Jewish-Languages Mailing List: February 2001

February 2001

I am an historian on the Jews of Greece and the Sephardim. I am affiliated
with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Aristotle University in Thessaloniki,
Greece.I have a linguistics background from graduate school and have researched
and published academic articles on Judeo-Spanish and Judeo-Greek. As part of my
monthly e-mail publication on Sephardic and Oriental Jewry "Sefarad, the Sephardic Newsletter"
(currently beginning its tenth year), I keep my readers posted on the latest research
on non-Ashkenazi Jewish languages and dialects. In general I am interested in sociological
and cultural aspects of Judeo-Greek, Judeo-Spanish, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Persian, and more.

Shalom,
Yitzchak Kerem
ykerem @ actcom.co.il
mskerem @ pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il

Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman (RaMBan, Nahmanides) engaged in a public disputation
in 1263 called the Disputation of Barcelona. According to the Encyclopedia
Judaica article entitled Nahmanides, "At the request of the bishop of Gerona,
Nahmanides summarized his views in a book, the _Sefer ha-Vikku'ah_, which is
still extant."

James Carroll, in his magnificent new book _Constantine's Sword_, says,
"When Nachmanides's own, entirely self-assertive account of the Barcelona
disputation was published, with its forthright denunciation of the Dominicans,
King James ordered the text burned and the rabbi exiled for two
years" (p. 335).

George Jochnowitz
jochnowitz @ postbox.csi.cuny.edu

I teach Yiddish at a German university (Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Duesseldorf).
I am especially interest in historical linguistics, Bible translations,
Yiddish language contact with Dutch and German, and early modern Yiddish literature,
but I also look forward to reading discussions on other topics in the broader
field of Jewish languages.

Marion Aptroot

Having studied in Jerusalem for the dissertation under the supervision of
the late Prof. Shelomo Morag, I returned to Japan and am teaching Hebrew etc.
at a couple of universities. I am interested mainly in the grammar, lexicon
and sociolinguistics of Modern Hebrew as well as various aspects of Hebrew-Yiddish
contact linguistics and the Jewish background of Zamenhof and Esperanto.
I am also interested in Hebrew and Yiddish information processing including
Web authoring, word-processing and database management in these languages.

Tsuguya Sasaki
Kobe, Japan
E-mail: tsuguya @ gol.com
WWW: http://www2.gol.com/users/tsuguya/

My name is Joseph Abraham Levi. I hold a Ph.D. in Romance Philology,
(concentration: Portuguese, Medieval Spanish, Italian; Portuguese,
Hispanic, and Italian Linguistics), UW-Madison (1993).

Academic affiliation: University of Iowa.
1993-1994: University of Georgia. (taught Portuguese).
I have been at the University of Iowa since Fall 1994.
1994-1998: taught Portuguese, Medieval Portuguese; Medieval Spanish, Islam,
Islam in Africa, History of Pre-Colonial Africa, History of Africa Since 1880.
1998-1999: independent scholar; Lisbon with a 6-month scholarship.
1999-2001: independent scholar; temporary ESL instructor.
Unfortunately, I am still on the job market.
Research interests: Portuguese, Brazilian, and Lusophone Studies; Romance Philology/Linguistics;
The Sephardic Diaspora in the Americas (1492-19th century); Portuguese Jewry; Medieval Italian Jewry;
Judeo-Italian Languages; Medieval Spanish; Colonial Brazilian Literature, Culture, and Society;
Islam in Colonial Brazil; Medieval Islam; The Jesuits in Asia (16th-17th centuries).

Address:
Joseph Abraham Levi
ESL Program
University of Iowa
Iowa City IA 52242
jalevi21 @ juno.com
josephlevi @ hotmail.com [with attachments]

Dear hevra!
I received this inquiry the other day. What follows is the sheela and my
teshuva (imagine if e-mail existed in the middle ages, what a loss it might
have been for us today...). I thought it would be of interest to the list.
Another query from me: is anyone interested in working on a collaborative
project on the Soncino Polyglot Bible (Soncino, Const. 1547-48)?

Kol tuv,
Seth Jerchower

*************************************************
----- Original Message -----
From: "bill sullivan" bills25 @ webtv.net
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2001 11:39 AM
Subject: Judeo-Italian
> Hello. I am a foreign language teacher (German & Spanish) in
> Birmingham, Alabama, who collects greetings in different languages,
> which I sometimes use as a mini-linguistics lession in my classes. I
> am especially interested in the various Jewish language varieties, but
> sadly so far only have Yiddish and Ladino in my collection.
> Can you tell me how to say "good day / hello" and "how are you?" in
> Judeo-Italian? I feel sure shalom mst be used but would like to find
> something unique to the culture if it exists, something that shows its
> uniqueness from Italian or Hebrew, either in pronuncation or syntax.
> How about in any of the other languages?
> I appreciate your help and offer you my heartfelt thanks.
> Bill Sullivan
Dear Professor Sullivan,
Unfortunately, not much survives to tell us of simple greetings. For
Judeo-Florentine, a play entitled "La Gnora Luna", written and published
(Rassegna Mensile d'Israel v.6 n.11-12 March-April 1932) by Umberto
Cassuto's children, attempts to recreate the spoken [and already obsolete]
Judeo-Florentine dialect. What follows are some examples of greetings used
by Florentine Jews (in addressing other Florentine Jews; NB [N] is used to
indicate the pronunciation of the Hebrew letter "'Ayin", among most Italian
Jews a nasal uvular; [H] = "Het"):
-Bonasera (good evening; in Florence also good afternoon).
-Sciavua' tov (pronounced in Florence, and by most Italian Jews, "šavuaN
tov"; good week, the greeting for coming and going upon the ending of the
Sabbath, that is, on Saturday evening; common Jewish usage; Hebrew: šabua'
tob).
-Baruch abbà (welcome! Hebrew "barukh habah" = blessed be he that comes" vis
welcome! common, said however to a foreign Jew); alternatively, to a Jewish
Florentine woman "benvenuta", passim in text).
-Bon Purim/Buon Purim (Happy Purim).
Also, in Florence:
-"Bon/Buon Sciabbad" = Good Sabbath (Yiddish, "Gut Shabbos", Hebrew, Šabbat
šalom); in Rome: "Bon Sciabadde".
-Bon/Buon Mo'ed (pronounced [moNed]; Happy Holiday (Yiddish: Gut Yontif [<
Hebrew "yom tov", holiday]; Hebrew: Hag sameaH [joyous holiday]); also in
use would be the typical Sefardic holiday greeting, "moNadim le-simHa"
(mo'adim le-SimHa = [be it] a festival for joy), to which one replies "Hagim
u-zemanim le-sasson" (Holidays and occasions for happiness").
From the above, one could also desume that equally as common among the Jews
of Florence were "Bon dí/giorno" and "Bona notte". Similarly, and I need to
check further, similar greetings were diffused among Jews native to other
cities.
The phrase "far scialom" means to "make peace".

Best regards,
Seth Jerchower
*************************************************
Seth Jerchower
Public Services Librarian
Center for Judaic Studies
University of Pennsylvania
420 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (215) 238-1290, ext. 203
Fax: (215) 238-1540
sethj @ pobox.upenn.edu
http://www.library.upenn.edu/cjs/

Dear Prof. Johnowitz:

It is an honor for this list that you contribute to it. However the truth is rather on
Encyclopedia Judaica's side. James Carrol got it wrong.

Here in the library of Gratz College we have a rare book entitled "Sefer ha-Nitzzahon Vetus :
ex Ms. Bibliothecae Argentoratensis". Altdorf, 1681 which contains a number
of accounts of different Jewish-Christian debates. Among others, on pp. 28-60 is printed
Dispvtatio R. Nachmanidis in Hebrew and Latin in pallel columns.

There is a modern English edition of this book by David Berger published in
Philadelphia by JPS, 1979 under the title The Jewish-Christian debate in the
high Middle Ages: a critical edition.

For you and people who are interested in the subject I can recommend the
following books:

1. Nahmanides. The disputation at Barcelona / Ramban (Nahmanides) ;
translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York : Shilo Pub.
House, c1983.

2. Judaism on trial : Jewish-Christian disputations in the Middle Ages
/ edited and translated by Hyam Maccoby. Rutherford, N.J. : Fairleigh
Dickinson University Press, c1982.

3. Chazan, Robert. Barcelona and beyond : the Disputation of 1263 and
its aftermath / Robert Chazan. Berkeley : University of California
Press, c1992. DLC OCLC: 24504206

4. Naòhmanides, ca. 1195-ca. 1270. òVikuaòh ha-Ramban : °im ha-mumar
Pablo Krisòtiyano be-Bartselona li-fene ha-Melekh Ya°aòkov ha-Rishon
òveha-komrim, bi-shenat 5 alafim °eâsrim òve-shalosh. Uve-rosho
Toldot ha-Ramban / mimeni Re®uven Margaliyot. Nidpas me-òhadash.
[Brooklyn?] : °Aòteret, 735 [1974 or 1975] DLC OCLC: 31292924

5. Braude, Morris, 1883- Conscience on trial [microform] : three
public religious disputations between Christians and Jews in the thirteenth
and fifteenth centuries / translated from several Hebrew and Latin
sources, annotated and with commentary by Morris Braude. 1st ed.
New York : Exposition Press, c1952. [MICROFILM] OCLC: 32640318

6. Mutius, Hans-Georg von. Die christlich-jèudische Zwangsdisputation
zu Barcelona : nach dem hebrèaischen Protokoll des Moses Nachmanides /
Hans-Georg von Mutius. Frankfurt am Main : Lang, c1982. DLC OCLC:
9308774

7. Naòhmanides, ca. 1195-ca. 1270. òVikuaòh ha-Ramban. Russian Disput
Nakhmanida. Ob iskazhenii perevodov Biblii i o propovedi khristianstva
evreëiìam / B. Khaskelevich. N§ëiìu-æIork : Izd-vo ob-va "Khama",
1982. DLC OCLC: 12311685

8. Naòhmanides, ca. 1195-ca. 1270. òVikuaòh ha-Ramban. Catalan
Disputa de Barcelona de 1263 entre mestre Mossâe de Girona i fra Pau
Cristiáa / estudi introductori per Jaume Riera i Sans ; traducciâo dels
textos hebreus i llatins, i notes, per Eduard Feliu ; páortic de Pasqual
Maragall. 1a ed. Barcelona : Columna, 1985. DLC OCLC: 13820830

9. Naòhmanides, ca. 1195-ca. 1270. òVikuaòh ha-Ramban. English The
disputation at Barcelona / Ramban ; translated and annotated by
Charles B. Chavel. New York, N.Y. : Shilo Pub. House, c1983. DLC
OCLC: 10302339

10. Naòhmanides, 1195-1263. òVikuaòh ha-Ramban. French La dispute de
Barcelone : suivi du Commentaire sur Esaèie 52- 53 / Naòhmanide
(Rabbi Moèise ben Naòhman) ; traduit de l'hâebreu par âEric Smilâevitch,
archives du texte traduites du latin par Luc Ferrier. 2e. âed. rev.
et corr. [France] : Verdier, [1987], c1984. OCLC: 32649134

11. Naòhmanides, ca. 1195-1263. òVikuaòh ha-Rambam. French La dispute
de Barcelone : suivi du Commentaire sur Esaèie 52- 53 / Naòhamanide
(Rabbi Moèise ben Naòhman) ; traduit de l'hâebreu par âEric
Smilâevitch, archives du texte traduites du latin par Luc Ferrier.
3e. âed. rev. et corr. [France] : Verdier, [l989], c1984. OCLC:
32642657

12. Naòhmanides, ca. 1195-ca. 1270. Vikuaòh ha-Ramban. French La
Dispute de Barcelone : suivi du Commentaire sur Esaèie 52- 53 / Naòhamanide
(Rabbi Moèise ben Naòhman) ; trad. de l'hâebreu par âEric Smilâevitch,
archives du texte trad. du latin par Luc Ferrier. 4e. âed. rev. et
corr. [France] : Verdier, 1996, c1984. OCLC: 36434437

13. Naòhmanides, ca. 1195-ca. 1270. Dissertation èuber die Vorzèuge der
Mosaischen Lehre gehalten in der Synagoge zu Barcelona = Tåorat ha-
ëSìhem temåimah : deraësìhah ësìhe-daraësìh...°al ma°alat ha-Tåorah
/hoòsetåihah le-®åor ... ®Aharon Yelåineq. 2e Ausg, von A. Jellinek
Wien : [Herzfeld und Bauer], 633, 1872. OCLC: 40569680

14. Naòhmanides, ca. 1195-ca. 1270. òVåikåuaòh ha-Ramba''n Sefer
òVåikåuaòh ha-Ramba''n : be-°inyan ha-®emåunah lifney meleëkìh òve-
âsaråim / håugah °al påi kitvey yad måe®ået Moësìheh
ëSìhòtainësìhnadder. Berolini ; ëSìhòteòtòtin : Bi-defåus ®E.
ëSìhrenòtòsel, 620, 1859. OCLC: 40576183

15. Naòhmanides, ca. 1195-ca. 1270. òVikuaòh ha-Ramban : °im ha-mumar
Pablo Krisòtiyano be-Bartselona li-fene ha-Melekh Ya°aòkov ha-Rishon
òveha-komrim, bi-shenat 5 alafim °eâsrim òve-shalosh. Uve-rosho Toldot
ha-Ramban / mimeni Re®uven Margaliyot. Nidpas me-òhadash.
[Brooklyn?] : °Aòteret, 735 [1974 or 1975] DLC OCLC: 31292924

16. Naòhmanides, ca. 1195-ca. 1270. Works. English Writings &
discourses / Ramban (Nachmanides) ; translated and annotated with index by
Charles B. Chavel. New York : Shilo Pub. House, c1978. DLC OCLC:
4258381 In GRZ

17. Tostado Martin, Alfonso. La disputa de Barcelona 1263 :
controversia judeocristiana / por Alfonso Tostado Martin. Salamanca :
Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Facultad de Filologia Biblica Trilingèue,
1986. OCLC: 19862697

Pardon the wrong diacritics. This is how regular text e-mail
translates special symbols used by OCLC database.

Of course the literature on the subject is rather extensive and
there is no possibility to provide much longer list in e-mail message.

Shalom le-khullam and greetings to the participants of the list.

Sincerely,
Dr. Hayim Y. Sheynin
Head of Reference Services
Tuttleman Library of Gratz College
7605 Old York Rd.
Melrose Park, PA 19027

tel. 215 635-7300, ext. 161
fax: 215 635-7320
e-mail: hsheynin @ gratz.edu

I would like to bring to the group's attention the following book:

The Ladino scriptures : Constantinople-Salonica (1540-1572) : a critical
edition - by Moshe Lazar ; technical editor, Francisco J. Pueyo Mena.
Labyrinthos, Lancaster, Calif., 2000.
2 v. (xxxvii, 1997 p.) : ill.

These are the Judeo-Spanish sections of the same Polyglot I've mentioned in
my previous postings. We have a copy here at the CJS Library at UPenn, so
if anyone needs access to any parts, please feel free to contact me.

Kol tuv!
Seth Jerchower

*************************************************
Seth Jerchower
Librarian
Center for Judaic Studies
University of Pennsylvania
420 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (215) 238-1290, ext. 203
Fax: (215) 238-1540
sethj @ pobox.upenn.edu
http://www.library.upenn.edu/cjs/
*************************************************

Dear Colleagues,
At the last AJS meeting, it was suggested that we try and organize several
session on Jewish Languages at the upcoming AJS (DC, Dec 16-18, 2001)
http://www.brandeis.edu/ajs/2001.html (soon to be launched).
I propose we devote one session to translations of sacred texts in several
JL.

So far Professor Jackonowitz has expressed interest (Judeo-Italian and
Judeo-Provencal) and I will do Judeo-Arabic. Professor Greenspahn will be
the discussant.
The deadline for submission is March 19 so we need to act soon.
If you are interested, please send me a title, abstract and a few words
about yourself.

With many thanks,
**************************************************
Benjamin Hary, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Hebrew, Arabic and Linguistics
AT Tel Aviv University for Spring 2001:
50 Dizengoff Street, Apt 1906
IL-64332 Tel Aviv, Israel
Tel/Fax: 011-972-3-528-0423; Mobile: 011-972-58-805636
**************************************************

Dan Shapira is having trouble sending messages to the list, so I'm
forwarding it for him:

INTRODUCTION

Dr. Dan Shapira
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Open University of Israel, Ben-Zvi
Institute

Interest in specific Jewish Languages: JUDEO-PERSIAN, JUDEO-TURKIC
(Qaraim, Tatar), JUDEO-ARABIC, JUDEO-GREEK

e-mail: dshapira @ h2.hum.huji.ac.il
tel: (o.) 972-2-5883972; (h.) 972-2-5357197; 972-2-5357215;
mobile: 972-053-628421

1991, B.A., Hebrew University of Jerusalem; majored in Ancient Semitic
Languages and Indian, Iranian and Armenian Studies
1993, M.A., Hebrew University of Jerusalem; the thesis in Jewish
Language Program, an edition of the Judeo-Persian Tafsir of Hosea
2000, PhD ("Studies in Zoroastrian Exegesis: Zand")

Publications in the field of Jewish Languages

An Aramaic-Irano-Armenian Note," Iran & Caucasus II, Research Papers
from the Caucasian Centre for Iranian Studies, Yerevan, edited by Garnik
Asatrian, Teheran 1998, 95-101

"Qibba-ye Dåny'êl or The Story of Daniel - in Judæo-Persian: The
Text and its Translation", Sephunot 22 (1999), 337-366 [Hebrew]

"Manichaios, Jywndg Gryw and Some Other Manichaean Terms and Titles",
Irano-Judaica IV, ed. Shaul Shaked and Amnon Netzer, Jerusalem 1999,
122-150

"Celestial Race, the Jews", Kabbala: International
Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts 5 (Los Angeles 2000),
111-128

"Two Names of the First Khazar Jewish Beg," Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi
10 (1998-1999), pp. 231-240

"Judæo-Persion Versions of Biblical Apocrypha" ("Irano-Judaica V", 2001;
to appear soon)

"Anu and Uqrå: Two Mandæan Terms Revised", Kabbala: International
Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts 6 (2001; to appear soon)

Hebrew Tomb-Inscriptions from the Crimea: Report of the Expedition of
the Ben-Zevi Institute to the Karaite Cemetery of Chufut-Qal'e (Crimea),
edited by Dan Shapira [Hebrew; 4 articles by Dan Shapira and 6 by Dan
Shapira together with other authors, 4 by other authors, edited by Dan
Shapira] (to be published by Ben-Zevi Institute, Jerusalem, in 2001; 200
pages + 60 plates)

"Judaeo-Persian Translations of Old Persian Material: A Case of
Linguistic (Dis)continuity", Persian Beginnings - Early Judaeo-Persian
and the Emergence of New Persian, Göttingen 2001; to appear soon)

Hebrew translation from Old Georgian and research in: Konstantin Lerner
(ed.), Hebrew Translation of Old Georgian Conversion of Qartli, (with
assistance of Dan Shapira) Ben-Zevi Insitute, Jerusalem, 2001 (in print)

"Mangup Türküsü: A New Source in Qrym-Tatar" (to appear soon)

Reading ability in Jewish languages: all of them, except Malayalam
Speaking ability in Jewish languages: Yiddish, Judezmo
Reading Languages:
English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish;
Russian (and other Slavic languages); Yiddish; Hungarian, Turkish of
Turkey (incl. Osmanli), Azeri; Jagatay, Uzbek, Qaraim, Tatar, etc;
Greek, Latin; Arabic, Hebrew, Akkadian, Ugaritic, Syriac, Aramaic,
Ethiopic, Inscriptional South Arabian, Maltese; Coptic; Sanskrit, Urdu,
Hindi, Punjabi; Persian, Pahlavi, Parthian, Sogdian, Avestan, Old
Persian, Kurdish, Pashto, Ossetic; Armenian (Classical, Western,
Eastern); Old Georgian; Middle Chinese
Spoken Languages:
Hebrew, Russian, English, German, Arabic, Persian, Yiddish, Judezmo

That's a great idea.
And if anyone is interested in a session on Jewish languages and identity,
please let me know. I work on Judeo-Spanish language maintenance and
Sephardic identity.

Thank you,
Jill Kushner

Dear Colleagues,
At the last AJS meeting, it was suggested that we try and organize several
session on Jewish Languages at the upcoming AJS (DC, Dec 16-18, 2001)
http://www.brandeis.edu/ajs/2001.html(soon to be launched).

I propose we devote a session to the subject of Ideology and Curriculum:
Interactions Between Jewish Studies Programs and Jewish Languages in the University Setting

In the fields of Jewish Studies working in original languages is highly
valued, yet the provision of languages such Yiddish, Ladino and other
languages is often considered secondary to content subjects. At the same
time, fewer and fewer native speakers of Jewish languages are to be
found, so that perpetuation of Jewish languages other than Hebrew for
scholarly and other reasons becomes problematic. Papers are sought that
address one or more of the following issues;

1. issues of Yiddish and Ladino in Jewish Studies in a university setting
2. the relationships between language instruction and Jewish identity issues
3. perpetuating a heritage language in alternative settings
4. clashes in language attitudes
5. program design; situating Jewish languages in the academic context
6. approaches toward dialect and language variation
7. staffing; resources and assessment of competencies of students
8. issues relating to language and sanctity
9. approaching language variation and dialect.
10. code switching in the context of Jewish multilingualism

Please send in name, Title of Paper, abstract and a brief paragraph about yourself
and the required checks for registration by March 5th to:

Miriam Isaacs, University of Maryland, College Park,
Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies
0113 Woods Hall, College Park, MD, 20742.

I received my PhD in 1987 from the University of California, Berkeley,
where I wrote about Egyptian (actually Cairene) Judeo-Arabic in the 16th
and 17th centuries. In 1992 I published "Multiglossia in Judeo-Arabic"
(Brill) and this year my edited volume (with Hayes and Astren) "Judaism
and Islam: Boundaries, Communication, and Interaction" appeared.
I have been writing on Judeo-Arabic in general and its place in Arabic on
the one hand and in other Jewish languages on the other hand. I have also
written on the Sharh, translations of scared texts from Hebrew (and
Aramaic) into Judeo-Arabic.
I am also interested in comparative work of Jewish languages and
translations of sacred texts into various Jewish
languages/ethnolects/varieties.
I have been teaching at Emory University since 1987. One of the courses I
offer regularly is "Hisory of Jewish Languages." I have also offered in
the past a Graduate seminar, "Issues in Jewish Linguistics."

In addition, I am engaged in compiling a corpus for spoken modern Hebrew;
you may consult our websites:

http://spinoza.tau.ac.il/hci/dep/semitic/maamad.html (Hebrew text)
http://spinoza.tau.ac.il/hci/dep/semitic/maamad.html (English text)

**************************************************
Benjamin Hary, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Hebrew, Arabic and Linguistics
AT Tel Aviv University for Spring 2001:
50 Dizengoff Street, Apt 1906
IL-64332 Tel Aviv, Israel
Tel/Fax: 011-972-3-528-0423; Mobile: 011-972-58-805636
**************************************************