romanian and "big talk, boastful talk" in Greek (compare the English word
"palaver").

Judaeo-Spanish was the common language of Salonika during the Ottoman period. The
city became part of Greece in 1912 and was subsequently renamed Thessaloniki.
Despite the Great Fire of Thessaloniki, economic oppression by Greek authorities
and mass settlement of Christian refugees, the language remained widely spoken in
Salonika until the deportation of 50,000 Salonikan Jews in the Holocaust during the
Second World War. According to the 1928 census, the language had 62,999 native
speakers in Greece. The figure drops down to 53,094 native speakers in 1940, but
21,094 citizens "usually" spoke the language.[28]

Judaeo-Spanish was also a language used in Donmeh rites (Dönme being a Turkish word
for "convert" to refer to adepts of Sabbatai Tsevi converting to Islam in the
Ottoman Empire). An example is Sabbatai Tsevi esperamos a ti. Today, the religious
practices and the ritual use of Judaeo-Spanish seems confined to elderly
generations.

The Castilian colonisation of Northern Africa favoured the role of polyglot

Sephards, who bridged between Spanish -colonizers and Arab and Berber speakers.

From the 17th to the 19th centuries, Judaeo-Spanish was the predominant Jewish
language in the Holy Land, but its dialect was different in some respects from the
one in Greece and Turkey. Some families have lived in Jerusalem for centuries and
preserve Judaeo-Spanish for cultural and folklore purposes although they now use
Hebrew in everyday life.

An often-told Sephardic anecdote from Bosnia-Herzegovina has it that as a Spanish

consulate was opened in Sarajevo in the interwar period, two Sephardic women passed
by. Upon hearing a Catholic priest who was speaking Spanish, they thought that his
language meant that he was Jewish.[29]

In the 20th century, the number of speakers declined sharply: entire communities
were murdered in the Holocaust, and the remaining speakers, many of whom emigrated
to Israel, adopted Hebrew. The governments of the new nation-states encouraged
instruction in the official languages. At the same time, Judaeo-Spanish aroused the
interest of philologists, as it conserved language and literature from before the
standardisation of Spanish.

Judaeo-Spanish is in a serious danger of extinction because many native speakers

today are elderly olim (immigrants to Israel), who have not transmitted the
language to their children or grandchildren. Nevertheless, it is experiencing a
minor revival among Sephardic communities, especially in music. In addition,
Sephardic communities in several Latin American countries still use Judaeo-Spanish.
There, the language is exposed to the different danger of assimilation to modern
Spanish.

Kol Yisrael[30] and Radio Nacional de España[31] hold regular radio broadcasts in
Judaeo-Spanish. Law & Order: Criminal Intent showed an episode, titled "A Murderer
Among Us", with references to the language. Films partially or totally in Judaeo-
Spanish include Mexican film Novia que te vea (directed by Guita Schyfter), The
House on Chelouche Street, and Every Time We Say Goodbye.

Efforts have been made to gather and publish modern Judaeo-Spanish fables and
folktales. In 2001, the Jewish Publication Society published the first English
translation of Judaeo-Spanish folktales, collected by Matilda Koen-Sarano,
Folktales of Joha, Jewish Trickster: The Misadventures of the Guileful Sephardic
Prankster. A survivor of Auschwitz, Moshe Ha-Elion, issued his translation into
Judeo-Spanish of the ancient Greek epic The Odyssey in 2012, in his 87th year, and
he is now translating the sister epic, the Iliad, into his mother tongue.[32]

The language was initially spoken by the Sephardic Jewish community in India, but
was later replaced with Judeo-Malayalam.

Literature
The first printed Ladino book was Me-'am lo'ez in 1730. It was a commentary on the
Bible in the Ladino language. Most Jews in the Ottoman Empire knew the Hebrew
alphabet but did not speak Hebrew. The printing of Me-'am lo'ez marked the
emergence of large scale printing activity in Ladino in the western Ottoman Empire
and in Istanbul in particular.[33] The earliest Judaeo-Spanish books were religious
in nature, mostly created to maintain religious knowledge for exiles who could not
read Hebrew; the first of the known texts is Dinim de shehitah i bedikah (The Rules
of Ritual Slaughter and Inspection of Animals; Istanbul, 1510).[34] Texts continued
to be focussed on philosophical and religious themes, including a large body of
rabbinic writings, until the first half of the 19th century. The largest output of
secular Judaeo-Spanish literature occurred during the latter half of the 19th and
the early 20th centuries in the Ottoman Empire. The earliest and most abundant form
of secular text was the periodical press: between 1845 and 1939, Ottoman Sephardim
published around 300 individual periodical titles.[35] The proliferation of
periodicals gave rise to serialised novels: many of them were rewrites of existing
foreign novels into Judaeo-Spanish. Unlike the previous scholarly literature, they
were intended for a broader audience of educated men and less-educated women alike.
They covered a wider range of less weighty content, at times censored to be
appropriate for family readings.[36] Popular literature expanded to include love
stories and adventure stories, both of which had been absent from Judaeo-Spanish
literary canon.[37] The literary corpus meanwhile also expanded to include
theatrical plays, poems and other minor genres.

Multiple documents made by the Ottoman government were translated into Judaeo-
Spanish; usually translators used terms from Ottoman Turkish.[38]

Religious use
The Jewish communities of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Belgrade, Serbia, still
chant part of the Sabbath Prayers (Mizmor David) in Judaeo-Spanish. The Sephardic
Synagogue Ezra Bessaroth in Seattle, Washington, United States, was formed by Jews
from Turkey and the Greek island of Rhodes, and it uses the language in some
portions of its Shabbat services. The Siddur is called Zehut Yosef and was written
by Hazzan Isaac Azose.

At Congregation Etz Ahaim of Highland Park, New Jersey,[39] a congregation founded

by Sephardic Jews from Salonika, a reader chants the Aramaic prayer B'rikh Shemay
in Judaeo-Spanish before he takes out the Torah on Shabbat. That is known as
Bendichu su Nombre in Judaeo-Spanish. Additionally, at the end of Shabbat services,
the entire congregation sings the well-known Hebrew hymn Ein Keloheinu, which is
Non Como Muestro Dio in Judaeo-Spanish.

Non Como Muestro Dio is also included, alongside Ein Keloheinu, in Mishkan T'filah,
the 2007 Reform prayerbook.[40]

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan translated some scholarly religious texts, including Me'am Loez
into Hebrew, English or both.[41][42]

Izmir's grand rabbis Haim Palachi, Abraham Palacci, and Rahamim Nissim Palacci all
wrote in the language and in Hebrew.

Inscription at Yad Vashem in Hebrew, English, Yiddish, and Judaeo-Spanish

Modern education and use
As with Yiddish,[43][44] Judaeo-Spanish is seeing a minor resurgence in educational
interest in colleges across the United States and in Israel.[45] Almost all
American Jews are Ashkenazi, with a tradition based on Yiddish, rather than Judaeo-
Spanish, and so institutions that offer Yiddish are more common. As of 2011 the
University of Pennsylvania[46][47] and Tufts University[48] offered Judaeo-Spanish
courses among colleges in the United States.[49] In Israel, Moshe David Gaon Center
for Ladino Culture at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is leading the way in
education (language and literature courses, Community oriented activities) and
research (a yearly scientific journal, international congresses and conferences
etc.). Hebrew University also offers courses.[50] The Complutense University of
Madrid also used to have courses.[51] Prof. David Bunis taught Judaeo-Spanish at
the University of Washington, in Seattle during the 2013–14 academic year.[52]
Bunis returned to the University of Washington for the Summer 2020 quarter.[53]

In Spain, the Spanish Royal Academy (RAE) in 2017 announced plans to create a
Judaeo-Spanish branch in Israel in addition to 23 existing academies, in various
Spanish-speaking countries, that are associated in the Association of Spanish
Language Academies. Its stated purpose is to preserve Judaeo-Spanish. The move was
seen as another step to make up for the Expulsion, following the offer of Spanish
citizenship to Sephardim who had some connection with Spain.[7]

Melis Alphan wrote in Hürriyet in 2017 that the use in Turkey was declining.[54]

Samples
Comparison with other languages
Note: Judaeo-Spanish samples in this section are generally written in the Aki
Yerushalayim orthography unless otherwise specified.
Judaeo-Spanish ‫איל גﬞודיאו־איספאנײול איס לה לינגואה פﬞאבﬞלאדה די לוס גﬞודיוס ספﬞרדים ארונגﬞאדוס‬
150,000 ‫ איס אונה לינגואה דיריבﬞאדה דיל איספאנײול אי פﬞאבﬞלאדה די‬.1492 ‫די לה איספאנײה איניל‬
,‫ מאיורקה‬,‫ איל מארואיקוס‬,‫ לה גריסײה‬,‫ אנטיקה יוגוסלאבﬞײה‬,‫ לה טורקײה‬,‫פירסונאס אין קומוניטאס אין ישראל‬
‫ אינטרי מונגﬞוס אוטרוס לוגאריס‬,‫לאס אמיריקאס‬.
El djudeo-espanyol es la lingua favlada de los djudios sefardim arondjados de la
Espanya enel 1492. Es una lingua derivada del espanyol i favlada de 150.000
personas en komunitas en Israel, la Turkia, antika Yugoslavia, la Gresia, el
Maruekos, Mayorka, las Amerikas, entre munchos otros lugares.

Spanish El judeo-español es la lengua hablada por los judíos sefardíes

expulsados[note 2] de España en 1492. Es una lengua derivada del español y hablada
por 150.000 personas en comunidades en Israel, Turquía, la antigua Yugoslavia,
Grecia, Marruecos, Mallorca, las Américas, entre muchos otros lugares.
Asturian El xudeoespañol ye la llingua falada polos xudíos sefardinos espulsaos
d'España en 1492. Ye una llingua derivada del español y falada por 150.000 persones
en comunidaes n'Israel, Turquía, na antigua Yugoslavia, Grecia, Marruecos,
Mallorca, nes Amériques, ente munchos otros llugares.
Galician O xudeo-español é a lingua falada polos xudeus sefardís expulsados de
España en 1492. É unha lingua derivada do español e falada por 150.000 persoas en
comunidades en Israel, en Turquía, na antiga Iugoslavia, Grecia, Marrocos, Maiorca,
nas Américas, entre moitos outros lugares.
Portuguese O judeu-espanhol é a língua falada pelos judeus sefarditas expulsos da
Espanha em 1492. É uma língua derivada do castelhano e falada por 150.000 pessoas
em comunidades em Israel, na Turquia, ex-Jugoslávia, Grécia, Marrocos, Maiorca, nas
Américas, entre muitos outros locais.
Aragonese O chodigo-espanyol ye la luenga parlata por os chodigos sefardís
expulsats d'Espanya en 1492. Ye una luenga derivata de l'espanyol i parlata por
150.000 personas en comunitatz en Israel, Turquía, l'antiga Yugoslavia, Grecia,
Marruecos, Mallorca, las Américas, entre muitos atros lugares.
Catalan El judeoespanyol és la llengua parlada pels jueus sefardites expulsats
d'Espanya al 1492. És una llengua derivada de l'espanyol i parlada per 150.000
persones en comunitats a Israel, Turquia, antiga Iugoslàvia, Grècia, el Marroc,
Mallorca, les Amèriques, entre molts altres llocs.
Occitan (Languedocien dialect) Lo judeoespanhol es la lenga parlada pels
jusieus sefarditas expulsats d’Espanha en 1492. Es una lenga venent del castelhan
que 150 000 personas la parlan dins de comunautats en Israèl, Turquia, èx-
Iogoslavia, Grècia, Marròc, Malhòrca, las Americas, entre fòrça autres luòcs.
English Judaeo-Spanish is the language spoken by Sephardic Jews expelled from
Spain in 1492. It is a language derived from Spanish and spoken by 150,000 people
in communities in Israel, Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Morocco, Majorca,
the Americas, among many other places.
Songs
Folklorists have been collecting romances and other folk songs, some dating from
before the expulsion. Many religious songs in Judeo-Spanish are translations of
Hebrew, usually with a different tune. For example, here is Ein Keloheinu in Judeo-
Spanish:

Non komo muestro Dio,

Non komo muestro Sinyor,
Non komo muestro Rey,
Non komo muestro Salvador.
etc.
Other songs relate to secular themes such as love:

Adio, kerida
Tu madre kuando te pario
Y te kito al mundo,
Korason ella no te dio
Para amar segundo.
Korason ella no te dió
Para amar segundo.

Adio,
Adio kerida,
No kero la vida,
Me l'amargates tu.
Adio,
Adio kerida,
No kero la vida,
Me l'amargates tu.
Va, bushkate otro amor,
Aharva otras puertas,
Aspera otro ardor,
Ke para mi sos muerta.
Aspera otro ardor,
Ke para mi sos muerta.
Adio,
Adio kerida,
No kero la vida,
Me l'amargates tu.
Adio,
Adio kerida,
No kero la vida,
Me l'amargates tú.
Goodbye, My Love (translation)
When your mother gave birth to you
And brought you into the world

She gave you no heart

To love another.

She gave you no heart

To love another.

Farewell,

Farewell my love,

I no longer want my life

You made it bitter for me

Farewell,

Farewell my love,

I no longer want my life

You made it bitter for me

Go, find yourself another lover,

Knock at other doors,

Wait for another passion

For you are dead to me

Wait for another passion

For you are dead to me

Farewell,

Farewell my love,

I no longer want my life

You made it bitter for me

Farewell,

Farewell my love,
I no longer want my life

You made it bitter for me

Por una Ninya For a Girl (translation)

Por una ninya tan fermoza
l'alma yo la vo a dar
un kuchilyo de dos kortes
en el korason entro. For a girl so beautiful
I will give my soul
a double-edged knife
pierced my heart.
No me mires ke'stó kantando
es lyorar ke kero yo
los mis males son muy grandes
no los puedo somportar. Don't look at me; I am singing,
it is crying that I want,
my sorrows are so great
I can't bear them.
No te lo kontengas tu, fijika,
ke sos blanka komo'l simit,
ay morenas en el mundo
ke kemaron Selanik. Don't hold your sorrows, young girl,
for you are white like bread,
there are dark girls in the world
who set fire to Thessaloniki.

Quando el Rey Nimrod (Adaptation) When King Nimrod (translation)

Quando el Rey Nimrod al campo salía
mirava en el cielo y en la estrellería
vido una luz santa en la djudería
que havía de nascer Avraham Avinu. When King Nimrod was going out to the fields
He was looking at heaven and at the stars
He saw a holy light in the Jewish quarter
[A sign] that Abraham, our father, must have been born.
Avraham Avinu, Padre querido,
Padre bendicho, luz de Yisrael. Abraham Avinu [our Father], dear father
Blessed Father, light of Israel.
Luego a las comadres encomendava
que toda mujer que prenyada quedara
si no pariera al punto, la matara
que havía de nascer Abraham Avinu. Then he was telling all the midwives
That every pregnant woman
Who did not give birth at once was going to be killed
because Abraham our father was going to born.
Avraham Avinu, Padre querido,
Padre bendicho, luz de Yisrael. Abraham Avinu, dear father
Blessed Father, light of Israel.
La mujer de Terach quedó prenyada
y de día en día le preguntava
¿De qué teneix la cara tan demudada?
ella ya sabía el bien que tenía. Terach's wife was pregnant
and each day he would ask her
Why do you look so distraught?
She already knew very well what she had.
Avraham Avinu, Padre querido,
Padre bendicho, luz de Yisrael. Abraham Avinu, dear father
Blessed Father, light of Israel.
En fin de nueve meses parir quería
iva caminando por campos y vinyas,
a su marido tal ni le descubría
topó una meara, allí lo pariría After nine months she wanted to give birth
She was walking through the fields and vineyards
Such would not even reach her husband
She found a cave; there, she would give birth.
Avraham Avinu, Padre querido,
Padre bendicho, luz de Yisrael. Abraham Avinu, dear father
Blessed Father, light of Israel.
En aquella hora el nascido avlava
"Andavos mi madre, de la meara
yo ya topó quen me alexara
mandará del cielo quen me accompanyará
porque so criado del Dio bendicho." In that hour the newborn was speaking
'Get away of the cave,[55] my mother
I will somebody to take me out
He will send from the heaven the one that will go with me
Because I am raised by the blessed God.'
Avraham Avinu, Padre querido,
Padre bendicho, luz de Yisrael Abraham Avinu, dear father
Blessed Father, light of Israel.
Anachronistically, Abraham—who in the Bible is an Aramean and the very first Hebrew
and the ancestor of all who followed, hence his appellation "Avinu" (Our Father)—is
in the Judeo-Spanish song born already in the "djudería" (modern Spanish: judería
which in Old Castillian is pro punces yudería), the Jewish quarter. This makes
Terach and his wife into Hebrews, as are the parents of other babies killed by
Nimrod. In essence, unlike its Biblical model, the song is about a Hebrew community
persecuted by a cruel king and witnessing the birth of a miraculous saviour—a
subject of obvious interest and attraction to the Jewish people who composed and
sang it in Medieval Spain.

The song attributes to Abraham elements that are from the story of Moses's birth,
the cruel king killing innocent babies, with the midwives ordered to kill them, the
'holy light' in the Jewish area, as well as from the careers of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego who emerged unscathed from the fiery furnace, and Jesus of Nazareth.
Nimrod is thus made to conflate the role and attributes of three archetypal cruel
and persecuting kings:Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh and Herod

Selected words by origin

[icon]
This section needs expansion with: Greek. You can help by adding to it. (January
2017)
Words derived from Arabic:

Alforría – "liberty", "freedom"

Alhát – "Sunday"
Atemar – to terminate
Saraf – "money changer"
Shara – "wood"
Ziara – "cemetery visit"
Words derived from Hebrew:

Alefbet – "alphabet" (from the Hebrew names of the first two letters of the
alphabet)
Anav – "humble", "obedient"
Arón – "grave"
Atakanear – to arrange
Badkar – to reconsider
Beraxa – "blessing"
Din – "religious law"
Kal – "community", "synagogue"
Kamma – to ask "how much?", "how many?"
Maaráv – "west"
Maasé – "story", "event"
Maabe – "deluge", "downpour", "torrent"
Mazal – "star", "destiny"
Met – "dead"
Niftar – "dead"
Purimlik – "Purim present" (Derived from the Hebrew "Purim" + Turkic ending "-lik")
Sedaka – "charity"
Tefilá – "prayer"
Zahut – "blessing"
Words derived from Persian:

Chay – "tea"
Chini – "plate"
Paras – "money"
Shasheo – "dizziness"
Words derived from Portuguese:

Abastádo – "almighty", "omnipotent" (referring to God)

Aínda – "yet"
Chapeo – "hat"
Preto – "black" (in color)
Trocar – to change
Words derived from Turkish:

Balta – "axe"
Biterear – to terminate
Boyadear – to paint, color
Innat – "whim"
Kolay – "easy"
Kushak – "belt", "girdle"
Maalé – "street", "quarters", "neighbourhood"; Maalé yahudí – Jewish quarters
Modern singers
Jennifer Charles and Oren Bloedow from the New York-based band Elysian Fields
released a CD in 2001 called La Mar Enfortuna, which featured modern versions of
traditional Sephardic songs, many sung by Charles in Judeo-Spanish. The American
singer Tanja Solnik has released several award-winning albums that feature songs in
the languages: From Generation to Generation: A Legacy of Lullabies and Lullabies
and Love Songs. There are a number of groups in Turkey that sing in Judeo-Spanish,
notably Janet – Jak Esim Ensemble, Sefarad, Los Pasharos Sefaradis and the
children's chorus Las Estreyikas d'Estambol. There is a Brazilian-born singer of
Sephardic origins,[citation needed] Fortuna, who researches and plays Judeo-Spanish
music.

Israeli folk-duo Esther & Abi Ofarim recorded the song 'Yo M'enamori d'un Aire' for
their 1968 album Up To Date. Esther Ofarim recorded several Judaeo-Spanish songs as
a solo artist. These included 'Povereta Muchachica', 'Noches Noches', El Rey
Nimrod', 'Adio Querida' & 'Pampaparapam'. [56]

The Jewish Bosnian-American musician Flory Jagoda recorded two CDs of music taught
to her by her grandmother, a Sephardic folk singer, among a larger discography.

The cantor Dr. Ramón Tasat, who learned Judeo-Spanish at his grandmother's knee in
Buenos Aires, has recorded many songs in the language, with three of his CDs
focusing primarily on that music.
The Israeli singer Yasmin Levy has also brought a new interpretation to the
traditional songs by incorporating more "modern" sounds of Andalusian Flamenco. Her
work revitalising Sephardic music has earned Levy the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean
Foundation Award for promoting cross-cultural dialogue between musicians from three
cultures:[57] In Yasmin Levy's own words:

I am proud to combine the two cultures of Ladino and flamenco, while mixing in
Middle Eastern influences. I am embarking on a 500 years old musical journey,
taking Ladino to Andalusia and mixing it with flamenco, the style that still bears
the musical memories of the old Moorish and Jewish-Spanish world with the sound of
the Arab world. In a way it is a ‘musical reconciliation’ of history.[58]

Notable music groups performing in Judeo-Spanish include Voice of the Turtle, Oren
Bloedow and Jennifer Charles' La Mar Enfortuna and Vanya Green, who was awarded a
Fulbright Fellowship for her research and performance of this music. She was
recently selected as one of the top ten world music artists by the We are Listening
International World of Music Awards for her interpretations of the music.

Robin Greenstein, a New York-based musician, received a federal CETA grant in the
1980s to collect and perform Sephardic Music under the guidance of the American
Jewish Congress. Her mentor was Joe Elias, noted Sephardic singer from Brooklyn.
She recorded residents of the Sephardic Home for the Aged, a nursing home in Coney
Island, New York, singing songs from their childhood. The voices recorded included
Victoria Hazan, a well known Sephardic singer who recorded many 78's in Judaeo-
Spanish and Turkish from the 1930s and 1940s. Two Judaeo-Spanish songs can be found
on her Songs of the Season holiday CD, released in 2010 on Windy Records.

German band In Extremo also recorded a version of the above-mentioned song Avram
Avinu.

See also
Aki Yerushalayim, an Israeli magazine in Judaeo-Spanish published 2–3 times a year
Haketia
Jewish languages
Judaism
Judaeo-Portuguese
Judaeo-Romance languages
Judaeo-Spanish Wikipedia
Knaanic language
Mozarabic language
Los Serenos Sefarad, Judaeo-Spanish hip-hop
Laura Papo Bohoreta
Matilda Koen-Sarano
Şalom, a Turkish newspaper with a Judaeo-Spanish page[59]
Sephardi Jews
Tetuani Ladino
Cicurel family
Pallache family
History of the Jews in Bosnia and Herzegovina
References
Notes

Pronounced [dʒu-, ʒu- / -ˈðeo͜-, -ˈdeo͜-, -ˈðeu͜-, -ˈdeu͜- / -(e)s.pa-, -(e)ʃ.pa- / -ˈɲol,
-ˈɲoɫ, -ˈnjol, -ˈnjoɫ] in different dialects.
Speakers use different orthographical conventions depending on their social,
educational, national and personal backgrounds, and there is no uniformity in
spelling although some established conventions exist. The endonym Judeo-Espagnol is
also spelled as Cudeo-Espanyol, Djudeo-Espagnol, Djudeo-Espanyol, Dschudeo-
Espanjol, Dzhudeo-Espanyol, Džudeo-Espanjol, Dzsudeo-Eszpanyol (Hungary), Dżudeo-
Espańol, Giudeo-Espagnol or Giudeo-Espaneol (Italy), Ġudeo-Espanjol, Ǧudéo-Españól,
Judeo-Espaniol, Ĵudeo-Español and Judeo-Espanýol, Tzoudeo-Espaniol (Greece),
Xhudeo-Espanjol. See the infobox for parallel spellings in scripts other than
Latin.
The direct Spanish cognate of Judaeo-Spanish 'arondjado(s)' is 'arrojado(s)',
which has the meaning of 'thrown' and 'kicked-out', but not 'exiled' like its
Judaeo-Spanish counterpart.
Citations

Peim, Benjamin. "Ladino Lingers on in Brooklyn – Barely". The Jerusalem Post.

Retrieved 12 August 2017.
Bureau, US Census. "Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak
English". The United States Census Bureau.
Ladino at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016)
Quintana Rodríguez, Alidina (2006). Geografía lingüística del judeoespañol:
estudio sincrónico y diacrónico (in Spanish). ISBN 978-3-03910-846-6.
"Ladino". MultiTree. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
Koen, Hajim Mordehaj (1927). ЛЕКУТЕ ТЕФИЛОТ (ОРАСJОНИС ЕСКУЖИДАС) (in Ladino).
Belgrade.
Sam Jones (1 August 2017). "Spain honours Ladino language of Jewish exiles". The
Guardian.
Minervini, Laura (2006). "El desarollo histórico del judeoespañol". Revista
Internacional de Lingüística Iberoamericana.
Haim-Vidal Sephiha: Judeo-Spanish, on the former website of the Jewish Museum of
Thessaloniki (Salonika). Archived 15 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
Retrieved on 19 October 2011.
Nehama, Joseph (1977). Dictionnaire du judéo-espagnol (French Edition) (French).
"Cover". digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu.
Entry "judeoespañol, la", in the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española (DRAE).
Retrieved on 1 June 2019.
"Ladino Today | My Jewish Learning". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (2005). "Ladino". Ethnologue: Languages of the World,
Fifteenth edition. SIL International. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
Harris, Tracy (1994). Death of a language: The history of Judeo-Spanish. Newark,
DE: University of Delaware Press.
(in Spanish) Entry "ladino, na", in the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española
(DRAE). Retrieved on 1 June 2019.
Historia 16, 1978.
"Clearing up Ladino, Judeo-Spanish, Sephardic Music" Judith Cohen, HaLapid, winter
2001; Sephardic Song at the Wayback Machine (archived 16 April 2008), Judith Cohen,
Midstream July/August 2003
Attig, Remy (September 2012). "Did the Sephardic Jews Speak Ladino?". Bulletin of
Spanish Studies. 89 (6): 831–838. doi:10.1080/14753820.2012.712320. ISSN 1475-3820.
S2CID 162360656.
"Ladino". archive.phonetics.ucla.edu.
Penny, Ralph (2000). Variation and Change in Spanish. Cambridge University Press.
pp. 179–189. ISBN 0-521-60450-8.
Travis G. Bradley and Ann Marie Delforge, Phonological Retention and Innovation in
the Judeo-Spanish of Istanbul in Selected Proceedings of the 8th Hispanic
Linguistics Symposium, ed. Timothy L. Face and Carol A. Klee, 73–88. 2006.
Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Batzarov, Zdravko. "Judeo-Spanish: Noun". www.orbilat.com. Retrieved 9 November
2016.
Verba Hispanica X: Los problemas del estudio de la lengua sefardí Archived 7 April
2008 at the Wayback Machine, Katja Šmid, Ljubljana, pages 113–124: Es interesante
el hecho que en Bulgaria se imprimieron unas pocas publicaciones en alfabeto
cirílico búlgaro y en Grecia en alfabeto griego. [...] Nezirović (1992: 128) anota
que también en Bosnia se ha encontrado un documento en que la lengua sefardí está
escrita en alfabeto cirilico. The Nezirović reference is: Nezirović, M., Jevrejsko-
Španjolska književnost. Institut za književnost, Svjetlost, Sarajevo, Bosnia 1992.
See preface by Iacob M. Hassán to Romero, Coplas Sefardíes, Cordoba, pp. 23–24.
"Ladinoikonunita: A quick explanation of Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish).
Sephardicstudies.org. Retrieved on 19 October 2011.
palavră in the Dicționarul etimologic român, Alexandru Ciorănescu [ro],
Universidad de la Laguna, Tenerife, 1958–1966: Cuvînt introdus probabil prin. iud.
sp: "Word introduced probably through Judaeo-Spanish.
Συγκριτικός πίνακας των στοιχείων των απογραφών του 1928, 1940 ΚΑΙ 1951 σχετικά με
τις ομιλούμενες γλώσσες στην Ελλάδα. – Μεινοτικές γλώσσες στην Ελλάδα Κωνσταντίνος
Τσιτσελίκης (2001), Πύλη για την Ελληνική Γλώσσα
"Eliezer Papo: From the Wailing Wall (in Bosnian)". Archived from the original on
24 June 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
Reka Network: Kol Israel International Archived 23 March 2007 at the Wayback
Machine
Radio Exterior de España: Emisión en sefardí
Nir Hasson, Holocaust survivor revives Jewish dialect by translating Greek epic,
at Haaretz, 9 March 2012.
Simon, Rachel (2011). "The Contribution of Hebrew Printing Houses and Printers in
Istanbul to Ladino Culture and Scholarship". Judaica Librarianship. 16/17: 125–135.
doi:10.14263/2330-2976.1008.
Borovaya, Olga (2012). Modern Ladino Culture: Press, Belles Lettres, and Theater
in the Late Ottoman Empire. Indiana University Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-253-35672-7.
Borovaya, Olga (2012). Modern Ladino Culture: Press, Belles Lettres, and Theater
in the Late Ottoman Empire. Indiana University Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-253-35672-
7.
Borovaya, Olga (2012). Modern Ladino Culture: Press, Belles Lettres, and Theater
in the Late Ottoman Empire. Indiana University Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-253-35672-
7.
Borovaya, Olga (2012). Modern Ladino Culture: Press, Belles Lettres, and Theater
in the Late Ottoman Empire. Indiana University Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-253-35672-
7.
Strauss, Johann (2010). "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of
the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages". In Herzog,
Christoph; Malek Sharif (eds.). The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy.
Wurzburg: Orient-Institut Istanbul. pp. 21–51. (info page on book at Martin Luther
University) // CITED: p. 36 (PDF p. 38/338). "This seems surprising insofar as
Judaeo-Spanish translators do not generally shun Turkish terms."
"Congregation Etz Ahaim - Sephardic". Congregation Etz Ahaim - Sephardic.
Frishman, Elyse D., ed. (2007). Mishkan T'filah : a Reform siddur: services for
Shabbat. New York: Central Conference of American Rabbis. p. 327. ISBN 978-0-88123-
104-5.
> Events > Exhibitions > Rare Book Library Collection Restoration Project –
Ladino. American Sephardi Federation (23 April 1918). Retrieved on 19 October 2011.
Yalkut May'Am Loez, Jerusalem 5736 Hebrew translation from Ladino language.
Price, Sarah. (2005-08-25) Schools to Teach Ein Bisel Yiddish | Education. Jewish
Journal. Retrieved on 19 October 2011.
The Mendele Review: Yiddish Literature and Language, Volume 11, No. 10.
Yiddish.haifa.ac.il (30 September 2007). Retrieved on 19 October 2011.
EJP | News | Western Europe | Judaeo-Spanish language revived Archived 29 May 2009
at the Wayback Machine. Ejpress.org (19 September 2005). Retrieved on 19 October
2011.
Jewish Studies Program Archived 17 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
Ccat.sas.upenn.edu. Retrieved on 19 October 2011.
Ladino Class at Penn Tries to Resuscitate Dormant Language. The Jewish Exponent (1
February 2007). Retrieved on 19 October 2011.
Department of German, Russian & Asian Languages and Literature – Tufts University.
Ase.tufts.edu. Retrieved on 19 October 2011.
For love of Ladino – The Jewish Standard. Jstandard.com. Retrieved on 19 October
2011.
Courses – Ladino Studies At The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Pluto.huji.ac.il
(30 July 2010). Retrieved on 19 October 2011.
"Hebrew Philology courses (in Spanish)". UCM. UCM. Archived from the original on
12 December 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
"Why I'm teaching a new generation to read and write Ladino". Jewish Studies. 23
February 2014.
"The Legacy of Ladino". College of Arts and Sciences - University of Washington.
17 August 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
Alphan, Melis (9 December 2017). "Ladino: A Judeo-Ottoman language that is dying
in Turkey". Hürriyet. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
meara=‫=מערה‬Heb. cave
"Esther Ofarim web site". Esther Ofarim.
"2008 Event Media Release – Yasmin Levy". Sydney Opera House. Archived from the
original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
"BBC – Awards for World Music 2007 – Yasmin Levy". BBC. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
Åžalom Gazetesi – 12.10.2011 – Judeo-Espanyol İçerikleri Archived 11 December
2008 at the Wayback Machine. Salom.com.tr. Retrieved on 19 October 2011.
Bibliography

Barton, Thomas Immanuel (Toivi Cook) (2010) Judezmo Expressions. USA ISBN 978-89-
00-35754-7
Barton, Thomas Immanuel (Toivi Cook) (2008) Judezmo (Judeo-Castilian) Dictionary.
USA ISBN 978-1-890035-73-0
Bunis, David M. (1999) Judezmo: an introduction to the language of the Sephardic
Jews of the Ottoman Empire. Jerusalem ISBN 978-965-493-024-6
Габинский, Марк А. (1992) Сефардский (еврейской-испанский) язык (M. A. Gabinsky.
Sephardic (Judeo-Spanish) language, in Russian). Chişinău: Ştiinţa
Harris, Tracy. 1994. Death of a language: The history of Judeo-Spanish. Newark, DE:
University of Delaware Press.
Hemsi, Alberto (1995) Cancionero Sefardí; edited and with an introduction by Edwin
Seroussi (Yuval Music Series; 4.) Jerusaelem: The Jewish Music Research Centre, the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hualde, José Ignacio and Mahir Saul (2011) "Istanbul Judeo-Spanish" Journal of the
International Phonetic Association 41(1): 89–110.
Hualde, José Ignacio (2013) “Intervocalic lenition and word-boundary effects:
Evidence from Judeo-Spanish”. Diachronica 30.2: 232–26.
Kohen, Elli; Kohen-Gordon, Dahlia (2000) Ladino-English, English-Ladino: concise
encyclopedic dictionary. New York: Hippocrene Books
Markova, Alla (2008) Beginner's Ladino with 2 Audio CDs. New York: Hippocrene Books
ISBN 0-7818-1225-9
Markus, Shimon (1965) Ha-safa ha-sefaradit-yehudit (The Judeo-Spanish language, in
Hebrew). Jerusalem
Minervini, Laura (1999) “The Formation of the Judeo-Spanish koiné: Dialect
Convergence in the Sixteenth Century”. In Proceedings of the Tenth British
Conference on Judeo-Spanish Studies. Edited by Annete Benaim, 41–52. London: Queen
Mary and Westfield College.
Minervini, Laura (2006) “El desarollo histórico del judeoespañol,” Revista
Internacional de Lingüística Iberoamericana 4.2: 13–34.
Molho, Michael (1950) Usos y costumbres de los judíos de Salónica
Quintana Rodriguez, Aldina. 2001. Concomitancias lingüisticas entre el aragones y
el ladino (judeoespañol). Archivo de Filología Aragonesa 57–58, 163–192.
Quintana Rodriguez, Aldina. 2006. Geografía lingüistica del judeoespañol: Estudio
sincrónico y diacrónico. Bern: Peter Lang.
Sephiha, Haïm-Vidal. 1997. “Judeo-Spanish”, in Weinstock, Nathan, Sephiha, Haïm-
Vidal (with Anita Barrera-Schoonheere) Yiddish and Judeo-Spanish: a European
Heritage. European Languages 6. Brussels: European Bureau for Lesser-Used
Languages, 23–39.
Varol, Marie-Christine (2004) Manuel de Judéo-Espagnol, langue et culture (book &
CD, in French), Paris: L'Asiathèque ISBN 2-911053-86-9
Further reading
Lleal, Coloma (1992) "A propósito de una denominación: el judeoespañol", available
at Centro Virtual Cervantes, A propósito de una denominación: el judeoespañol
Saporta y Beja, Enrique, comp. (1978) Refranes de los judíos sefardíes y otras
locuciones típicas de Salónica y otros sitios de Oriente. Barcelona: Ameller
External links
Ladino edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Judaeo-Spanish test of Wiktionary at Wikimedia Incubator
Judaeo-Spanish
at Wikipedia's sister projects
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Wikimedia Commons
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Travel guide from Wikivoyage
Data from Wikidata
Judaeo-Spanish at Curlie
Autoridad Nasionala del Ladino (in Ladino)
Ladino
Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki
Ladino Center
Ladinokomunita, an email list in Ladino
La pajina djudeo-espanyola de Aki Yerushalayim
The Ladino Alphabet
Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) at Orbis Latinus
Ladino music by Suzy and Margalit Matitiahu
Socolovsky, Jerome. "Lost Language of Ladino Revived in Spain", Morning Edition,
National Public Radio, 19 March 2007.
A randomly selected example of use of ladino on the Worldwide Web: La komponente
kulinaria i linguístika turka en la kuzina djudeo-espanyola
Israeli Ladino Language Forum (Hebrew)
LadinoType – A Ladino Transliteration System for Solitreo, Meruba, and Rashi
Habla Ladino? Sephardim meet to preserve language Friday 9 January 1998
Edición SEFARAD, Radio programme in Ladino from Radio Nacional de España
Etext of Nebrija's Gramática de la lengua castellana, showing orthography of Old
Spanish.
Sefarad, Revista de Estudios Hebraicos, Sefardíes y de Oriente Próximo, ILC, CSIC
Judæo-Spanish Language (Ladino) and Literature, Jewish Encyclopedia
Dr Yitshak (Itzik) Levy An authentic documentation of Ladino heritage and culture
Sephardic Studies Digital Library & Museum – UW Stroum Jewish Studies
“Ladino” or not “Ladino”?, David M. Bunis.
An inside look into the Portuguese corpus of words in Nehama's Dictionnaire du
Judeo-Espagnol Yossi Gur, 2003.
Ladino Romanization standard used by the Library of Congress
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