🕎 Ladino: An Echo of Medieval Spain

Imagine a language being spoken since Columbus times and has not experienced much changes. This language is Ladino, also known as Sephardic or Judeo-Spanish language. Ladino is predominantly spoken by descendants of Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in XV century.

Sephardic is mostly based on the Old Spanish language, but it also has got loanwords from Ottoman Empire languages (Ottoman, Greek and Hebrew) as expelled jews had resettled there. Ladino is traditionally written using Jewish script, however nowadays Latin-based alphabet is also in use.

Ladino is classified as "Severely Endangered" language by UNESCO. Natural assimilation caused a significant decline in the intergenerational transmission of the language. BUT despite these challenges, language is supported by enthusiasts online from all over the world.

🧩 Language Endangerment & Heritage Foundation