Ladino
Ladino Roman Examples ”amar/ ”love/ אמאר -a (-) א (see note 1) ”tag">pe’ah/ “side curl/ פאה ’
”ṭramvay/ “railroad/ טראמב ׳איי ay איי
”bushḳar/ “look for/ בוּשקאר b בּ ,ב
”aḥarvar/ “beat/ אחארב ׳אר v בֿ, ב׳
”sangre/ “blood/ סאנגּרי g גּ ,ג
”ajusṭar/ “add/ א ג ׳וּארסט j גֿ, ג׳
”chiḳes/ “youth/ גׄ יקיס ch ׄג
”din/ “religious law/ דין d דּ ,ד
”sudhor/ “sweat/ ס ׳דוּ וד dh דֿ ,ד׳
”salah/ “room/ סאלה ah- ה (see note 4) ”ṿesheṭ/ “gullet/ ושט ṿ ו (see note 4) ”dos/ “two/ דוס o
”agwah/ “water/ אגּואה w
”ḳarpus/ “watermelon/ קא רפוּס u וּ
”mwes/ “nut/ מואיס we ואי (see note 2) ”swivar/ “follow/ ִסוא יב׳אר wi ִוא י
”muy/ “much/ מ וּיי uy וּ יי
”boy/ “height, size/ ב ייוֹ oy וֹיי
Ladino Roman Examples ”ḳazal/ “village/ קאזאל z ז
”muzher/ “woman, wife/ מ ׳זוּיר zh זֿ, ז׳
”ḥaber/ “news/ חאביר ḥ ח
”ṭadhre/ “late/ טאד ׳רי ṭ ט
”Yosef/ “Joseph/ יוסף y י
”bel/ “waist/ ביל e
”purimliḳ/ “Purim present/ פ וּרי ִמליק i י ִ
”yo/ “I/ ייו y יי (see note 3) ”yevar/ “carry/ יי ׳ב אר ye
”dyes/ “ten/ דייס
”segyir/ “follow/ סיגּ יִיר yi יִי
”rey/ “king/ ֵ ריי ey ֵיי
”kavod/ “honor/ ׳בכּ וד k כּ. ךּ
”berakhah/ “blessing/ ברכה kh כ, ך
”melekh/ “king/ מלך
”lamber/ “lick/ לאמביר l ל
”myel/ “honey/ מייל m מ, ם
”ḥamam/ “bath house/ חאמאם
”!nah!/ “here! Behold/ נה ! n נ, ן
”ladhron/ “thief/ לאד׳רון
”suṭlach/ “rice pudding/ סוּ טלא ׄג s ס
”me‘arah/ “cave/ מערה ‘ ע (see note 4)
Ladino Roman Examples ”paras/ “money/ פּ אראס p פּ, פ
”ḳasap/ “butcher/ קאסאפּ
”fin/ “end/ פ ׳ין f פ, ף ׳פ , ף׳ ”ḥarif/ “acute/ חריף׳ פֿ, ףֿ
”tsedaḳah/ “charity/ צדקה ts צ, ץ (see note 4) ”ḳavzar/ “cause/ קא ז׳באר ḳ ק
”raḳi/ “arak/ ראקי r ר
”shavon/ “soap/ שאב ׳ון sh ש
”beśorah/ “good news / בשׂורה ś שׂ
”Torah/ “Torah/ תּורה t תּ
Ligature
”balṭah/ “ax/ בﭏטה al ﭏ
General notes
at the י or , ויי ,ו is not represented in romanization when it precedes א .1 beginning of a word or when it appears between any combination of the when they are (ו o/ or /u/ (both spelled/ ,(י vowels /e/ or /i/ (both spelled adjacent. In words of Hebrew or Aramaic derivation, it is represented by /’/.
גואירטה as in , ג - is always preceded by ואי ,At the beginning of a word .2 /gwerṭah/ “garden”.
/yo/ לייו when it represents /y/ and /ye/, as in ליי may sometimes be spelled יי .3 “I”.
4. Words of Hebrew-Aramaic origin usually retain their traditional spellings in Ladino. Such words are romanized according to the ALA/LC Hebrew
,(ś) ש , צ ,ע ,(kh) כ ,ה non-final ,(יי not) י ,(וו not) ו romanization table. Initial are usually found only in words of Hebrew-Aramaic derivation; in rare ת and instances they may also appear in words borrowed from Arabic or Turkish. In .ס may appear where other traditions use the letter ש ,some traditions
Notes on pronunciation
”sh/ as “shop/ ש ”ch/ as in “chop/ ׄג ”kh/ as in German “ach/ כ ”dh/ as in “lather/ ד ׳ ”zh/ as in “azure/ ז ׳ ”j/ as in “gentle/ ג ׳
ḳ/ are/ ק k/ and/ כּ ,/ś/ שׂ s/ and/ ס ,/kh/ כ ḥ/ and/ ח ,/ṿ/ ו v/ and/ ב The pairs distinguished in the script but not in pronunciation.
Notes on Ladino/Judezmo diacritics
No standard orthography for Ladino/Judezmo has even been formally adopted. Words of Hebrew or Aramaic derivation usually maintain their traditional spellings. However, Ladino/Judezmo words of non-Semitic derivation do use a number of consonants no longer found in Castilian Spanish. These diacritics, such as rafé, geresh or a superscript dot, may be found with varying consistencies in publications.
Reference sources
At present, no single dictionary constitutes an authoritative or normative source for the romanization of Ladino/Judezmo. For words of Spanish derivation, refer to the 4200+ word Judezmo/Hebrew glossary at the end of David Bunis's Leshon G’udezmo (Jerusalem, 1999), which employs a vocalization system devised by the author employing ḥiriḳ, tsere, ḥolam and shuruḳ as vowel marks. Ladino/Judezmo words of Hebrew or Aramaic origin written in Hebrew characters appear in written texts either in traditional etymological spellings, or in phonetic or partially phonetic spellings. These words should be romanized according to the Library of Congress Hebrew romanization table. In problematic cases, where, for
example, it is impossible to differentiate between "e" and "i", or "o" and "u," or when words of non-Spanish, non-Hebraic origin are in question, refer to such dictionaries as those by Joseph Nehama (Dictionnaire du judéo-espagnol), Elli Kohen (Ladino-English, English-Ladino: Concise Encyclopedic Dictionary (Judeo-Spanish)), and Pascual Pascual Recuero (Diccionario básico ladino- español).
References
1. Bunis, David M. [Leshon G’udezmo]. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, c1999: p. 465-551; [transcription system for “yod”, “double yod”, p. 56-57].
2. Bunis, David M. A Lexicon of the Hebrew and Aramaic Elements in Modern Judezmo. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, The Hebrew University; Misgav Yerushalayim, Institute for Research on the Sephardi and Oriental Jewish Heritage, 1993.
3. Nehama, Joseph. Dictionnaire du judéo-espagnol. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto “Benito Arias Montano”, 1977.
4. Kohen, Elli. Ladino-English, English-Ladino: Concise Encyclopedic Dictionary (Judeo-Spanish). New York: Hippocrene, 2000.
5. Pascual Recuero, Pascual. Ortografía del Ladino: soluciones y evolución. Granada: Universidad de Granada, Departamento de Estudios Semíticos, 1988.
6. Pascual Recuero, Pascual. Diccionario básico ladino-español. Barcelona: Ameller, 1977.