Re: Una Lectura en Ladino para la Clase

Steg Belsky wrote:
>
[...]

> 1. en pricipio creo' el dio alos cielos y ala tiera.
> 2. y la tiera era vana y vazia y escuridad sovre fasis de abismo y
> espiritu de el dio abolava sovre fasis delash [sic] aguash. [sic]
> 3. y dijo el dio sea luz y fue luz.
> 4. y vedo (vido?) el dio ala luz que buena y aparto' el dio entre la luz
> y entre la escuridad.
> 5. y llamo' el dio ala luz di'a y ala escuridad llamo' noche y fue tadre
> (tadri?) [sic] (=tarde?) y fue manyana di'a uno.
> 6. y dijo el dio sea espandidura entre las aguas y sea apartan entre
> aguas aaguas. [sic]
> 7. y izo (=hizo?) el dio ala espandidura y aparto' entre las aguas.
>
> I have no idea why in verse 2 says _delash aguash_ and in the others _las
> aguas_.
>
> -Stephen (Steg)

        I've followed this thread with interest. What most strikes me is how
Spanish Ladino is. Unless I'm mistaken, every single word in the example
is of "Spanish" origin, and the question is only what dialect or period
it comes from, minor phonological changes, etc.  This contrasts with
Yiddish (a language I know better than Ladino), where I'm sure the
parallel translation would show Hebrew, Slavic and possibly other
influences, as well of course as German. The fact that Ladino would have
looked like this in 1492 is hardly surprising, but if this the language
that Ladino-writing Jews in, say, Turkey would have wrote (or still
would, to the extent that Ladino is still meaningfully alive...), then
it's remarkable. 5 centuries out of Spain, you'd expect at least some
influence from the other languages the Sephardi Jews encountered.


        Shaul