Ladino language

Judaeo-Spanish
Ladino
ﬥﬡטﬞין
Pronunciation[laˈðino]
Native to Israel
 Turkey
 USA
 France
 Greece
 Brazil
 UK
and others
RegionMediterranean Basin (native region), formerly also the Americas
EthnicitySephardim
Native speakers
51,000 (2018)Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (25th ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.
Dialects
  • Haketia Variant - Morocco, Canada
  • Levantine Variant - main variant, two branches
    Occidental branch - originally spoken in Albania, Romania, Western Bulgaria, Western Greece and Yugoslavia
    Oriental branch - originally spoken in Eastern Bulgaria, Eastern Greece, the Middle East, North Africa (except for Morocco) and Turkey.
  • Ponentine Variant - extinct
Mainly Latin script
Original script Rashi and Solitreo
Other scripts; Persian, Cyrillic, Greek and Hebrew.
Official status
Regulated byAutoridad Nasionala del Ladino in Israel (using Latin alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-2lad
ISO 639-3lad
ELPLadino
Linguasphere... 51-AAB-bd 51-AAB-ba ... 51-AAB-bd
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Ladino (also called Judeo-Spanish) is a Jewish Romance language that is very close to the Spanish language. It has many old Spanish words and Hebrew words.

History

During the Middle Ages, many Jews lived in Spain. They were called Sephardic Jews or Sephardim (in Hebrew). Forced to leave Spain after the country was taken over by Christians, they brought the old Spanish with them to their new countries.[clarification needed] Some Sephardic Jews still speak Ladino in Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria, the United States and other countries.

Just as many other Jewish languages, Ladino is an endangered language and is in danger of language death. It could become an extinct language. Most native speakers are old because many of them emigrated to Israel and did not pass on the language to their children or grandchildren. In some Sephardic Jewish communities in Latin America and elsewhere, there is a threat of language extinction because of assimilation into modern Spanish.

Writing

Ladino is usually written by using the Latin alphabet, but in Israel it uses the Hebrew alphabet.

Ladin language

Ladino should not be confused with the Ladin language, which is related to the Swiss Romansh and Friulian languages and is mostly spoken in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of Northern Italy.[source?]

References

  1. 1 2 3

Other websites