Ladino, also called Judeo-Spanish, Judezmo, Spanyolit, and other names, is a Romance language written and spoken by Sephardic Jews (Jews of Spanish and Portuguese background). Judeo-Spanish originated in the Iberian Peninsula and was carried abroad after Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 and Portugal in 1497. Judeo-Spanish is based in an archaic form of Castilian Spanish, but also contains elements of languages such as Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, French, Portuguese, Bulgarian, and Italian. Written and spoken in areas such as Israel, the Balkans, North Africa, Greece, Turkey (and to a lesser extent also in the Americas), today Judeo-Spanish is in danger of extinction, although it is experiencing some kind of revival – and we are taking part in this revival by learning it here in Michigan!
Prerequisites/assumed background: Prior knowledge of Spanish or other Romance languages is helpful but not required. Knowledge of Hebrew is not required; The semi-cursive Hebrew Rashi script is taught from scratch.
Explore the Ladino historical press as a gateway to language, culture, and Sephardi modernity. Students learn to read and interpret Ladino newspaper texts while building competence in Hebrew-based Rashi alphabet (and exposure to Solitreo where relevant), expanding Ladino vocabulary and grammar, and practicing translation and contextual analysis. Readings draw on late 19th century and early 20th-century Ladino periodicals from different regions and address politics, education, gender, commerce, religion, humor, and migration, among other topics.
