Paul Wexler Livres

The present volume brings together 34 articles that were published between 1964 and 2003 on Judaized forms of Arabic, Chinese, German, Greek, Persian, Portuguese, Slavic (including Modern Hebrew and Yiddish, two Slavic languages „relexified“ to Hebrew and German, respectively), Spanish and Semitic Hebrew (including Ladino – the Ibero-Romance relexification of Biblical Hebrew) and Karaite. The motivations for reissuing these articles are the convenience of having thematically similar topics appear together in the same venue and the need to update the interpretations, many of which have radically changed over the years. As explained in a lengthy new preface and in notes added to the articles themselves, the impetus to create strikingly unique Jewish ethnolects comes not so much from the creativity of the Jews but rather from non- Jewish converts to Judaism, in search (often via relexification) of a unique linguistic analogue to their new ethnoreligious identity. The volume should be of interest to students of relexification, of the Judaization of non-Jewish languages, and of these specific languages.

The book presents a compelling theory on the origins of Sephardic Jews, arguing that they primarily descend from Berber and Arab populations. Utilizing a blend of linguistic, ethnographic, and historical evidence, the author delves into the cultural and ancestral ties that shape this identity, offering a fresh perspective on the Jewish diaspora. Through meticulous research, the work challenges conventional narratives and highlights the complex interactions between these communities throughout history.

The book claims that Yiddish was created when Judaized Sorbs first relexified their language to High German between the 9th-12th centuries; by the 15th century, the descendants of the Judaized Khazars also relexified their Kiev-Polessian (northern Ukrainian and southern Belarusian) speech to Yiddish and German, Yiddish thus uses a mixed West-East Slavic grammar and suggests that converted Khazars were a major component in the Ashkenazic ethnogenesis.

Focusing on the often-overlooked Judeo-Romance languages, this book aims to enhance understanding of their significance within Romance linguistics. By providing a dedicated bibliographic treatment, it seeks to raise awareness and interest in Judeo-Romance topics, which have been largely absent from existing linguistic bibliographies. The work aspires to engage both students of Romance linguistics and those interested in comparative Jewish linguistics, promoting a broader appreciation of these unique languages.

Title on added t.p.: Shtudies in Yidisher shprakhforshung.

Hebrew is regarded as a former living language which ceased to be a native language 1800 years ago, only to be given a spoken function anew in the late 19th century. Since the re-acquisition of a lost colloquial function has never been documented, Modern Hebrew has become an object of fascination among linguists and laymen alike. In this book the author claims - Modern Hebrew is not a direct continuation of monolingual Semitic Hebrew - Modern Hebrew was created when Yiddish speaker re-lexified their language to Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew - Yiddish is a Slavic language, derived from Sorbian and thus, Modern Hebrew is a Slavic Language These claims raise a number of interesting questions: why do most speakers believe that Modern Hebrew is a Semitic language, what are the contributions of Modern Hebrew to the typology of diglossia, historical and genetic linguistics, universal grammar, 2nd language acquisition and political science?