Judaeo-Portuguese, Jewish-Portuguese or Judaeo-Lusitanic, is an extinct

Jewish language Jewish languages are the various languages and dialects that developed in Jewish communities in the diaspora. The original Jewish language is Hebrew, supplanted as the primary vernacular by Aramaic following the Babylonian exile. Jewish languag ...

or a dialect of Galician-Portuguese written in the

Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew alphabet (, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is a unicase, unicameral abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish languages, most notably ...

that was used by the

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Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Description

It was the vernacular of

Sephardi Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

before the 16th century and also in many places of the Portuguese Jewish diaspora. Its texts were written in the

Hebrew script The Hebrew alphabet (, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is a unicase, unicameral abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish languages, most notably ...

('' aljamiado português'') or the

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...

. As Portuguese Jews intermarried with other expelled Sephardim, the language influenced the nearby

Judeo-Spanish Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym , Hebrew script: ), also known as Ladino or Judezmo or Spaniolit, is a Romance language derived from Castilian Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain, and then after the Edict of Expulsion spreading ...

. Close similarity to Standard Portuguese made Judeo-Portuguese go extinct in Portugal,

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''. After the Jewish exodus from Portugal in 1497 many Portuguese Jews would flee to the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

and Judeo-Portuguese would intake much Dutch influence. 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.

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

Influences from Hebrew

Influences from Judaeo-Spanish/Ladino

Influences from Greek

Influence on other languages

Judeo-Portuguese has influenced several languages. These include Balkan dialects of Ladino, and Portuguese.

Sample text

References

Judaeo-Portuguese ''in'' Jewish Language Research Center

Thesouro dos Dinim, a halakhic work (partial facsimile)

Menasseh Ben Israel de la fragilidad humana y inclinacion del hombre al peccado. Parte primera
* Strolovitch, Devon L. (2005
''Old Portuguese in Hebrew Script: Convention, Contact, and Convivência.''
Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Extinct Romance languages Jews and Judaism in Portugal Judeo-Romance languages Languages of Portugal Portuguese language Portuguese dialects Extinct languages of Europe Sephardi Jewish culture {{Romance-lang-stub