Jewish Studies: Other Jewish Languages
Guide to doing research in various fields of Jewish Studies
Note
This page is currently under construction. For specific research requests, please contact the Librarian for Jewish Studies (jewishstudies@library.columbia.edu or 410-925-8879).
While Yiddish and Hebrew probably the best-known Jewish languagues today, many other vernaculars existed (and continue to exist) throughout Jewish history, such as Aramaic, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, and others. Some resources for studying these are described below
Judeo-Alsatian manuscript
MS X893 J559
General information on Jewish Languages
- Jewish Language Resource WebsiteThis site, maintained by a global team of experts in their respective fields, includes a map of 18 Jewish languages, as well as descriptions and resources for their use and study.
Jewish Languages
While Yiddish and Hebrew are probably the best-known Jewish languagues today, many other vernaculars existed (and continue to exist throughout Jewish history). Some resources for studying these are described below:
Aramaic
- The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon ProjectThe CAL is a text base of the Aramaic texts in all dialects from the earliest (9th Century BCE) through the 13th Century CE, currently with a database of approximately 2.5 million lexically parsed words, and an associated set of electronic tools for analyzing and manipulating the data, whose ultimate goal is the creation of a complete lexicon of the language.
Note: It is a work in progress, not a completed dictionary. Accordingly, any citations for scholarly purposes should include the date when the data was found.
Ladino and other Iberian-based dialects
- Otsar ha-lashon ha-Spanyolit (Ladino) le-doroteha : milon makif histori = Trezoro de la lengua Djudeoespanyola-Ladino durante todas las epokas / me-et Dr. Avner Perets. This link opens in a new windowOnline Hebrew-Ladino/Ladino-Hebrew dictionary.
- Sephardic Studies Digital Library and MuseumBased out of the University of Washington's Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, the Sephardic Studies Digital Library and Museum is part of an initiative to preserve Sephardi culture (and the Ladino language). The SSDLM has digitized many privately held items in Ladino or dealing with Ladino language and culture.
Learn more about the digitization program here: http://jewishstudies.washington.edu/sephardic-studies/sephardic-studies-digital-library-museum/ - Ladino at UWThe Stroum Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Washington has done tremendous work to revive the study of Ladino language and culture. See some articles and links related to the program here.
- Léxico Judío Latinoamericano - the Jewish Latin American LexiconAn online, crowdsourced dictionary of Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Yiddish, Ladino, and other words used by Jews in Latin American Spanish.
- Folk Literature of the Sephardic JewsA multimedia archive of ballads and other oral literature in Judeo-Spanish collected from 1957 to 1993 by Samuel G. Armistead (University of California, Davis), the late Joseph H. Silverman (University of California, Santa Cruz), and Israel J. Katz