Introduction
It is unfortunately a fact that the number of active Ladino speakers in the world is declining. For a language to survive, the motivation for new generations to learn it and maintain it is the key. For those who have learned Ladino at home, the focus is to sustain and enrich the language they speak. There is, however, a minority of those who cannot learn the language, or even hear a spoken Ladino word anywhere around. For them the focus is on how to reconstruct Ladino, that precious symbol of their Sephardic identity which has been, together with the major part of their families, wiped out during the Holocaust. Accordingly, one should consider and understand the situation in such Sephardic communities, like the ones in former Yugoslavia and the related Diaspora, where we can talk about two options only:
- Give up on the language which has been spoken within their families for centuries and thus silently accept one of the consequences of the Holocaust devastation?
- Remain defiant and resolute to reconstruct Ladino by any feasible means available!
It is important to note that there is absolutely not even a slightest intention to suggest that the methodology to reconstruct Ladino should also be paradoxically applied by the majority of Sephardim who live today in Israel and Turkey and who have learned Ladino the most natural way, within their families, who speak the language fluently and who publish precious works without which the reconstruction of Ladino cannot be successful. It is our hope that the majority will understand the situation within the minority and be receptive to their efforts to reconstruct their lost language. Actually, we all do have the same common goal - reinforce Ladino and stop its decline.
Reconstruction Outline
In order to reconstruct Ladino in the communities where the language has completely died out, we suggest a process in which:
- New learners are encouraged to learn modern Spanish first, by taking the advantage of the availability of Spanish courses and learning opportunities worldwide
- New learners will then be able to easily absorb the limited scope in which Ladino differs from contemporary Spanish by:
- Using conjugation tables of Ladino verbs
- Using bidirectional dictionaries like this Ladino-Spanish one, where Ladino words are written in orthography transparent to the Spanish spelling standard to minimize the number of words which differ both lexically and orthographically
It is important to note that in the targeted Sephardic communities many of potential new Ladino learners, who are essential for the resurrection and preservation of the language, are familiar with English or French as their second or, often in Diaspora, their first language. Therefore, a Romance spelling system for Ladino words used in Ladino-Spanish bidirectional dictionary, would be appropriate as the same principles are found in French, English and Spanish orthography. By using this system, new learners can also better associate Ladino words with the Latin roots of the words they are already familiar with in their second or first language. This can significantly help and enhance the learning process.
Fears that the strategy of learning Ladino through modern Spanish would backfire and lead to consumption of Ladino by Spanish prevalence, cannot be justified in this case since Ladino is already extinct within the Sephardic communities in question. Either it remains dead or we get Ladino back to life, even if the reconstructed language will not be as authentic as the one within the Sephardic communities which were fortunate to sustain Ladino without discontinuity. It is our firm conviction that Ladino reconstructed according the outline described above will always remain distinct from modern Spanish.
Conclusion
This methodology for Ladino reconstruction has been developed specifically with the minority of Sephardic families in mind, the ones that live on the territory of former Yugoslavia and related Diaspora, where Ladino has completely died out. However, it is our hope that these efforts also contribute, however small they may be, to much bigger and more significant efforts of the Sephardic majority in Israel and Turkey to sustain, reinforce and enrich the authentic Ladino preserved in their families. Finally, we all work for the greater good of preserving and strengthening our cherished heritage.
And in the end, although some may find this far-fetched, one can conceivably hope that the alternative Romance spelling system, outlined in Ladino-Spanish bidirectional dictionary, could serve not just as a tool for Ladino reconstruction, but also a vehicle to connect Sephardim and decedents of Anusim in Spain, Portugal and Latin America, and to generate an incentive for them to get closer to their roots and Sephardic communities worldwide. Therefore, the strategy outlined in previous sections could not only help to reconstruct and sustain Ladino in the Sephardic communities which unfortunately lost the language, but hopefully even pave a way for Ladino to become popular among some native Spanish speakers.
Presentation at XVI World Congress of Jewish Studies
Baruh Kalmi about Moshe Almosnino = Барух Калми о Моше Алмоснину