Judeo-Iranian languages

Jewish variants of Iranian languages
Iranian cities with local Jewish dialect[1]

The Judeo-Iranian languages (or dialects) are a number of related Jewish variants of Iranian languages spoken throughout the formerly extensive realm of the Persian Empire. Judeo-Iranian dialects are generally conservative in comparison with those of their Muslim neighbours. Judeo-Shirazi, for example, remains close to the language of Hafez.

Like most Jewish languages, all the Judeo-Iranian languages contain great numbers of Hebrew loanwords, and are written using variations of the Hebrew alphabet. Another name used for some Judeo-Iranian dialects is Latorayi, sometimes interpreted by folk etymology as "not [the language] of the Torah". This refers to a form of the language in which the number of Hebrew and Aramaic loanwords is deliberately maximised to allow it to function as a secret code. In general, however, the number of such loanwords is small compared with that in other Jewish languages such as Yiddish or Judaeo-Spanish.[2]

Languages

The languages include:

  • Dzhidi (literary Judeo-Persian)
  • Luterā'i (a secret language combining an Aramaic and Hebrew vocabulary with Persian conjunctions and grammatical morphemes)[3][4][5]
  • Bukhori (Judeo-Bukharic, Judeo-Tajik, the Jewish language of the distinctive Jewish community centered in Bukhara)
  • Judeo-Golpaygani, the Judeo-Persian language traditionally spoken by the Jewish community in the environs of Gulpaigan and western Isfahan Province, Iran.[6] The first records of Jewish communities in this region date to approximately 750 BC. Like most Jewish languages, Judæo-Golpaygani was written using Hebrew characters [citation needed], and contained many Hebrew loanwords. [citation needed] Following the decline and consolidation of the Persian Jewish community in the mid-20th century, Judæo-Golpaygani fell into disuse, being replaced by Dzhidi, Judæo-Hamedani, and Persian, among those speakers remaining in Iran, and by English and Hebrew by those emigrating to the United States and Israel.
  • Judeo-Yazdi = Judeo-Kermani (spoken in the environs of Yazd and elsewhere in Yazd Province, in central Iran; in Kerman and elsewhere in Kerman Province, in south-central Iran)
  • Judeo-Shirazi (spoken in Shiraz and elsewhere in Fars Province, in southwestern Iran)
  • Judeo-Isfahani (spoken in Isfahan and environs, as well as elsewhere in central and southern Isfahan Province, Iran)
  • Judeo-Hamedani (spoken in Hamadan and elsewhere in Hamadan Province, in western Iran)
  • Judeo-Kashani (spoken in Kashan,[7][8][9] Abyaneh,[9] and elsewhere in northern Isfahan Province, in western Iran)
  • Luflā'i (a Kashani variant of Luterā'i)[3][4][5]
  • Judeo-Borujerdi (spoken in Borujerd and elsewhere in Lorestan Province, in western Iran)
  • Judeo-Nehevandi (spoken in Nahavand and elsewhere in northern Hamadan Province, in western Iran)
  • Judeo-Khunsari (spoken in Khansar and elsewhere in far-western Isfahan Province, in western Iran)
  • Juhuri (Judæo-Tat) (A Jewish-Tat dialect spoken in the Republic of Azerbaijan, Dagestan (North Caucasus).
  • Judeo-Aramaic (not to be confused with several Jewish Neo-Aramaic languages).

Language samples

  • Oral history in Judeo-Shirazi
  • Oral history in Judeo-Hamedani-Borujerdi
  • Oral history in Judeo-Esfahani
  • Oral history in Lishan Deni (Jewish Neo-Aramaic)
  • Oral history in Lishan Didan (Jewish Neo-Aramaic)
  • Oral history in Lishan Noshan (Jewish Neo-Aramic)

See also

References

  1. ^ Borjian, Habib (2014). "What is Judeo-Median and how does it differ from Judeo-Persian?". The Journal of Jewish Languages. 2 (2): 117–142. doi:10.1163/22134638-12340026.
  2. ^ Habib Borjian, “Judeo-Iranian Languages,” in Lily Kahn and Aaron D. Rubin, eds., A Handbook of Jewish Languages, Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2015, pp. 234-295. [1].
  3. ^ a b "Judeo-Iranian". Archived from the original on 2016-07-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ a b "Encyclopædia Iranica: Loterāʾi". Archived from the original on 2016-07-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ a b "Encyclopædia Iranica: Judeo-Persian Communities of Iran x. Judeo-Persian Jargon (Loterāʾi)". Archived from the original on 2016-07-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ Levy, Habib (1999). Comprehensive History of the Jews of Iran. Translated by George W. Maschke.
  7. ^ "I Think, Therefore I Am - Original Persian" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2016-07-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ^ "I Think Therefore I am" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ a b Norman “Nourollah” Gabay. I Think, Therefore I Am Retrieved 17 December 2022
  • Schmidt, Rüdiger, ed. (1989). Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Wiesbaden: Reichert. ISBN 3-88226-413-6.
  • Jewish dialect of Isfahan, Encyclopedia Iranica[permanent dead link]
  • Article from Jewish Languages site Archived 2016-07-29 at the Wayback Machine
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