Pronunciation of Language of Sephardic Jews

Classical Hebrew morphology and syntax, aspect, linguistics, discourse analysis, and related topics
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BryantIII
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:41 am

Pronunciation of Language of Sephardic Jews

Post by BryantIII »

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
En Xristwi
Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
Yigal Levin
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Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2013 11:38 am
Location: Tzur-Yigal, Israel

Re: Pronunciation of Language of Sephardic Jews

Post by Yigal Levin »

Dear Bryant,

The term "Sephardic" has several different meanings in different contexts. The article that you cite uses the term in its most narrow sense - the descendants of the Jews who lived in Iberia and were expelled in 1492 (and to whom the Spanish government recently offered citizenship). These people and their descendants did indeed speak Ladino, which developed many local forms depending on where they settled. BTW, most Ladino texts are actually written in Latin characters, not Hebrew.
The countries in which the Sephardim settled, mostly around the Mediterranean, had their own Jewish communities, where the commonly spoken languages were Arabic, Turkish and Greek. In many ways, the Sephardim and other Mediterranean Jews had a long common heritage, since Muslim Spain had been a part of the Mediterranean world and Spanish Jews had travelled all over the Mediterranean. Many of the leaders of Mediterranean Jewish communities were Sephardim even before the Expulsion. One major example is Moses Maimonides, who was born in Cordoba, Spain, moved to the Land of Israel, but lived most of his adult life in Cairo, Egypt. So when the “pure” Sephardim arrived in various places around the Mediterranean after 1492, in some place the assimilated into the local communities, in others they remained separate (this happened in Greece, where the local “Romanote” Jews remained separate from the Sephardic newcomers), and in others the Sephardim became the leaders, and the whole community adopted a “Sephardic” identity.
After the founding of the modern state of Israel, when most Jews from Muslim countries immigrated to the new state, many Ashkenazim (northwestern European Jews, who made up most of the leadership) used “Sephardim” as a general term for all “eastern” Jews, including Yemenites, Iraqis and others who had not previously been considered “Sephardim”. To the Ashkenazim, they were “all the same”, while there were (and still are) huge cultural difference between them. The Yemenites, Iraqis and others, for example, had never spoken Ladino. This is the widest use of the term “Sephardim”, and has been perpetuated, more than anything else, by the “eastern” Jews’ own self-usage.
Now to answer your question, have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Hebrew, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenite_Hebrew , and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardic_Hebrew. these articles are not totally accurate, but they give a good picture.

Cheers (it’s almost Purim!),
Yigal Levin
BryantIII
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:41 am

Re: Pronunciation of Language of Sephardic Jews

Post by BryantIII »

Dear Yigal,

Thank you for your reply and the explanations. What you said about the Sephardim is what I thought, but was not too sure about. Now, would the pronunciations of the Hebrew alphabet be more in line with the Sephardim or Ashkenazi or both? You did mention the article in Wikipedia, but you indicated that they were not totally accurate. Where are they NOT accurate.

BTW, if I don't catch it before then have a Happy Purim!

En Xpistwi,

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
En Xristwi
Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
Yigal Levin
Moderator
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2013 11:38 am
Location: Tzur-Yigal, Israel

Re: Pronunciation of Language of Sephardic Jews

Post by Yigal Levin »

Hi Briyant,

I'm not going to analyze the Wiki articles. But what do you mean by "would the pronunciations of the Hebrew alphabet be more in line with the Sephardim or Ashkenazi or both?" Whose pronunciations? Since no-one really knows what any ancient language sounded like, we all "reconstruct" to an extent. Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Yemenite etc. traditions each like to think that they preserve the "original", although educated people realize that the various traditions developed over time. Modern Hebrew pronunciation is officially modeled on the Sephardic, but in reality is mixed. In academia, Jews tend to use modern Hebrew pronunciation, which has become the international Jewish lingua franca. This has also been adopted by many non-Jews, although there are other academic traditions as well.

Thanks for the Purim blessings - the holiday begins Saturday night everywhere exept in Jerusalem, and Sunday night in Jerusalem.

Yigal Levin
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