Yehudit HENSHKE University of Haifa THE ROLES OF JUDEO-ARABIC IN FRANCE AND ISRAEL: A PRELIMINARY SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPARISON* ABSTRACT This article, which is based on field research in France and Israel, explores the sociolinguistic role of Judeo-Arabic among Jews of North African extraction in France as compared to Israel. Its focus is on this sector in France, and the Israeli context serves as its backdrop. Among the topics discussed are: the speakers’ atti- tude toward Judeo-Arabic, and the limited use of Judeo-Arabic in France, alongside the individual categories in which Judeo-Arabic has been better preserved in France. Also examined were the strategies that influence the use of idioms and aphorisms in France and the role of Judeo-Arabic in Israeli, but not in French, humor. Exami- nation of the Hebrew communal tradition elicited an intriguing insight. This consid- eration clearly showed that whereas features of Hebrew (like pharyngeals) could be preserved by Jews of North African origins in France, the same characteristics were no longer preserved in their Judeo-Arabic. RÉSUMÉ Cet article, fondé sur un large éventail de cas étudiés en France comme en Israël, détermine la place du judéo-arabe dans le langage des juifs originaires d’Afrique du nord et installés en France, ainsi que le rôle de ce dialecte en Israël. L’étude de cas menée en Israël ne sert ici que de point de comparaison, afin de mieux cerner l’état des lieux en France. Notre but est de comprendre comment les locuteurs, en France et en Israël, utilisent leur dialecte judéo-arabe maternel. Si l’on a pu noter qu’en France, l’emploi du judéo-arabe est relativement restreint, certaines de ses expres- sions ou composantes ont été en revanche mieux préservées qu’en Israël. On a également étudié les différentes stratégies qui ont influencé l’usage des expres- sions idiomatiques utilisées en France. En outre, on a constaté la place essentielle du dialecte judéo-arabe dans l’humour israélien, alors qu’on ne peut en dire autant pour l’humour français. Finalement, nous avons eu la surprise de découvrir que, si plusieurs caractéristiques de l’hébreu (comme la prononciation pharyngée) sont pré- servées chez les juifs d’origine nord-africaine en France, ces dernières ne sont plus conservées dans leur dialecte judéo-arabe. * I thank Cyril Aslanov and David Guedj for reading this article and for their instructive comments. I also thank the anonymous readers and the editors of REJ for their suggestions. Revue des études juives, 179 (1-2), janvier-juin 2020, pp. 181-208. doi: 10.2143/REJ.179.1.3287594 182 THE ROLES OF JUDEO-ARABIC IN FRANCE AND ISRAEL The revival of Hebrew as a spoken language saw its transformation from a literary language used in the bet midraš into a spoken one for everyday use. Yet, to date, studies of the development of Modern Hebrew have focused on its classical roots — Bible, rabbinic literature, and medieval Hebrew — devoting far less attention to the contribution of spoken Judeo- languages to Modern Spoken Hebrew; even here the spotlight has been trained on Yiddish and Judeo-Spanish.1 This state of affairs prompted consideration of the role played by the Judeo-Arabic dialects brought to Israel by North African émigrés in the formation of Modern Hebrew. Although most striking in the Israeli socio- geographical periphery, the influence of these dialects is not restricted to the periphery but has spread to General Hebrew as well. By way of determining and tracing the Judeo-Arabic influence on spoken Hebrew, from 2007 on I conducted a field survey based on questionnaires and interviews among a sample population of some 120 native-born Israelis from different geo- graphical regions in Israel, all members of the second, third, or fourth gen- erations to ‘aliya from Islamic lands, North Africa in particular.2 The inter- viewees not only reflected a range of ages, with kindergarten and primary school age children at the lower end of the spectrum, but also a broad range of social statuses, from white- to blue-collar workers. Also taken into account was the spoken and written language of influential figures for whom lan- guage is a tool, such as rabbis, authors, playwrights, poets, and lyricists. Following careful transcription and proofreading, the recorded conversa- tions of the sample population in Israel were subjected to preliminary lin- guistic analysis, tagged, and uploaded to dedicated linguistic analysis soft- ware. During the same timeframe, by way of arriving at a clearer picture of Hebrew/Judeo-Arabic interlingual contact in Israel, I also studied the behav- ior of the same Judeo-Arabic dialects among North African Jewish emigres and their families in France. The French/Judeo-Arabic interlingual contact provided an opportunity for contrastive analysis.3 1. See Y. HENShKE, “The Contribution of the Hebrew Component in Judeo-Languages to the Revival of Spoken Hebrew”, Revue des études juives 172 (2013), p. 169-187. 2. This article is based on a study carried out from 2015 to 2017 with the support of ISF grant 149/14. 3. The influence of French culture on North Africa and the principled distinction between the Jews who emigrated to France and those who emigrated to Israel is well known: see Y. TSUR, “France and the Jews of Tunisia: The Policy of the French Authorities towards the Jews and the Activities of the Jewish Elites during the Period of Transition from Moslem Independent State to Colonial Rule, 1873-1888” (Hebrew), Ph.D. diss., Hebrew University, 1988; Y. TSUR and H. HILLEL, The Jews of Casablanca: Studies in the Modernization of the Political Elite in a Colonial Community (Hebrew), Tel Aviv, 1995; S. DELLA PERGOLA, “The THE ROLES OF JUDEO-ARABIC IN FRANCE AND ISRAEL 183 Two cities with Jewish populations were chosen for the study in France: one peripheral — the coastal city Marseille; one metropolitan — the capital city Paris. In the context of the study, I also examined the language of fami- lies in the Parisian suburbs — Boulogne, Créteil, Maisons-Alfort, Saint Maur, and even Sarcelles — on the assumption that, as for other languages, it would differ from that spoken in the metropolitan center. The French study was multigenerational and three generations of single families were represented in most of the interviews: grandparents — parents — children.4 The sample in France encompassed some 109 men, women, and children of both sexes and represented a broad social, economic, and religious spec- trum.5 The majority of the interviews were conducted in in homes and fam- ily settings; in addition, I also attended family celebrations,6 and visited synagogues,7 schools,8 Jewish stores,9 and restaurants.10 I would like to stress that, although a shared feature of all the members of the sample popu- lation was their belonging to, or descent from, the North African immigra- tion to France that began in the mid-twentieth century, they are nevertheless a varied population. Some display no connection to Jewish tradition and have become completely integrated into French society; others are the Immigration of Algerian Jews and the Absorption in France”, in H. SAAdOUN (ed.), Algeria (Hebrew), Jerusalem, 2011, p. 37-40, and is also definitively exemplified by this field study. Nonetheless, the Israeli and French groups studied here share a broad common denominator. 4. For the names and family relationships of the French informants, see the Appendix. 5. I thank all the participants for their willingness to devote time to conversations and interviews (for their names, see the Appendix). I also thank Yoann Morvan of Aix-en- Provence, Corinne Kadouch of Marseille and the devoted, energetic research assistant Milena Kartowski-Aïach of Paris for their assistance. The socioeconomic spectrum ranged from artists and stage directors, to computer experts, businessmen, collectors and scholars, storeowners (books, clothing, jewelry), restaurant owners, kindergarten teachers, economists, engineers, teachers, bookkeepers, CEOs, university instructors, merchants (wholesale and retail), writers, administrators, blue-collar workers, lawyers and jurists, housewives, psychologists, rabbis and their wives, doctors, seamstresses, and schoolchildren. The religious spectrum, as defined by the interviewees, encompassed secular, traditional, and religious Jews and also children of mixed marriages. 6. A wedding to which I was invited by the rabbi’s wife Chulammith Saadoun, which was celebrated in the Grande Synagogue de la Victoire (Paris); a bar miṣwa held in the KLC (Kehillah lechem chamaim) synagogue in Marseille; and a wedding in a Paris restaurant to which I was invited by Ms. Laurence Hayyat. 7. The KLC synagogue in Marseille, under the leadership of Rabbi Dr. Fenech; the AJJ (Amicale des juifs de Jerba) synagogue in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. 8. The Talmud Torah attached to the KLC synagogue in Marseille; the boys’ school attached to the AJJ in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. 9. I toured the stores and businesses in Cours Belsunce and nearby neighborhoods in Marseille with Dr. Yoann Morvan, whom I thank for taking the time to accompany me. See the section on Commercial Language below. 10. Inun (in Sarcelles), Sagron, Le-kikar, Aviel pâtisserie. 184 THE ROLES OF JUDEO-ARABIC IN FRANCE AND ISRAEL products of mixed marriages between Jews and non-Jews; still others exhibit greater affinity to Jewish tradition and Judaism. The initial findings from this survey are presented here, with implicit and explicit comparisons to the Israeli study. Again, these findings are prelimi- nary and by no means represent an exhaustive treatment of the topic. I note in addition that my interest here lies primarily in sociolinguistic, rather than philological, issues and that the treatment is restricted to the roles of Judeo- Arabic in France as compared to Israel. At this stage of my research, broader topics, such as a comparison to North African Muslim Arabic in France, are outside the scope of the present article.