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Ladino Dying as Sephardim Adopt Their National Languages
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FERNDALE
MICH.
Between Livernois
& Pinehurst
Ladino, the spoken lan-
guage of Sephardic Jewry,
,seems to be suffering a fate
similar to that of its Ash-
kenazic counterpart, Yid-
dish, in that it is a "dying
language."
According to an article
written by Mordechai Me-
vorach, released by the cul=
tural department of the
oyott3 asiiover
to _AV
World Jewish Congress,
Ladino is "spoken by the
older generation of Jews in
Turkey, by their contempo-
raries from Bulgaria,
Greece and Yugoslavia, and
by some Jews of, Egyptian
origin living in Israel or dis-
persed in various countries."
Ladino, which originally
stems from 16th Century
Castilian, was spoken as the
main language by the Jews
scattered in the Balkan
countries as well as -in the
Middle East. The language
was brought to the areas by
Jews expelied from Spain
and Portugal, and their lan-
guage and customs made a
lasting impression on the lo-
cal Jewish communities and
on Jewish refugees who
came from other countries.
This language already
had absorbed bits from
Hebrew and Arabic, and
as the exiles settled they
adopted - parts of the lan-
guages of the countries in
which they made their
homes.
An original art rendering by the Israeli-French artist, Nissan Engel, depicts the
Morranos observing Passover in secret during the Spanish Inquisition. This also
serves as a reinnder of .the oppression of three million Soviet Jews during the
coming Passover season.
Hermelin, Colburn & Colburn
314 Fisher Building
Itzhak Moscona, chair-
man of the Jewish Com-
munal Board of Sofia, Bul-
garia, who also is a linguist
and scholar, has done much
research into the develop :
ment and use of Ladino.
Moscona notes that the
language spoken by Sephar-
dim developed in three
stages. Ladino was the first
stage. Judezmo was a later-
stage which absorbed some
Turkish and Judeo-Espaniol
is . a name he gives to the
separate language which
developed in the 19th Cen-
tury under the influence of
Best Wishes for
a happy, healthy
and joyo us
Passover
to the entire community
FROM THE DIRECTORS
AND OFFICERS OF
There's a Liberty State Bank & Trust Office In Your Neighborhood.
4
1
.
-
Liberty State Bank & Trust
"Full Service Saturday Banking"
West Bloomfield Township
6695 Orchard Lake Rd.
Waterford Township
4330 Highland Rd.
Other Offices: Sterling Heights. 'Clinton Township and Hamtramck
.
the schools of the Alliance
Israelite Universelle when
that language absorbed
many French words. Some
of this generation found it
easier to use French than
Ladino.
Judezmo is basically corn-
prised of words from four
different sources: Castilian,
4,000 words; Turkish, 1,500;
Hebrew, 500; and 500 of
Greek, Arabic- and other
derivation. The basic vo-
cabulary consists mainly of
Castilian words.
According to Mevorach,
much of the Castilian was
used in the first period
after the explusion from
Spaiii. These words ex-
press more highly devel-
oped social relationships
or belonging to the world
of living things and natu-
ral science. Since Jews did
not serve in the Turkish
army, many words per-
taining to military matters
disappeared.
Hebrew is the source for
the names of months, the
festivals, prayer rituals and
everything connected with
religion and religious rites.
Hebrew also is used to ex-
press philosophical and
moral conceptions, in suf-
fixes and Jewish scholars
incorporated Hebrew bibli-
cal verses into Ladino sent-
ences,'"so that these quota-
tions have. become an
integral part of the lan-
guage." Arabic was used in
the names of the days of the
week.
Since many of the 16th
Century Jews lived under
Turkish rule, they adopted
words from that language to
express economic functions,
military conceptions and
state services.
Every wave of immigra-
tion from neighboring
Countries brought new
words for the Ladino
speakers. German and
Yiddish also contritrited
to the Ladino vocabu
Ladino writers enrki-fed
Ladino by adopting words
from the language of the
countries -in which they
lived. The linguistic analysis
of 3,500 Spanish proverbs
collected by Moscona shows
that the Castilian words not
only serve as the core of the
language but they are also
are in most frequent use.
Hebrew words constitute 8
percent of the vocabulary of
the proverbs, with a recur-
rent use of 3.3-percent.
Jewish Courses Increase
On Campuses Worldwide
NEW YORK (JTA)
There has been an upsurge
in the number of Jewish
students who want to take
Jewish studies courses, not
only in American universi-
ties and colleges, but in all
Diaspora countries.
Prof. Moshe Davis, foun-
der and former chairman of
the Institute of Contempo-
rary Jewry of the Hebrew
University, said Sunday
that an international Jewish
faculty must be created to-
provide the teaching and
research for these,courses.
Speaking at a meeting of
the International and
American Planning Com-
mittees of the Institute of
Contemporary Jewry at the
headquarters of the Ameri-
can Friends of Hebrew Uni-
versity, Prof. Davis stressed
that only a small number of
the Jews on American cam-
puses are -taking Jewish
studies courses and many of
the courses given are weak.
Yehuda Bauer, -chair-
man of the institute, said
the Hebrew University
school must not only do
research and collect data
on contemporary Jewish
history, but must also
teach the teachers of Jew-
ish studies.
Courses on the Holocaust
are among the most popular
courses on campuses, .ac-
cording to Abraham J.
Karp, president of, the
American Jewish Historical
Society and a professor of
history and religious studies
at the University of Roches-
ter, and Franklin H. Littell,
professor of religion at Tem-
ple University. Dr. Littell
said more Christian theolog-
ical schools are adding
courses on the Holocaust,
including the Harvard Di-
vinity School.
Prof. Bauer noted that
one of the major areas the
institute is dealing with is
the study of Jewish national
communal organizations.
He said it fs presently be-
ginning research into the
background of the United
Jewish Appeal. Irving Bern-
stein, UJA executive vice
president, said the UJA is
becoming more and more in-
volved in adult education.
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