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Title:
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Judeo-Spanish in the Turkish Social Context: Language Death, Shift, Swan Song or Revival?
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Author:
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Mary Altabev
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Email:
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click here to access email
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Homepage:
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Degree Awarded:
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University of Sussex
, Department of Linguistics
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Degree Date:
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1996
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Linguistic Subfield(s):
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Sociolinguistics
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Subject Language(s):
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Ladino
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Director(s):
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Max Wheeler
Brian Street
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Abstract:
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Judeo-Spanish is the language that Spanish Jews brought to the Ottoman Empire during the 15th and 16th century. The language was passed on to their descendents and is estimated to have been the group vernacular until the early 20th century.
The study examines Judeo-Spanish in the light of language death/shift/revival theories. It focuses on the Turkish Jews living in Istanbul which is the largest Jewish community in Turkey. Judeo-Spanish and the main languages with which it came into close contact (i.e. Hebrew, French, Turkish and recently English), and their influences are examined in the light of 'language and identity' theories. Codeswitching/borrowing and 'speaking differently' are studied within the same framework, that is, as producer and marker of identity. Based on ethnographic and empirical data, I argue that the loss of Judeo-Spanish's status as represented by by participants from the Turkish Jewish community, is a consequence of wider forces: a) the international Eurocentric discourse, and b) the national assimilation/unification discourse. Both discourses were internalised to such extent by the speakers of Judeo-Spanish that they neither wanted to use nor identify with the language.
The analysis suggests that compared to the languages with which it has been in contact in Istanbul, Judeo-Spanish is perceived as an inferior language, lacking the lexicon needed to express modern, scientific or higher thoughts, and incapable to give the spur to upwards social mobility the community seeks. As a consequence, Judeo-Spanish's social functions have decreased and it is not transmitted through the immediate family channel. Judeo-spanish as the binding agent of the community has been overtaken or replaced by other identity components such as religion, peoplehood, or nationhood. The function of the language as an identity marker, on the other hand has been replaced by a group code, 'a way of speaking differently' that draws upon the Judeo-Spanish language.
However, renewed awarness of ethnicity, local sociopolitical change, and awareness of Judeo-Spanish's function as an international language, in the last decade seems to have altered the process of erosion. Following that, it is further suggested that Judeo-Spanish while still surviving in the current Turkish context, might be, at the same time, developping into a new Jewish language.
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Page Updated: 26-Nov-2009
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