Judaeo-Portuguese, Jewish-Portuguese or Judaeo-Lusitanic, is an extinct Jewish language or a dialect of Galician-Portuguese written in the Hebrew alphabet that was used by the Jews of Portugal.{{cite web|title=Significado de judeo-português|url=http://www.dicionario10.com.br/judeo-portugues/|access-date=2023-05-23|archive-date=2016-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191322/http://www.dicionario10.com.br/judeo-portugues/|url-status=dead}}

Description

It was the vernacular of Sephardi Jews in Portugal before the 16th century and also in many places of the Portuguese Jewish diaspora. Its texts were written in the Hebrew script (aljamiado português) or the Latin alphabet.{{cite book|date=2005|first=Luiz Antônio da (org.)|last=Silva|location=Rio de Janeiro|page=212|publisher=Globo|title=A língua que falamos: português, história, variação e discurso}}

As Portuguese Jews intermarried with other expelled Sephardim, the language influenced the nearby Judeo-Spanish. Close similarity to Standard Portuguese made Judeo-Portuguese go extinct in Portugal, {{Citation needed span|having survived in everyday usage in the diaspora until the late 18th/early 19th century.|date=November 2023}} {{Citation needed span|Judeo-Portuguese influenced the Papiamento and Saramaccan languages.|date=September 2024}}

History

The earliest known text containing Judeo-Portuguese text is a manuscript from 1262 about illuminating manuscripts called O livro de como se fazem as cores.{{Cite web |last=Toledo |first=Selin |date=2018-10-27 |title=Ladino's Lost Sibling |url=https://selintoledo.medium.com/ladinos-lost-sibling-3a7b18beb03a |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Medium |language=en}}{{Self-published inline|date=February 2024|certain=yes}} After the Jewish exodus from Portugal in 1497 many Portuguese Jews would flee to the Dutch Republic and Judeo-Portuguese would intake much Dutch influence.{{Cite web |title=Judeo-Portuguese |url=https://www.jewishlanguages.org/judeo-portuguese |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Jewish Languages |language=en}} This same exodus would cause the language to spread to the Turkish Jewish community. It would go extinct in the early 19th century, though since then has only been used liturgically.{{Self-published inline|date=February 2024|certain=yes}}

Literature

The oldest text containing Judeo-Portuguese is a manuscript from 1262 about illuminating manuscripts called O livro de como se fazem as cores. During the 15th century several texts including one about medical astrology and a prayer book. Even until today is it still used liturgically but only by very few people.

Decline

The decline of Judeo-Portuguese would begin with the introduction of public schooling. Eventually declining to home use before finally only being used liturgically.

Characteristics

There existed several dialects of Judeo-Portuguese divided into 2 categories referred to as Peninsular Judeo-Portuguese and Emigre Judeo-Portuguese, though the differences between them are unclear.

= Portuguese archaisms =

class="wikitable"

!Judaeo-Portuguese

!Modern Portuguese

!English meaning

algũa/אלגומה

|alguma

|any

angora/אנגורהا

|agora

|now

dous/דוס

|dois

|two

hũa/הוא

|uma

|a, an, one

= Influences from Hebrew =

class="wikitable"

!Judeo-Portuguese

!Hebrew

!English meaning

קדוש/kadoš

|{{lang|he|קדוש}}/{{Transliteration|he|kadosh}}

|holy

ישיבה/ješiva

|{{lang|he|ישיבה}}/{{Transliteration|he|yeshiva}}

|Religious School

מַצָּה‬/macá

|{{lang|he|מַצָּה‬}}/{{Transliteration|he|matzah}}

|ritual bread

מִצְוָה‬/micvá

|{{lang|he|מִצְוָה‬}}/{{Transliteration|he|mitzvah}}

|commandments

ראש/roš

|{{lang|he|ראש}}/{{Transliteration|he|rosh}}

|head

ראשים/rašim

|{{lang|he|ראשים}}/{{Transliteration|he|rashim}}

|heads

ראש השנה/roš hašaná

|{{lang|he|ראש השנה}}/{{Transliteration|he|rosh hashanah}}

|Jewish New Year

שבת/šabá

|{{lang|he|שבת}}/{{Transliteration|he|Shabbat}}

|Saturday

צדקה/cedaká

|{{lang|he|צדקה}}/{{Transliteration|he|tzedakah}}

|charity

קְהִלָה/kejlá

|{{lang|he|קְהִלָה}}/{{Transliteration|he|qehila}}

|congregation

קידוש/kiduš

|{{lang|he|קידוש}}/{{Transliteration|he|kiddush}}

|blessing over the wine

טבה/tevá

|{{lang|he|טבה}}/{{Transliteration|he|tevah}}

|central platform in the synagogue

= Influences from Judaeo-Spanish/Ladino =

class="wikitable"

!Judaeo-Portuguese

!Portuguese

!Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino)

!English meaning

|há

|ay

|there is

Dio

|Deus (arch. Deo)

|Dio

|God

manim

|mãos

|manos

|hands

= Influences from Greek =

class="wikitable"

!Judeo-Portuguese

!Greek

!English meaning

esnoga

|{{lang|el|συναγωγη}}/{{Transliteration|el|synagogē}}

|synagogue

Influence on other languages

Judeo-Portuguese has influenced several languages. These include Balkan dialects of Ladino, and Portuguese.{{Cite book |title=Jewish and Non-Jewish Creators of "Jewish" Languages |publisher=Wiesbaden |year=2006 |isbn=3-447-05404-2 |pages=466 |language=en}}

Sample text

class="wikitable"

!Judeo Portuguese

!Judeo Portuguese (transliterated)

!English

או ליברו די מג׳יקה

|O Livro De Magica

|The Book of Magic

N/A

|A todos nossos Irmãos, prezos pela Inquisição

|To all our brethren confined by the Inquisition

References

[https://www.jewishlanguages.org/judeo-portuguese Judaeo-Portuguese in Jewish Language Research Center]
[http://cf.uba.uva.nl/en/collections/rosenthaliana/menasseh/1859j47/index.html Thesouro dos Dinim, a halakhic work (annotated transcription)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927122304/http://cf.uba.uva.nl/en/collections/rosenthaliana/menasseh/1859j47/index.html |date=2011-09-27 }}
[https://books.google.com/books?id=yIFYAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PT135 Thesouro dos Dinim, a halakhic work (partial facsimile)]
[https://books.google.com/books?id=T3NjAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA54 Menasseh Ben Israel de la fragilidad humana y inclinacion del hombre al peccado. Parte primera]
Strolovitch, Devon L. (2005) [http://www.jmrg.org/strolovitch/disspage Old Portuguese in Hebrew Script: Convention, Contact, and Convivência.] Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.