ALA/LC
Ladino Romanization Table
|
Ladino |
Roman |
Examples |
|
א1 |
(-)
a- |
אמאר/amar/ ”love” |
|
’ |
פאה /pe’ah/ “side curl” | |
|
איי |
ay |
טראמב׳איי /ṭramvay/ “railroad” |
|
ב,
בּ |
b |
בוּשקאר
/bushḳar/
“look for” |
|
בֿ,
ב׳ |
v |
אחארב׳אר /aḥarvar/ “beat” |
|
ג,
גּ |
g |
סאנגּרי
/sangre/ “blood” |
|
גֿ,
ג׳ |
j |
אג׳וּסטאר
/ajusṭar/ “add” |
|
ch |
גׄיקיס/chiḳes/
“youth” | |
|
ד,
דּ |
d |
דין /din/ “religious law” |
|
דֿ
,ד׳ |
dh |
סוּד׳ור /sudhor/
“sweat” |
|
ה4 |
-ah |
סאלה /salah/ “room” |
|
ו4 |
ṿ |
ושט /ṿesheṭ/ “gullet” |
|
o |
דוס /dos/
“two” | |
|
w |
אגּואה/agwah/
“water” | |
|
וּ |
u |
קארפוּס /ḳarpus/
“watermelon” |
|
ואי2 |
we |
מואיס /mwes/ “nut” |
|
ואִי |
wi |
סואִיב׳אר /swivar/
“follow” |
|
וּיי |
uy |
מוּיי /muy/ “much” |
|
וֹיי |
oy |
בוֹיי/boy/ “height, size” |
|
ז |
z |
קאזאל /ḳazal/ “village” |
|
זֿ,
ז׳ |
zh |
מוּז׳יר /muzher/ “woman, wife” |
|
ח |
ḥ |
חאביר /ḥaber/ “news” |
|
ט |
ṭ |
טאד׳רי /ṭadhre/ “late” |
|
י |
y |
יוסף /Yosef/ “Joseph” |
|
e |
ביל /bel/ “waist” | |
|
יִ |
i |
פוּריִמליק /purimliḳ/ “Purim present” |
|
יי3 |
y |
ייו /yo/ “I” |
|
ye |
ייב׳אר /yevar/
“carry” דייס /dyes/
“ten” | |
|
יִי |
yi |
סיגּיִיר /segyir/
“follow” |
|
ֵיי |
ey |
רֵיי /rey/ “king” |
|
כּ. ךּ |
k |
כּב׳וד /kavod/
“honor” |
|
כ,
ך |
kh |
ברכה /berakhah/
“blessing” מלך /melekh/ “king” |
|
ל |
l |
לאמביר /lamber/ “lick” |
|
מ,
ם |
m |
מייל /myel/ “honey” חאמאם /ḥamam/
“bath
house” |
|
נ,
ן |
n |
נה! /nah!/ “here! Behold!” לאד׳רון /ladhron/ “thief” |
|
ס |
s |
סוּטלאגׄ
/suṭlach/ “rice pudding” |
|
ע4 |
‘ |
מערה /me‘arah/ “cave” |
|
פּ, פ |
p |
פּאראס /paras/ “money” קאסאפּ /ḳasap/
“butcher” |
|
פ,
ף פ׳, ף׳ פֿ,
ףֿ |
f |
פ׳ין /fin/
“end” חריף׳ /ḥarif/ “acute” |
|
צ,
4ץ4 |
ts |
צדקה /tsedaḳah/ “charity” |
|
ק |
ḳ |
קאב׳זאר /ḳavzar/ “cause” |
|
ר |
r |
ראקי /raḳi/ “arak” |
|
ש |
sh |
שאב׳ון /shavon/ “soap” |
|
שׂ |
ś |
בשוֹרה / beśorah/ “good news” |
|
תּ |
t |
תּורה /Torah/
“Torah” |
|
Ligature | ||
|
ﭏ |
al |
בﭏטה /balṭah/
“ax” |
1.
א is not represented in romanization when it precedes,ויי ,ו or י at the beginning of a word or when it
appears between any combination of the vowels /e/ or /i/ (both spelled י), /o/ or /u/ (both
spelled ו) when they are adjacent.
In words of Hebrew or Aramaic derivation, it is represented by
/’/.
2. At the beginning of a word, ואי is always
preceded by ג-, as in גואירטה /gwerṭah/ “garden”.
3. יי may sometimes be spelled ליי when it represents
/y/ and /ye/, as in לייו /yo/ “I”.
4. Words of Hebrew-Aramaic origin usually
retain their traditional spellings in Ladino. Such words are romanized according to
the ALA/LC Hebrew romanization table.
Initial ו (not וו), י (not יי), non-final ,ה
כ (kh),
,צ
,ע ש (ś), andת are usually found only in words of
Hebrew-Aramaic derivation; in rare instances they may also appear in words
borrowed from Arabic or Turkish. In some traditions, ש may appear where
other traditions use the letter ס.
גׄ /ch/ as in
“chop”
ש
/sh/ as “shop
ד׳ /dh/ as in
“lather”
כ
/kh/ as in German “ach”
ג׳ /j/ as in
“gentle” ז׳/zh/ as in “azure”
The pairs ב /v/ and ו /ṿ/, ח /ḥ/ and כ /kh/, ס /s/ and שׂ /ś/, כּ /k/ andק /ḳ/ are distinguished in the script but
not in pronunciation.
No standard
orthography for Ladino/Judezmo has even been formally adopted. Words of Hebrew or Aramaic derivation
usually maintain their traditional spellings. However, Ladino/Judezmo words of
non-Semitic derivation do use a number of consonants no longer found in
Castilian Spanish. These
diacritics, such as rafé, geresh or a superscript dot, may be found with varying
consistencies in publications.
At present, no single dictionary
constitutes an authoritative or normative source for the romanization of
Ladino/Judezmo. For words of Spanish derivation, refer to the 4200+ word
Judezmo/Hebrew glossary at the end of David Bunis's Leshon G’udezmo (Jerusalem,
1999), which employs a vocalization system devised by the author employing
ḥiriḳ, tsere, ḥolam and shuruḳ as vowel marks. Ladino/Judezmo words of
Hebrew or Aramaic origin written in Hebrew characters appear in written texts
either in traditional etymological spellings, or in phonetic or partially
phonetic spellings. These words should be romanized according to the
Library of Congress Hebrew romanization table. In problematic cases,
where, for example, it is impossible to differentiate between "e" and "i", or
"o" and "u," or when words of non-Spanish, non-Hebraic origin are in question,
refer to such dictionaries as those by Joseph Nehama (Dictionnaire du
judéo-espagnol), Elli Kohen (Ladino-English, English-Ladino: Concise
Encyclopedic Dictionary (Judeo-Spanish)), and Pascual Pascual Recuero
(Diccionario básico ladino-español).
References:
1. Bunis, David
M. [Leshon G’udezmo]. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, The
Hebrew University, c1999: p. 465-551; [transcription system for “yod”, “double
yod”, p. 56-57].
2. Bunis, David
M. A Lexicon of the Hebrew and Aramaic
Elements in Modern Judezmo. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, The Hebrew University;
Misgav Yerushalayim, Institute for Research on the Sephardi and Oriental Jewish
Heritage, 1993.
3. Nehama,
Joseph. Dictionnaire du judéo-espagnol. Madrid: Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Cient´ificas, Instituto “Benito Arias Montano”,
1977.
4. Kohen, Elli. Ladino-English, English-Ladino: Concise
Encyclopedic Dictionary (Judeo-Spanish). New York: Hippocrene, 2000.
5. Pascual Recuero, Pascual. Ortografía del Ladino: soluciones y
evolución. Granada: Universidad de Granada, Departamento de Estudios
Semíticos,
1988.
6. Pascual Recuero, Pascual. Diccionario básico
ladino-español. Barcelona:
Ameller, 1977.