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ArchivesRe: Jewish is not a language, you mean Hebrew.
in reply to a message by H.W.G (A.K.A. Inziladun1)
The Jewish people have always spoken Hebrew? You are rather mistaken here. Even before being expelled by the Romans, Jews had switched to Aramaic for everyday use, though they did continue to use Hebrew as a liturgical language.
In the diaspora, there were loads and loads of Jewish languages. Most people have heard of Yiddish, and Ladino's been mentioned in this thread, but there are a lot more. Have a look on Wikipedia. In Europe alone, there's Yiddish, Ladino, Yevanic, Knaanic, Catalanic, Shuadit, Zarphatic, and many more less-well-documented ones. Hebrew only became the living tongue of large masses of Jews with the rise of Zionism and the return to what's now Israel (but was then the British Mandate of Palestine). Even now, not every Jew speaks Hebrew, let alone as a home language.
Why is Jewish listed as a language option? Well, the funny thing about a transnational culture like that of the Jews is that there's a lot of bleedover. If an Ashkenazi Jew moved to France, he might join the Jewish community there and speak Zarphatic instead of Yiddish. And perhaps his wife was of Sephardi ancestry, so maybe their children would have some Ladino names, some Yiddish names, maybe some Zarphatic names. Sometimes it's advantageous to group things together like this. There are names that carry over in form between several Diaspora languages, and might as well be called that, even if they're not in use in that form in Modern Hebrew.
In the diaspora, there were loads and loads of Jewish languages. Most people have heard of Yiddish, and Ladino's been mentioned in this thread, but there are a lot more. Have a look on Wikipedia. In Europe alone, there's Yiddish, Ladino, Yevanic, Knaanic, Catalanic, Shuadit, Zarphatic, and many more less-well-documented ones. Hebrew only became the living tongue of large masses of Jews with the rise of Zionism and the return to what's now Israel (but was then the British Mandate of Palestine). Even now, not every Jew speaks Hebrew, let alone as a home language.
Why is Jewish listed as a language option? Well, the funny thing about a transnational culture like that of the Jews is that there's a lot of bleedover. If an Ashkenazi Jew moved to France, he might join the Jewish community there and speak Zarphatic instead of Yiddish. And perhaps his wife was of Sephardi ancestry, so maybe their children would have some Ladino names, some Yiddish names, maybe some Zarphatic names. Sometimes it's advantageous to group things together like this. There are names that carry over in form between several Diaspora languages, and might as well be called that, even if they're not in use in that form in Modern Hebrew.
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