Ladino

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A language of Israel

ISO 639-3
lad
Alternate Names
Judeo Spanish, Judeo-Espagnol, Sefardi, Sephardic, Spanyol
Autonym
גﬞודיאו־איספאנייול‎ (Djudeo-espanyol), לאדינו‎ (Ladino)
Population

125,000 (2016). Total users in all countries: 137,000.

Location

Jerusalem district and scattered.

Language Status

4 (Educational).

Classification
Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, West Iberian, Castilian
Dialects

Judezmo (Dzhudezmo, Jidyo, Judyo), Ladino, Haquetiya (Haketia, Haketiya, Hakitia). The Balkan dialect is more influenced by Turkish [tur] and Greek [ell]. The North African dialect is more influenced by Arabic [arb]and French [fra].

Language Use

Not the dominant language for most. Formerly the main language of Sephardic Jewry. Used in literary and music contexts. Also use Hebrew [heb].

Language Development
New Media. Newspapers. Radio. Bible: 1829.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Ladino
Writing

Cyrillic script [Cyrl], used by Sephardic speakers in the Balkans. Hebrew script [Hebr]. Latin script [Latn], used in Turkey.

Other Comments

The name Dzhudezmo is used by Jewish linguists and Turkish Jews, Judeo-Spanish by Romance philologists, Ladino by laymen (especially in Israel), Hakitia by Moroccan Jews, Spanyol by some others. Different from Ladin [lld] in the Rhaeto-Romansch group. Jewish.

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