Pronunciation of Language of Sephardic Jews
Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 2:20 pm
Dear Members,
My wife, an alumnus of the University of Washington with a M. Lib. Sci., receives the Alumni magazine "Columns." In the March 2014 issue is an article, "The Lost Branch: Reviving a language on the brink of extinction," by Leslie Katz, pp.12-15. This article relates the story of Assistant Professor of History, Devin Naar, a descendant of Ladino Jews (Sephardic Jews) of Salonica, Greece.
On page 13, is this statement, "Ladino was orignally spoken by the Hews expelled from Spain in 1492. When they migrated elsewhere, especially to what was then the Ottoman Empire, the language a became rich mixture of antiquated Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, Greek and other languages." On pages 13-14, "When written, Ladino looks like Hebrew; when spoken, it sounds like Spanish. For example, the Spanish word for god is "dios," while the Ladino word (spelled with Hebrew characters) is pronounced "dio," an homage to monotheism."
Now, the question. Considering that Sephardic Jews were located around the Mediterranean for a long period of time (2100 years?), What is the difference in pronunciation between the Sephardic (especially Yemen) and Ashkenasic? I suspect that the pronunciation found in the pointing of the Massoretes would be Ashkenasic, but this could similar to the "sibboleth/shibboleth" incident found in Judges.
En Xristwi,
Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
My wife, an alumnus of the University of Washington with a M. Lib. Sci., receives the Alumni magazine "Columns." In the March 2014 issue is an article, "The Lost Branch: Reviving a language on the brink of extinction," by Leslie Katz, pp.12-15. This article relates the story of Assistant Professor of History, Devin Naar, a descendant of Ladino Jews (Sephardic Jews) of Salonica, Greece.
On page 13, is this statement, "Ladino was orignally spoken by the Hews expelled from Spain in 1492. When they migrated elsewhere, especially to what was then the Ottoman Empire, the language a became rich mixture of antiquated Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, Greek and other languages." On pages 13-14, "When written, Ladino looks like Hebrew; when spoken, it sounds like Spanish. For example, the Spanish word for god is "dios," while the Ladino word (spelled with Hebrew characters) is pronounced "dio," an homage to monotheism."
Now, the question. Considering that Sephardic Jews were located around the Mediterranean for a long period of time (2100 years?), What is the difference in pronunciation between the Sephardic (especially Yemen) and Ashkenasic? I suspect that the pronunciation found in the pointing of the Massoretes would be Ashkenasic, but this could similar to the "sibboleth/shibboleth" incident found in Judges.
En Xristwi,
Rev. Bryant J. Williams III