Sephardi

Language

The traditional language of the Sephardim is Judæo-Spanish, also called Ladino (a term considered pejorative in some circles).

Related Topics:
Spanish - Ladino

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It is a Romance Language derived mainly from Old Castilian (Spanish) and Sephardi Hebrew, and is often considered a dialect adjacent to modern Castilian — the official language of Spain — because of their intelligibility.

Related Topics:
Romance Language - Castilian - Spanish - Sephardi Hebrew

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Judæo-Spanish has been conserved by the crypto-Jewish marranos of Portugal and Brazil and is still spoken by many of them. It is also spoken by many of the few Sephardim still remaining in Turkey and amongst the Sephardi immigrants of Israel.

Related Topics:
Crypto-Jewish - Marrano - Portugal - Brazil - Turkey

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Judæo-Portuguese has also been used by Sephardim — especially amongst the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of Western Europe.

Related Topics:
Judæo-Portuguese - Spanish and Portuguese Jews

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The pidgin forms of Portuguese spoken among slaves and their Sephardic owners have been an influence in Papiamento and Creole languages of Suriname.

Related Topics:
Pidgin forms of Portuguese - Papiamento - Languages of Suriname

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Several other Romance languages with Jewish forms, spoken historically by Sephardim, include Shuadit (Judæo-Provençal), Judæo-Aragonese, and Catalanic (Judæo-Catalán).

Related Topics:
Shuadit - Provençal - Judæo-Aragonese - Catalanic - Catalán

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Other languages associated with Sephardic Jews are mostly extinct, i.e., formerly spoken by some Jewish communities in Italy. Low German, formerly used as the vernacular amongst Sephardim of the Hamburg and Altona area of Northern Germany is also no longer in use as a specifically Jewish vernacular.

Related Topics:
Low German - Hamburg - Altona - Germany

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