- published: 02 Dec 2014
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Yevanic, also known as Judæo-Greek or Romaniyot, is a Greek dialect formerly used by the Romaniotes, a group of Greek Jews whose presence in the Levant is documented since the Hellenistic period. Its linguistic lineage stems from the Jewish Koine spoken primarily by Hellenistic Jews throughout the region, and includes Hebrew elements. It was mutually intelligible with the Greek dialects of the Christian population. The Romaniotes used the Hebrew alphabet to write Greek and Yevanic texts.
The term Yevanic is an artificial creation from the Biblical word Yāwān referring to the Greeks and the lands that the Greeks inhabited. The term is an overextension of the Greek word Ἰωνία (Ionia in English) from the (then) easternmost Greeks to all Greeks.
There are no longer any native speakers of Yevanic, for the following reasons:
Fiction video - Short Documentary about disappearing Jewish language Yevanic
Sol Matsil speaks Romaniote, the Greek dialect of the Jews of Janina. Recorded by Daniel Kaufman at the Kehila Kedosha Janina, New York City in 2014. Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/MdVL/
Yevanic, also known as Judæo-Greek or Romaniyot, is a Greek dialect formerly used by the Romaniotes, a group of Greek Jews whose presence in the Levant is documented since the Hellenistic period.Its linguistic lineage stems from the Jewish Koine spoken primarily by Hellenistic Jews throughout the region, and includes Hebrew elements.It was mutually intelligible with the Greek dialects of the Christian population.The Romaniotes used the Hebrew alphabet to write Greek and Yevanic texts. This channel is dedicated to make Wikipedia, one of the biggest knowledge databases in the world available to people with limited vision. Article available under a Creative Commons license Image source in video
Romaniote community member Sol Matsil. Recorded by Daniel Kaufman at the Kehila Kedosha Janina, New York City in 2014. Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/MdVK/
Romaniotic purim song from Ioannina Live performance at Jewish Museum of Frankfurt 7-10-2001 solo: Markos Battinos
Arbëresh, also known natively Arbërisht, Arbërishtja or T'arbrisht, is spoken by some 100,000 individuals, principally the Arbëreshë people of southern Italy. A member of the Albanian dialect continuum, Arbëresh is perhaps the most distinctive from Standard Albanian, containing significant influence from its neighboring Greek and Sicilian languages. It is an example of what sociolinguists call an 'ethnolect'; that is, a language variety associated with a specific cultural or ethnic group. Read more on Wikipedia: http://bit.ly/1NTSWRb.
A culture dies when a language dies, and at times it wipes out entire communities from the pages of history. Ormuri language is one such language on the brink of extension. For Reviving Ormuri language, Russian linguist Dr. V.A. Efimov had written a book "The Ormuri Language in Past and Present". The book has been translated by Dr. Joan L.G. Bart from Netherlands in English. The official presentation of book has been jointly organized by Forum for Language Initiatives, Islamabad and Sustainable Development Policy Institute. Our correspondent Muhammad Adnan has the story...