Ladino

[Whimemsz]

I mentioned briefly in the "Improve your fluency" thread that I was considering starting a new thread on Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), since it's pretty cool. So here we go. I don't have much personal knowledge on Ladino; I just have a basic "teach yourself"-style lesson book, some online dictionaries and grammatical sketches, and the description by Ralph Penny of Ladino's divergences from standard peninsular Spanish. I'm relying heavily on Penny's account, in fact, which can be found on pp.174-193 of Variation and Change in Spanish.

Background

To a large extent the following discussion will be based on a comparison of Ladino with other varieties of Spanish, so if you know nothing about Spanish it might be hard to follow. But too bad for you, I guess?

The very basics: Ladino (aka Judeo-Spanish aka Judezmo aka Hakitía aka Djidyó; although technically Judeo-Spanish refers to the spoken language and Ladino to the written liturgical language, in practice they're used as synonyms) is the Jewish-Peninsular Romance language spoken by descendents of the Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the fifteenth century. Very, very generally speaking, it's to Spanish and Sephardic Jews what Yiddish is to German and Ashkenazi Jews. Because it arose among speakers of a number of different varieties of Peninsular Romance (though speakers of one variety or another of medieval Spanish certainly predominated) in the chaos following the expulsions, it represents something of a koiné, though with a great deal of subsequent influence from Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, and Greek. It was once spoken fairly widely by Sephardim in the area of the old Ottoman Empire and in North Africa; today it's highly endangered, because those speakers who weren't killed in the Holocaust mostly emigrated to Israel or the US and the younger generations are mostly growing up speaking Hebrew and English.


Phonology

Archaisms

In many ways the most notable area of conservatism in Ladino is in the phonology, which retains some distinctions lost in all other Spanish variants. Specifically, the distinction between voiced and voiceless fricatives is maintained and the postalveolar fricatives (spelled <j/g> and <x> respectively in medieval Spanish) never shifted to velar or glottal POA as in the rest of the Spanish-speaking world. For example:
kasha ("box", Sp. /kaxa/ < Old Sp. /kaʃa/)
mujer /muʒeɾ/ ("woman", Sp. /muxeɾ/ < OSp. /muʒeɾ/)
paso ("step", Sp./OSp. ibid.)
kaza ("house", Sp. /kasa/ < OSp. /kaza/).
(To some extent this is probably due to influence from other Peninsular varieties. Certainly, the sibilant system that emerges is identical to that of Portuguese--although the etymologies remain Spanish, so that, e.g., "eye" (VL */oklo/) is still ojo with /ʒ/, as opposed to Pt. olho /oʎo/. Also note that modern Ladino has several additional coronal fricatives/affricates, see further below).

However, Ladino does show seseo (merger of the Old Spanish dental affricates and fricatives) along with Andalusian and American Spanish. Thus, alsar ("raise", AmSp. /alsaɾ/ and CastSp. /alθaɾ/ < OSp. /altsaɾ/) and dezir ("say", AmSp. /desiɾ/ and CastSp. /deθiɾ/ < OSp. /dedziɾ/).

Some dialects of Ladino (basically the Balkan ones) also preserve word-initial Latin f- (either as /h/ or as /f/) in many words, a retention which has been excluded from standard varieties of Spanish. For example, fijo /fiʒo/~/hiʒo/~/iʒo/ ("son", Sp. /ixo/ < OSp. /hiʒo/) (However, to some extent this must be due to influence from other Peninsular Romance varieties, since what was generally spelled <f> (in initial position before a vowel) in Old Spanish was pronounced /h/). In some cases and in some dialects, initial f- is converted to /h/ even before /w/, whereas in most dialects of modern Spanish it is retained as /f/ in such cases: hwerte (some dialects) /hweɾte/ ("strong", Sp. /fweɾte/ < OSp. /fweɾte/~/hweɾte/)

One final notable archaism is the maintenance of the distinction between the phonemes /b/ and /v/ (in most dialects). The sources I have are inconsistent on the environments where the distinction is maintained, however. Penny says that it's neutralized in favor of /b/ word-initially, but retained (as [ b] vs. [v] or [β]) intervocalically--thus:
bivir /biviɾ/ ("live", Sp. /bibiɾ/ < OSp. /βiβiɾ/)
boka /boka/ ("mouth", Sp./OSp. ibid.)
baka /baka/ ("cow", Sp. /baka/ < OSp. /βaka/)
alaba /alaba/ ("s/he praises", Sp./OSp. ibid.)

In contrast, this page says the opposite: in native vocabulary the contrast is only maintained word-initially, while intervocalically the two phonemes merge as /v/--thus:
boka "mouth" (see above)
vaka "cow" (cf. above)
alava "s/he praises" (cf. above)
Either way, due to borrowings from Hebrew, Turkish, etc. the two phonemes are now again contrastive in all positions.

Note also that coda OSp. /β/ before a consonant is retained as /v/, e.g. in sivdad ("city", Sp. /sjudad/ < OSp. /tsiβdad/). This is also the outcome of OSp. coda /w/ before a consonant (with which, in this position, /β/ was in the process of merging at the time of the expulsion) as in kavsa ("cause", Sp./OSp. /kawsa/).

Finally (influenced by other Peninsular varieties), in most words the cluster /mb/ is maintained, as in lamber ("lick", Sp. /lameɾ/ < VL */lambeɾe/).


Other Changes

On the other hand, a number of simplifications and changes from medieval Spanish can also be pointed to (as would be expected in a koinezation event). I'll describe the most significant.

Ladino shares with Andalusian and almost all American Spanish varieties the merger of /ʎ/ and /ʝ/ (in most cases to /ʝ/), a phenomenon called yeísmo. Like in some other Spanish dialects, the result of this merger is lost next to (certain) front vowels, e.g.:
gaína /ɡa.'i.na/ ("hen", most Sp. /ɡaʝina/ < OSp. /ɡaʎina/).
e(y)a /'e.(ʝ)a/ ("her", most Sp. /eʝa/ < OSp. /eʎa/)
amaría /am.a.'ɾi.a/ ("yellow", most Sp. /amariʝa/ < OSp. /amariʎa/)

Unlike any other Spanish dialect (that I know of), however, in Ladino yeísmo also applies to the sequence /lj/, so that, for instance, the word for "family" is famiya or famía (Sp. /familja/). The exception to these yeísmo rules is when /ʎ/ was followed by /j/ or a palatal consonant in the next syllable, in which case it dissimilated to /l/, as in:
luvya /luvja/ ("rain", most Sp. /ʝubja/ < OSp. /ʎuβja/)
kaleja /kaleʒa/ ("alley", most Sp. /kaʝexa/ < OSp. /kaʎeʒa/)

In a somewhat parallel change, the palatal nasal /ɲ/ decoupled into /nj/, as in one of the native names of the language, (e)shpanyol(it) /(e)ʃpanjol(it)/ (Sp./OSp. /espaɲol/).

The Spanish rhotics (tap /ɾ/ and trill /r/) have merged in Ladino to the tap /ɾ/ in all positions.

According to Penny, like many nonstandard varieties of Spanish, Ladino merges all of initial /w/, /ɡw/ and /bw/ as /ɡw/ [ɣw]:
gwerta /ɡweɾta/ [ɣwɛɾta] ("garden", Sp. /weɾta/ < VL */ɔɾta/(?))
gwevo /ɡwevo/ [ɣwɛvɔ] ("egg", Sp. /webo/ < VL */ɔvo/)
gweno /ɡweno/ [ɣwɛnɔ] ("good", Sp. /bweno/ < VL */bɔno/)

This fortition, as I said, is very common in many colloquial Spanish varieties, but Ladino carries it further by applying it to (some instances of?) word-internal /we/ sequences as well, as in:
djugweves /dʒuɡweves/ [dʒuɣwɛvɛs] ("Thursday", Sp. /xwebes/ < OSp. /ʒweβes/)
elgwego /elɡweɡo/ [ɛlɣwɛɣɔ] ("later", Sp. /lweɡo/) (the e- is prothetic to break up the resulting initial /lɡw-/ cluster)

In a related change, /sw/ undergoes fortition to [sʍ] (possibly ~[sɸ]~[sxʍ]~[ʃʍ]) (and sometimes, word-initally, with a prothetic e-), usually written "sfu/w" or "shu/w":
(e)sfwegra [ɛsʍɛɣɾa] etc. ("mother in law", Sp. /sweɡɾa/)
(e)sfwenyo or (e)shwenyo [ɛsʍɛnjɔ]~[ɛʃʍɛnjɔ] etc. ("dream", Sp. /sweɲo/)

Initial /nw/ changes to /mw/:
mweve ("nine", Sp. /nwebe/ < OSp. /nweβe/)
mwestra ("our(s)", Sp./OSp. /nwestɾa/)
This also applies to the other 1pl pronouns, which acquire initial m- in place of n-: mozotros (cf. Sp. /nosotɾos/), mos (cf. Sp. /nos/).

There was a regular metathesis of /ɾd/ to /dɾ/:
gwadrar ("guard", Sp. /ɡwaɾdaɾ/)
vedre ("green", Sp. /beɾde/ < OSp. /βeɾde/)

As in Portuguese, coda /s/ becomes /ʃ/ (but only before /k/):
eshkola ("school", Sp./OSp. /eskwela/)
peshkado ("fish", Sp. /peskado/)
moshka ("fly", Sp. /moska/)

A number of words (presumably through influence from non-Castilian varieties of Peninsular Romance) lack the diphthongization of tonic VL */ɛ/ and */ɔ/ to /je/ and /we/:
preto ("black/dark", Sp. /pɾjeto/ < VL */pɾɛto/)
ponte ("bridge", Sp. /pwente/ < VL */pɔnte/)
kwalker ("whichever", Sp. /kwalkjeɾa/)

Finally, in a number of Balkan dialects post-tonic /e, o/ merge to /i, u/, as in Portuguese and a number of other Romance varieties. Thus, for example:
vedre [vɛdɾi] ("green", Sp. /beɾde/, see above)
filo [filu] ("thread", Sp. /ilo/ < OSp. /hilo/)


Resulting Phoneme Inventory

The resulting phoneme inventory is given below. This includes phonemes that have been added through borrowing (e.g., /ts/ in words like tsadik "righteous man" and /x/ in words like alhad /alxad/ "Sunday") and various other processes (but still probably reinforced by borrowings; but, e.g., /dz/ in dodze "twelve", cf. Sp. /dose/~/doθe/ < OSp. /dodze/):

Consonants
/p, b, t, d, ts, dz, tʃ, dʒ, k, ɡ/
/f, v, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʝ, x, (h)/
/m, n/
/ɾ l/

Monophthongs
/i, u, e [ɛ], o [ɔ], a/

Diphthongs
/(ji?), ju, je, jo, ja/
/wi, (wu?), we, wo, wa/
/ej, oj, aj, (more?)/



Anyway that's all for now. I can do morphosyntax and some example texts and stuff later if people are actually interested... I don't know if anyone's even going to read all this. Whatever.

[Mr. Z]

Ooh, interesting. Well written, and Ladino is generally... more obscure than some other languages (obviously). I'm gonna keep looking into this.

[Whimemsz]

Ooh, interesting. Well written, and Ladino is generally... more obscure than some other languages (obviously). I'm gonna keep looking into this.

Yes, it's actually been really difficult to find good info on it (it doesn't help that what I've found is friggin contradictory >:| ). Honestly, you should preface every statement I make about it with "as far as I've been able to determine".

But anyhoo, glad you're interested. I'll try to get some morphosyntax or texts up later today.

[Atom]

Just chiming in to say this is great, and I too have had trouble finding stuff about Ladino. Depressing.

[zompist]

I liked that a lot too. Now do Ladão

[Whimemsz]

Oh, I forgot to mention that Ladino (as shown in the phoneme table) has also gained a phoneme /dʒ/, contrasting with /ʒ/. It's evidently mostly from borrowings, but some native words do show /dʒ/ where Old Spanish had /ʒ/, as in djugar /dʒuɡaɾ/ ("play", Sp. /xuɡaɾ/ < OSp. /ʒuɡaɾ/).

Also, (word final?) /js/ changed to /ʃ/:
sesh ("six", Sp./OSp. /sejs/)
-ásh, -ésh (2pl pres. indic. verb endings, Sp./Late Medieval Sp. /-ajs/, /-ejs/)

(I'll try to get some morphosyntax stuff up tomorrow--yesterday I slept all day and today I spent most of the time with my family sooooo....didn't get around to it, sorry)


EDIT: On further inspection, it would appear that OSp. word-initial /ʒ/ is regularly reflected as Ladino /dʒ/. Penny suggests (though he's not entirely clear) that OSp. /ʒ/ was allophonically [dʒ] word-initially, so in this case the phone involved is unchanged, but a phonemic split is caused through borrowing of initial [ʒ] and medial [dʒ] in words of French and Turkish origin

[Whimemsz]

Alright, just to get something up, I'll provide some basic info on verbs for now.

Morphosyntax

One of the most notable differences from other dialects of Spanish is that the expulsion preceded the development of the 2sg deferential/formal pronoun usted (< vuestra merced, "Your Grace"). The referential system for second person is thus quite distinct, and closer to that of medieval Spanish than in the other modern dialects:

2sg informal/non-deferential: tu (+ verb_[2SG])
2sg formal/deferential: vos (+ verb_[2PL]) OR el, e(y)a (+ verb_[3SG])
2pl informal/non-deferential: vozotros (+ verb_[2PL])
2pl formal/deferential: e(y)os, e(y)as (+ verb_[3PL])


Verbs

As for the verb forms themselves...well I won't give all of them because that's too much work. I will provide the present, preterit, and imperfect indicative, though, using the examples kantar "sing" (-ar verb), komer "eat" (-er verb), and bivir "live" (-ir verb):

PRESENT INDICATIVE:
1sg : kanto / komo / bivo
2sg : kantas / komes / bives
3sg : kanta / kome / bive
1pl : kantamos / komemos / bivimos
2pl : kantásh / komésh / bivísh
3pl : kantan / komen / biven

PRETERIT INDICATIVE:
1sg : kantí / komí / biví
2sg : kantates / komites / bivites
3sg : kantó / komyó / bivyó
1pl : kantimos / komimos / bivimos
2pl : kantatesh / komitesh / bivitesh
3pl : kantaron / komyeron / bivyeron

IMPERFECT INDICATIVE:
1sg : kantava / komía / bivía
2sg : kantavas / komías / bivías
3sg : kantava / komía / bivía
1pl : kantávamos / komíamos / bivíamos
2pl : kantavash / komíash / bivíash
3pl : kantavan / komían / bivían

Fuller paradigms are available here, for those interested.

There are some interesting things to note here. In Ladino, the common non-standard Spanish change of analogical final -s in 2sg preterit verbs has lost any stigma and is the normal shape of the 2sg (though actually, the Ladino 2sg preterit suffix irregularly loses the -s- in its -st- cluster: -Vtes instead of standard Spanish -Vste). (This is especially fun since it means the 2sg preterit and 2pl preterit are distinguished purely by their final consonant of -s versus -sh...presumably the added -t- in the 2pl is analogical though I haven't seen any actual discussion of it)

A few other notes on verbs. For one, the OSp. 1sg present forms of the common verbs estar, ser, ir, dar ("be", "be", "go", "give") are continued unchanged, without the irregular final -y they gain in standard Spanish: estó, so, vo, do.

Also, compound tenses can be formed with tener as well as with aver (Sp. haber). Thus, "I'd sung" can be either avía kantado (as in standard Spanish, cf. había cantado) or tenía kantado (no parallel in standard Spanish, though there are certainly parallels in other varieties of Romance).

In another parallel with many non-standard Spanish varieties and in contradistinction to standard Spanish, the verb aver when used as an existential agrees in number with its subject: uvyeron otros mundos "there were other worlds" (taken from here; cf. standard Sp. hubo otros mundos, but common popular Spanish hubieron otros mundos).

Finally, many stem-changing verbs are analogically regularized, so that all forms appear either with a diphthong or without. Thus, for example, pweder ("be able") as opposed to Sp. poder (on analogy with forms such as pwede "s/he can"), and kero ("I want") as opposed to Sp. quiero (on analogy with forms such as kerer "want").


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To close this brief lesson, I'll provide an extra little gift of a sentence from the article I linked to above (changing the spelling slightly to regularize it):

Mozotros prezentes en la Sinagoga, al servisyo relijyozo de la manyana de Rosh Ashana, repetamos la mezma tradisyonal proklamasyon: "AYOM HARAT OLAM." (Oy fwe kreado el mundo.)

This would be [mɔzɔtɾɔs pɾɛzɛntɛz ɛn la sinaɣɔɣa], [al sɛɾvisjɔ ɾɛliʒjɔzɔ ðɛ la manjana ðɛ ɾɔʃ aʃana], [ɾɛpɛtamɔs la mɛzma tɾaðisjɔnal pɾɔklamasjɔn]: [ajɔm xaɾat ɔlam] [ɔj fwɛ kɾɛ.aðɔ ɛl mundɔ]

The standard Spanish equivalent would be: Nosotros presentes en la Sinagoga, al servicio religioso de la mañana de Rosh Hashana, repetamos la misma tradicional proclamación: "AYOM HARAT OLAM" (Hoy fue creado el mundo)

Translation: "We present here in the Synagogue for the Rosh Hashana morning service, let us repeat the same traditional proclamation: "HAYOM HARAT OLAM" (Today the world was created)"

The Hebrew phrase there is (היום הרת עולם, hayom harat olam)

[Ser]

Also, compound tenses can be formed with tener as well as with aver (Sp. haber). Thus, "I'd sung" can be either avía kantado (as in standard Spanish, cf. había cantado) or tenía kantado (no parallel in standard Spanish, though there are certainly parallels in other varieties of Romance).

Spanish has it, and any more traditionally-minded linguist telling you it doesn't is a LIAR, or is missing some reality check.

Out of curiosity, does the participle agree with the direct object as in (Standard) Spanish? E.g. ya tengo cantadas tres canciones.

(I think some grammaticalization of this construction is going on as we speak, and the participle is often seen unagreeing in gender/number with the direct object. Or maybe it's some analogy with the haber + participle construction? Either way, the standard says the participle "must" agree:

4. tener + participio. El verbo tener se usa como auxiliar, seguido del participio de un verbo transitivo, con el mismo sentido que haber cuando forma los tiempos compuestos de la conjugación: «Pues la mujer, según tengo oído [= he oído], estuvo sirviendo en su casa antes de casarse» (Signes Ramos [Esp. 1977]). A menudo la construcción con tener añade un matiz de reiteración o insistencia: «¡Le tengo dicho [= le he dicho muchas veces] que no me los deje subir al segundo piso, carajo!» (Gamboa Páginas [Col. 1998]). A diferencia de haber, que se combina siempre con el participio en -o del verbo principal, en la construcción con tener el participio debe concordar en género y número con el complemento directo: «Los pocos libros que hay aquí los tiene leídos y releídos» (Carrasquilla Marquesa [Col. 1928]); «¿Quién no tiene oídas historias de baqueanos que encuentran huellas donde nadie las supo ver?» (Fogwill Cantos [Arg. 1998]); así pues, el participio no debe quedar inmovilizado en masculino singular: *«Estados Unidos [...] parece tener asegurado esta segunda plaza» (País [Esp.] 21.6.77); debió decirse tener asegurada. Tampoco es admisible el uso de esta construcción con verbos intransitivos: *«No creas que yo no me tengo ida al sicoanalista» (Futoransky Pe [Arg. 1986]).

http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltConsulta?lema=tener)

EDIT: I just found that there's in fact a whole book about it...

[Whimemsz]

Hmm...I guess I never thought of that as the same thing. Slash, didn't know how widespread its uses could be. So thanks for the correction.

[EDIT: Did I get all the Old Spanish forms right? I guessed slightly on a few]