What is Ladino?

An insight into the language of Sephardic Jews

Ladino, also known as Judeo-Spanish (Djudeo-Espanyol) or Djudezmo, is the Romance language of the Sephardic Jews, those Jewish communities who lived on the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages and emigrated to many parts of the world after their expulsion from Spain (1492) and Portugal (1497).

Today, Ladino is an endangered language; especially in the 20th century, it was considered to be in serious danger of extinction. However, Ladino's cultural significance remains great, not only for Jewish history but also as a testament to linguistic diversity and cultural connections between East and West.

origin

Ladino developed from medieval Castilian, the precursor to modern Spanish, which the Jews of Spain spoke until their expulsion by the Catholic kings Ferdinand and Isabella. After the expulsion order of 1492, the so-called Alhambra Decree, the Sephardic Jews fled to the Ottoman Empire, North Africa, the trading cities of the Mediterranean, Italy, the Netherlands, and later to Latin America.

They brought their language with them, which evolved independently of Spanish over the centuries. Ladino absorbed influences from many other languages, depending on where the Sephardic communities settled. Turkish, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, French, and Italian, among others, all flowed into the language.

Linguistic features

Ladino is grammatically and lexically based on Old Spanish, but differs from modern Spanish in many areas:

• it preserves many archaic words and expressions that are no longer used in modern Spanish. 
• the pronunciation mostly follows the Old Castilian phonetic system (e.g. “ke” instead of “que”). 
• Many Hebrew and Aramaic terms were integrated, especially in religious and cultural contexts. 
• In Ottoman-influenced regions, Ladino was often written in Hebrew characters, which distinguishes it greatly from other Romance languages.

An example:
Spanish: ¿Dónde vas?
Ladino: ¿Ande vas?
(both mean: “Where are you going?”)

Ladino as an endangered language

For centuries, Ladino was an active everyday language in Sephardic communities, especially in cities such as Istanbul, Thessaloniki, Sarajevo, and Jerusalem. Ladino-language newspapers, literature, theater, and songs existed. The language continues to thrive today, especially in the area of ​​romanzas , traditional Jewish-Spanish folk songs.

The number of speakers has declined significantly, primarily due to the Holocaust, which wiped out many Sephardic communities in Europe, as well as assimilation and migration in the 20th century. Today, there are estimated to be fewer than 100,000 active speakers, most of them in Israel.

Revival and recognition

In recent decades, there have been increasing efforts to preserve and promote Ladino: In Israel, for example, Ladino has been officially recognized as a "national cultural and heritage language." There are now also research centers, radio and television broadcasts, language courses, and online archives.

The Academy for the Ladin Language was founded in Jerusalem in 2018 with the support of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE). Interest in strengthening ties with the descendants of Sephardic communities is also growing in Spain, not least through the possibility of renaturalization for Sephardic Jews.

Ladino is far more than just a variant of Spanish. It is a cultural heritage that has survived centuries of Jewish-Spanish history. The language represents migration, adaptation, identity, and memory.

In fall 2025, the JCOM will explore the music and culture of Sephardic Jews in the project THE KEYS OF TOLEDO. This project is funded by the Foundation for Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ) and the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) as part of the "National Socialist Injustice" educational program.

Current concert dates at www.jcom.de/konzerte .