5,570,300 (1995), including 4,510,000 Jewish, 805,000 Muslim, 160,000 Christian, 95,000 Druze, 300 Samaritan (1995 Central Statistics Dept., Israel). State of Israel, Medinat Israel. Literacy rate 88% to 92% Jewish, 70% Arab. Also includes Egyptian Spoken Arabic 25,000, Levantine Bedawi Spoken Arabic 50,000 (1993), North Levantine Spoken Arabic 100,000, Dutch 1,680, some Western Farsi, French 40,000, Malayalam 8,000, Marathi 8,000, Spanish 60,000, Turkish 30,000, many others. Information mainly from Yehezkel Mutzafi Tel Aviv University 1992-1996. Data accuracy estimate: A. Information mainly from CNN TV News network 11/20/92. Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Druze. Blind population 5,285. Deaf population 4,500 (1986 Gallaudet University). Deaf institutions: 31. The number of languages listed for Israel is 32. Of those, 31 are living languages and 1 is extinct.
ADYGHE (WEST CIRCASSIAN, ADYGEY) [ADY] 3,000 in Israel (1987); 71,000 in Turkey; 25,000 in Syria; 44,280 in Jordan; 8,000 in Iraq; 125,000 in Russia; 3,000 in USA; 280,000 in all countries, or more. Kafr Kama and Rehaniya, small border villages. Also in Germany, Egypt, Macedonia, Netherlands, France, Australia. North Caucasian, Northwest, Circassian. Very slight dialect differences between the two villages. They came about 100 years ago from Caucasus (now Russia). They call themselves 'Circassian'. They understand radio programs in Circassian from Jordan. Close to Kabardian. South Levantine Arabic is used as second language. Typology: SOV. Sunni Muslim. NT 1992. Bible portions 1977.
AMHARIC [AMH] 40,000 in Israel (1994 H. Mutzafi); 15,000,000 in Ethiopia (1988 Bender); 20,000,000 in all countries. Also in Egypt. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, South, Ethiopian, South, Transversal. Spoken by Jews of Ethiopian origin. Speakers use Hebrew as second language. They call themselves 'Beta Israel', and consider "Falasha" pejorative. Jewish. Bible 1840-1988. NT 1829-1988. Bible portions 1824-1988.
ARABIC, JUDEO-IRAQI (IRAQI JUDEO-ARABIC, JEWISH IRAQI-BAGHDADI ARABIC, ARABI, YAHUDIC) [YHD] 100,000 to 120,000 in Israel, above 40 years old (1994 H. Mutzafi); 100 to 150 elderly speakers in Iraq (1992 H. Mutzafi). 4,000 in the United Kingdom (1991), most above 50. Several hundred in India. Originally from Iraq. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic. Not intelligible with Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic, Judeo-Tunisian Arabic, or Judeo-Moroccan Arabic. Close to Baghdadi Arabic. The term 'Yahudic' is used by a few scholars to denote all Judeo-Arabic languages. Hebrew script is used. Speakers in Israel are reported to be bilingual in Hebrew. Jewish. Survey needed.
ARABIC, JUDEO-MOROCCAN [AJU] 250,000 in Israel (1992 H. Mutzafi); 18,000 in Morocco (1985 J. Chetrit); 268,000 in all countries. Nearly all in Israel are above 40. Younger members are mainly Hebrew speakers with passive knowledge of Judeo-Moroccan Arabic. Also in France, Canada. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic. Many dialects. Large number of borrowings from Spanish, Ladino, French. Much intelligibility with Tunisian Judeo Arabic, some with Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic, but none with Judeo-Iraqi Arabic. Hebrew script used. Speakers in Israel are reported to be bilingual in Hebrew. Jewish. Survey needed.
ARABIC, JUDEO-TRIPOLITANIAN (TRIPOLITANIAN JUDEO-ARABIC, JEWISH TRIPOLITANIAN-LIBYAN ARABIC, TRIPOLITA'IT, YUDI) [YUD] 30,000 in Israel, most over 40 (1994 H. Mutzafi); 5,000 in Italy, most over 40 (1994 H. Mutzafi); 35,000 in all countries. Originally from Tripolitania, Libya. None left in Libya. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic. Not intelligible with Judeo-Iraqi Arabic. Medium intelligibility with Judeo-Tunisian Arabic and Judeo-Morocco Arabic. Hebrew script is used. Speakers in Israel are reported to be bilingual in Hebrew. Jewish. Survey needed.
ARABIC, JUDEO-TUNISIAN [AJT] 45,000 in Israel (1995 H. Mutzafi); 500 in Tunisia (1994); 50,000 in all countries. Also in France, Spain, Italy, USA. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic. A lexicon of 5,000 words in 1950 had 79% words of Arabic origin, 15% Romance loanwords, 4.4% Hebrew loanwords, 1.6% others (D. Cohen 1985.254). Hebrew script is used. In Israel the generation of immigrants is reported to be bilingual in Hebrew, and the younger generation has only passive knowledge of Judeo-Tunisian Arabic. Jewish. Bible portions 1897-1937. Survey needed.
ARABIC, JUDEO-YEMENI (JUDEO-YEMENI, YEMENITE JUDEO-ARABIC) [JYE] 50,000 in Israel (1995 Y. Kara); 1,000 in Yemen (1995 Y. Kara). Another 50,000 in Israel have passive use of it (1995 Y. Kara). The majority of speakers in Israel are over 50. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic. Dialects: SAN<A, <ADEN, BE:DA, HABBAN. Dialects are all markedly different from their co- territorial Muslim ones. Hebrew script used. Jewish. Survey needed.
ARABIC, SOUTH LEVANTINE SPOKEN (LEVANTINE, PALESTINIAN-JORDANIAN ARABIC) [AJP] 910,000 in Israel; 1,600,000 in Palestinian West Bank and Gaza; 3,500,000 in Jordan; 85,000 in Kuwait; 50,000 or fewer in Egypt; 6,155,000 in all countries. Also used as second language by 3,000 Circassian (Adghe) and 3,000 Armenian speakers. Also in Argentina. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic. Dialects: MADANI, FELLAHI. Distinct from North Levantine Arabic. A few hundred speakers are of Gypsy origin. 90% literate in Arabic, 60% in Hebrew. Muslim, Christian, Jews, Druze. Bible portions 1940-1973. Survey needed.
ARABIC, STANDARD [ABV] Middle East, North Africa. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic. Used for education and communication among Arabic speaking countries. National language. Braille Scripture in progress. Bible 1984-1991. NT 1980-1982. Bible portions 1984.
ARMENIAN (HAIEREN, SOMKHURI, ERMENICE, ARMJANSKI) [ARM] 3,000 in Israel (1971 The Armenian Review); 6,836,000 in all countries. Jerusalem. Also in Armenia, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Greece, France, USA, Cyprus, India. Indo-European, Armenian. Dialect: WESTERN ARMENIAN. Eastern Armenian is spoken in Armenia, Turkey, and Iran; Western in the other countries, including Israel. South Levantine Arabic is used as second language. Typology: SVO. Christian. Bible 1853-1978. NT 1825-1991. Bible portions 1840-1950.
BUKHARIC (BOKHARIC, BUKHARIAN, BOKHARAN, BUKHARAN, JUDEO-TAJIK) [BHH] 50,000 in Israel (1995 H. Mutzafi); 10,000 in Uzbekistan (1995 H. Mutzafi); 60,000 in all countries. Also in USA. Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Southwestern, Persian. Related to Tajiki Persian. May be easily intelligible with Tajiki or Farsi. Also close to Judeo-Persian. Written in Hebrew script. Many are recent immigrants (1995). Jewish. Survey needed.
DZHIDI (JUDEO-PERSIAN) [DZH] 60,000 in Israel (1995). Also in Iran. Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Southwestern, Persian. Close to Bukharic, Western Farsi. Many are speakers of Western Farsi. Jewish. Survey needed.
ENGLISH [ENG] 100,000 in Israel (1993); 322,000,000 in all countries (1995 WA). Indo-European, Germanic, West, North Sea, English. Auxiliary official language. Bible 1535-1989. NT 1525-1985. Bible portions 1530-1987.
HEBREW (IVRIT) [HBR] 4,510,000 in Israel or 63% of the population (1995); 101,686 speakers in USA (1970 census); 4,612,000 in all countries. 500,000 second language speakers in Israel (1994 H. Mutzafi). Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Canaanite. Dialects: STANDARD HEBREW (GENERAL ISRAELI, EUROPEANIZED HEBREW), ORIENTAL HEBREW (ARABIZED HEBREW, YEMENITE HEBREW). Some who use it as primary language now in Israel, learned it as their second language originally. Spoken by all Israelis as first or second language. There is a Hebrew Language Academy. National language. Typology: SVO. Jewish. Bible 1599-1877. NT 1877-1986. Bible portions 1477-1790.
HEBREW, ANCIENT (OLD HEBREW) [HBO] Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Canaanite. Used as a liturgical language. Jewish. Extinct.
HULAULÁ (JUDEO-ARAMAIC, LISHANA NOSHAN, LISHANA AXNI, JABALI, KURDIT, GALIGLU, 'ARAMIT, <ARAMIT, HULA HULA) [HUY] 9,000 in Israel (1994 H. Mutzafi); 300 to 400 in Iran; few in USA (1994 H. Mutzafi); 9,500 in all countries. Most over 50, but some in their 20's. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, Aramaic, Eastern, Central, Northeastern. Dialects: SAQIZ, KEREND, SANANDAJ, SULEIMANIYA. Originally from Iranian Kurdistan and adjoining areas of Iraq. Many speakers use Hebrew as second language. The older speakers use Kurdish as second language. Very different and not intelligible with the Christian Aramaic languages or Lishana Deni. 60% to 70% intelligibility with Lishanan and Lishanid Noshan. Hebrew script is used. Jewish. Survey needed.
HUNGARIAN [HNG] 60,000 in Israel (1995 H. Mutzafi); 14,500,000 in all countries. Also in Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Slovenia, Austria, USA, Canada, Australia. Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Ugric, Hungarian. Elderly speakers use Hebrew as second language but prefer Hungarian. Jewish. Bible 1590-1991. NT 1541-1952. Bible portions 1533-1988.
ISRAELI SIGN LANGUAGE [ISL] 5,000 users including some hearing persons (1986 Gallaudet Univ.). Deaf sign language. Employs the Eshkol-Wachmann movement notation system. Not derived from and relatively little influence from other sign languages. No special signs have been introduced from outside by educators. Minor dialect variation. Not all deaf use ISL. The first deaf school was established in Jerusalem in 1934. Interpreters are provided in courts. Some interpretation for college students. Sign language instruction for parents of deaf children. Many sign language classes for hearing people. Some use on TV. There is a committee on national sign language, and an organization for sign language teachers. The sign language used in classrooms and that by deaf adults outside is different. A fingerspelling system was developed in 1976. Dictionary. Grammar. Films, videos. Jewish.
JUDEO-BERBER [JBE] 2,000 elderly speakers (1992 Podolsky). Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Atlas. Monolingual communities may have disappeared before 1930 in Morocco, High Atlas range, Tifnut and other communities. Speakers went to Israel from 1950 to 1960. Speakers also used Judeo-Arabic (J. Chetrit 1985). Use Hebrew script. Jewish. Survey needed.
JUDEO-GEORGIAN [JGE] 40,000 to 50,000 in Israel (1995 H. Mutzafi); 20,000 in Georgia (1995 H. Mutzafi); 60,000 to 70,000 in all countries. Some have gone elsewhere in the former USSR and to other countries. South Caucasian, Georgian. Oriental and Ashkenazic Jews in Georgia live separately. Judeo-Georgian speakers live separately from non-Jewish Georgian speakers. May not be a separate language from Georgian, but a dialect using various Hebrew loan words. Jewish. Survey needed.
JUDEO-TAT (JUDEO-TAT, JUDEO-TATIC, HEBREW TATI, JEWISH TAT, BIK, DZHUHURIC, JUWRI, JUHURI) [TAT] 40,000 in Israel (1994); 7,000 in Russia (1989 census); 24,000 in Azerbaijan (1989 census); 71,000 in all countries. Sderot, Haderah, and Or Akiva, Israel. Some in northern Azerbaijan. None in Iran. They are emigrating from the Caucasus Mts. to Israel at the rate of 2,000 a year. Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Southwestern, Tati. Dialect: DERBEND. Several dialects. Difficult intelligibility with Mussulman Tat. Judeo-Tat is a literary language in Russia; the Cyrillic alphabet is used. Derbend dialect is the basis for the literary language. Literature was produced officially from 1920 to 1940 in Roman alphabet. Recently private literature uses Hebrew script. There may also be a Christian dialect. Speakers of Judeo-Tat are called 'Bik'. They call their language 'Juwri' or 'Juhuri'. They are called 'Gorskiye Yevreyi', or 'Mountain Jews' in the Caucasus. Tradition says that they have lived in the Caucasus since 722 B.C. Different from Takestani of Iran. Agriculturalists: marena grass for dying (traditionally), merchants. Jewish. Bible portions 1980. Work in progress.
LADINO (JUDEO SPANISH, SEFARDI, DZHUDEZMO, JUDEZMO, HAKITIA, HAKETIA, HAKETIYA, SPANYOL) [SPJ] 100,000 or more in Israel (1985); 8,000 in Turkey (1980 estimate); 160,000 in all countries. Most speakers are over 55 years old (1992). Also in Rochester, Atlanta, New York City, USA. Ethnic group members also in Salonica, Greece; Sofia, Bulgaria; Yugoslavia. Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Ibero-Romance, North, Central. Distinct from Ladin in the Rhaeto-Romansch group. Formerly the main language of Sefardic Jewry. There was a bi-weekly newspaper in Roman characters. The Hebrew alphabet does not work well because of the need to differentiate vowels, yet there are texts in Hebrew script. There were 2 daily radio programs on a national radio station; news with some cultural notes. There are no monolinguals. It is not the dominant language for most speakers. The name 'Dzhudezmo' is used by Jewish linguists and Turkish Jews; 'Judeo-Spanish' by Romance philologists; 'Ladino' by laymen, especially in Israel; 'Hakitia' by Moroccan Jews; 'Spanyol' by some others. Jewish. Bible 1829. NT 1829. Bible portions 1547-1873.
LISHANA DENI (JUDEO-ARAMAIC, LISHAN HUDAYE, LISHAN HOZAYE, KURDIT, LASHON TARGUM) [LSD] 10,000 (1994 H. Mutzafi). All are over 45 years old. Jerusalem and vicinity, including Maoz Tsiyon. Originally from northwest Iraqi Kurdistan. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, Aramaic, Eastern, Central, Northeastern. Dialects: ZAKHO, AMADIYA, NERWA, DOHUK, ATRUSH, BET-TANURE, KARA. Resembles Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, but there are differences in morphology and other features. Inherent intelligibility is high between them. Low intelligibility with Ashirat dialects of Assyrian New-Aramaic; not intelligible with other Neo-Aramaic varieties. Hebrew script is used. Jewish. Bible portions. Survey needed.
LISHANÁN (JUDEO-ARAMAIC, NASH DIDÁN, LISHANA DIDÁN, KURDIT AZERBAIJANIT, LISHANA SHEL IMRANI, PERSIAN AZERBAIJAN JEWISH-ARAMAIC, GALIGALU, LAKHLÓKHI, LISHANIT TARGUM) [TRG] 4,500 in Israel (1994 H. Mutzafi); 500 in Georgia (1994 Mutzafi); 300 in Azerbaijan (1994 Mutzafi); none to 50 in Kazakhstan (1994 Mutzafi); 5,300 in all countries. Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv area mainly. Originally Iranian Azerbaijan and southeast Turkey. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, Aramaic, Eastern, Central, Northeastern. Many loanwords from Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, and several European languages. Speakers are bilingual in Hebrew, and some are multilingual. Most speakers are older than 50, few below 40. Many are married to nonspeakers. Children are mother tongue Hebrew speakers who understand Lishanán. 60% to 70% intelligibility with Hulaulá and Lishanid Noshan, but not with other Aramaic languages. Northern dialects are like Urmi, southern ones like Naghada, Mahabad. Hebrew script is used. Sometimes erroneously called 'Judeo-Kurdish' or 'Azerbaijani Kurdish'. Jewish. Survey needed.
LISHANID NOSHAN (JUDEO-ARAMAIC, ARBILI NEO-ARAMAIC, LISHANA DIDÁN, HULANI, KURDIT, GALIGALU, JBELI, 'ARAMIT, <ARAMIT) [AIJ] 2,000 to 2,500 (1994 H. Mutzafi). All are over 40. Originally eastern and southern Iraqi Kurdistan. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, Aramaic, Eastern, Central, Northeastern. Dialects: ARBIL, BATAS, DOBE, RWANDUZ. 60% to 70% inherent intelligibility with Lishanan and Hulaulá. Very different and not inherently intelligible with the Christian Aramaic languages and Lishana Deni. Hebrew script is used. Jewish. Survey needed.
POLISH (POLSKY) [PQL] 100,000 speakers out of 272,000 people of Polish origin (1992 H. Mutzafi); 44,000,000 in all countries (1995 WA). Also in Poland, USA, Canada, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Australia, Romania. Indo-European, Slavic, West, Lechtic. All speakers use Hebrew as second language but prefer Polish. Many other people of Polish origin speak Yiddish or Hebrew as first or second language. Jewish. Bible 1561-1965. NT 1553-1991. Bible portions 1522-1984.
ROMANIAN [RUM] 250,000 in Israel (1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel); 26,000,000 in all countries (1995 WA). Also in Romania, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistank Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, USA, Canada, Australia. Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Eastern, North. Elderly speakers use Hebrew as second language but prefer Romanian. Jewish. Bible 1688-1989. NT 1648-1993. Bible portions 1561-1993.
RUSSIAN (RUSSKI) [RUS] 450,000 to 500,000 in Israel (1994 H. Mutzafi); 160,000,000 in all countries. Also in Russia and other former USSR republics, eastern Europe, China, Mongolia, USA. Indo-European, Slavic, East. Most speakers use Hebrew as second language but prefer Russian. Jewish. Bible 1860-1993. NT 1821-1946. Bible portions 1815-1993.
TIGRINYA [TGN] 10,000 in Israel (1994 H. Mutzafi); 4,150,000 in Ethiopia (1993); 1,900,000 in Eritrea (1993); 6,060,000 in all countries. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, South, Ethiopian, North. Speakers use Amharic or Hebrew as second language. Called "Falashas", which they consider to be pejorative. They call themselves 'Beta Israel'. Their liturgy is written in Geez. Jewish. Bible 1956. NT 1909-1991. Bible portions 1866.
YEVANIC (JUDEO-GREEK, YEVANITIKA) [YEJ] 35 possibly in Israel; 15 in USA (1971 David Gold). There were few semi-speakers left in 1987, and may be none now. There may be a handful of elderly speakers still in Turkey. Indo-European, Greek, Attic. Jews gave it up in Rome by 4th century, Spain by 6-7th centuries, Crimea by 8th century. After 1000 A.D. almost entirely in Greece, some in the Balkans (Wexler 1985). Jewish. Nearly extinct.
YIDDISH (JUDEO-GERMAN) [YDD] 215,000 in Israel, 5% of the population (1986); 1,250,000 in USA (1991 J.A. Fishman 1991:194); 49,890 in Canada (1971 census); 3,000,000 or more in all countries (J.A. Fishman 1991:194). Jews in the former USSR who may speak Yiddish: 231,000 in Belarus; 8,000 in Estonia; 40,000 in Latvia; some in Lithuania and Moldova; 701,000 in Russia; 634,000 in Ukraine. Also in Germany, Belgium, Poland, Romania, Latin America, Australia, South Africa, possibly Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine. Now almost dead in Europe (1977 Adler), but there is a stable community of speakers in Antwerp, Belgium (1995). Indo-European, Germanic, West, Continental, High. Dialects: WESTERN YIDDISH, EASTERN YIDDISH. Has many loans from Hebrew and local languages where spoken. Usually written in Hebrew character. Literary language usually based on Eastern dialect. Eastern Yiddish originated in Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine; Western Yiddish in Germany. The vast majority speak Eastern Yiddish. It branched off medieval High German (mainly Rhenish dialects) and received Modern German influences during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Typology: SVO. Jewish. Bible 1821-1936. NT 1821-1950. Bible portions 1544-1939.
YIDDISH SIGN LANGUAGE [YDS] Deaf sign language. Apparently distinct from Israeli Sign Language. Jewish. Survey needed.
Part of the Ethnologue, 13th Edition, Barbara F. Grimes, Editor.
Copyright © 1996, Summer Institute of Linguistics, Inc. All rights reserved.
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