Judeo-Livornese/Baggito (Italian: Giudeo-Livornese/Bagitto) is an extinct dialect of the Judeo-Italian languages, historically spoken by the Jewish community in and around Livorno.[1] It was heavily influenced by Judeo-Portuguese, Judeo-Italian, Ladino.[2][1] It is best attested through the works of Guido Bedarida.[3]

History

Judeo-Livornese
Bagitto
RegionIn and around Livorno
EthnicityItalian Jews
ExtinctAfter August 18, 1962
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3–

The Livornese dialect of Tuscan would first emerge during the 18th century when it began to diverge from the nearby Pisan dialect, due to Livorno gaining independence from Pisa in 1606.[4] Judeo-Livornese would form at the same time as Jews from Spain and Italy would all live in Livorno. As the different languages they spoke which included Spanish, Judeo-Italian, and Ladino would all converge to form Judeo-Livornese.[4]

The Jewish community in Livorno would number at 5,000 by 1800 but by 1900 it would lower to only 2,500. During WW2 60-90% of Livorno would be destroyed and 108 of Livorno's 2250 Jews would be killed. After the war only half or around 1,000 would stay in Livorno with the rest leaving.[5] Today the community numbers 700 but few of its current members are descendants of the old community.[5]

Linguists used to believe that Judeo-Livornese was a dialect of Ladino but later research has shown it a Tuscan dialect with Ladino influence.[6]

Characteristics

Judeo-Livornese has a lot of loanwords from Ladino and Hebrew. There are also several archaic traits from older varieties of Tuscan.[7] The Ladino loanwords include several loan translations.

There is a wide usage of antiphrasis in Judeo-Livornese one example being Ber-aḥaim literally meaning "The house of life" but being used to mean "Graveyard".[8] There are also a large amount of phonetic distortion oftentimes replaces a phoneme in the middle of a word with an r, tarsanìm instead of tafsanìm

Usage

Judeo-Livornese would be used alongside several other languages by Livorno's Jewish community. Aramaic and Hebrew were used for prayers, Ladino for literature, and Ladino or Judeo-Portuguese among the upper class Jews. The ones who used Judeo-Livornese were the lower class Jews as it was avoided by the upper class due to its lack of prestige.[6]

Media

The most famous writer in Judeo-Livornese is Guido Bedarida, who wrote under the stage name of Eliezer Ben David. He would write literature in Judeo-Livornese throughout his life and died in 1962.[9][6]

Sample Text

Judeo-Livornese[10] English[10]
per la mi/tu’/su’ vita on my/your/his/her life
bimba da far bimbi feminine child with whom to make children
invito refreshments
frati friars, doughnut
Allo spedale At the Hostpital
L'ammalta Ebrea The sick Jewish
tarsanìm Policeman

References

  1. 1 2 "Sephardic Horizons". www.sephardichorizons.org. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  2. ↑ "Modern Judeo-Italian in the Light of Italian Dialectology and Jewish Interlinguistics through Three Case Studies: Judeo-Mantuan, Judeo-Venetian, and Judeo-Livornese". Jewish Languages in Historical Perspective: 152. 2018.
  3. ↑ "Judeo-Italian". Jewish Languages. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  4. 1 2 "Modern Judeo-Italian in the Light of Italian Dialectology and Jewish Interlinguistics through Three Case Studies: Judeo-Mantuan, Judeo-Venetian, and Judeo-Livornese". Jewish Languages in Historical Perspective: 137, 147. 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Livorno Jewish History Tour". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  6. 1 2 3 "Modern Judeo-Italian in the Light of Italian Dialectology and Jewish Interlinguistics through Three Case Studies: Judeo-Mantuan, Judeo-Venetian, and Judeo-Livornese". Jewish Languages in Historical Perspective: 147. 2018.
  7. ↑ "Modern Judeo-Italian in the Light of Italian Dialectology and Jewish Interlinguistics through Three Case Studies: Judeo-Mantuan, Judeo-Venetian, and Judeo-Livornese". Jewish Languages in Historical Perspective: 144, 147. 2018.
  8. ↑ "Modern Judeo-Italian in the Light of Italian Dialectology and Jewish Interlinguistics through Three Case Studies: Judeo-Mantuan, Judeo-Venetian, and Judeo-Livornese". Jewish Languages in Historical Perspective: 144. 2018.
  9. ↑ "guideo italiano". Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  10. 1 2 "Modern Judeo-Italian in the Light of Italian Dialectology and Jewish Interlinguistics through Three Case Studies: Judeo-Mantuan, Judeo-Venetian, and Judeo-Livornese". Jewish Languages in Historical Perspective: 146–148. 2018.
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