Jevan language

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Jevanian , also known as Romaniotic or Jewish-Greek ( Greek ρωμανιώτικα or γεβανικά ), was a Greek dialect spoken by the Romaniots , a group of Greek Jews whose occurrence in Greece has been documented since Hellenistic times. In terms of linguistic history, the dialect can be traced back to the Hellenistic Koine (Ελληνική Κοινή), mixed with Hebrew elements. The Jevan and Greek of the Christian population were mutually understandable. The Romaniots used their own version of the Hebrew alphabet to write both Javanese and Greek texts.

The language name "Jevanisch" is derived from the Hebrew word Yāwān ( Hebrew יָוָן), which is the word for "Greek" and "Greece" in a similar form in many Middle Eastern languages ​​(also in Sanskrit as Yavana ), based on the name of the Greek tribe of the Ionians .

Today there are no longer any native Yevan speakers for a variety of reasons:

  • Many of the small Jewish communities were culturally and linguistically assimilated by the larger of the Ladino-speaking Sephardic Jews.
  • The languages ​​of the respective population majorities, i.e. Greek, Turkish or Bulgarian , were adopted.
  • Many Romani people emigrated to Israel or the USA .
  • The Zionist program, which proclaimed Hebrew as the language of all Jews, was taken into account.
  • Many Romani people were deported and murdered during the German occupation of Greece between 1941 and 1944.

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