Judeo-Italian language
| Judeo-Italian | |
|---|---|
| ג'יודו-איטאליאנו giudeo-italiano, איטלקית italqit | |
| Pronunciation | [dʒuˈdɛo itaˈljaːno], [ʔitalˈkit] |
| Region | Ferrara, Florence, Mantua, Modena, Piedmont, Reggio Emilia, Rome, Venice, Livorno; Corfu |
|
Native speakers
|
250 (2007) Very few speakers are fluent |
|
Indo-European
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | jude1255 |
| Linguasphere | 51-AAB-be & -bf |
Judeo-Italian, also referred to as Italkian is an endangered Jewish language, with only about 200 speakers in Italy and 250 total speakers today. The language consists of a group of Italian dialects. Some words consist of Italian prefixes and suffixes added to Hebrew words as well as Aramaic roots.
The glossonym type giudeo-italiano is of academic and relatively late coinage. In English, Judeo-Italian was first used by Lazaro Belleli in 1904 for his article Judæo-Greek and Judæo-Italian in the Jewish Encyclopedia (vol. 7, 310-313), describing the languages of the Jews of Corfu. In Italian, Giuseppe Cammeo referred to a Gergo giudaico-italiano in his 1909 article Studj dialettali (Vessillo Israelitico 57 (1909); the term first appears on p. 169). That same year, Umberto Cassuto used the term giudeo-italiano, in the following:
One of the most accessible ways to view the Judeo-Italian language is by looking at translations in biblical texts such as the Torah and Hagiographia. Today, there are two locations, the Oxford Bodleian Library and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, in which these translated texts can be found.
According to some scholars, there are some Judeo-Italian loan words that have found their way into Yiddish. For example, the word in Judeo-Italian for "synagogue" is scola, as opposed to "school," which is scuola. The use of words for "school" to mean "synagogue" dates back to the Roman Empire. The Judeo-Italian distinction between scola and scuola parallels the Standard Yiddish distinction between shul/shil for 'synagogue' and shule for 'school'. Another example is iente, from the Judeo-Italian yientile, as differentiated from the standard Italian gentile, meaning 'noble'.
Judeo-Italian regional dialects (ghettaioli giudeeschi), including:
At least two Judeo-Italian varieties, based on Salentino and Venetian varieties were also used in Corfu (see relevant section in Corfiot Italians).
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Wikipedia