Chapter One. The Jewish Linguistic Spectrum

This chapter investigates the spectrum of linguistic usage in historical and sociolinguistic terms. First, it examines how sociolinguistics and history have inquired into when, how, and why Jews have written and spoken differently from their neighbors. Next, the chapter tracks the emergence and development of Jewish languages. It then talks about instances where Christians and Muslims have adopted linguistic usages, leading to a proposal for some modifications in the accepted terminology. The chapter maps the prototype of a language and lists the various languages mentioned in the literature. It provides definitions for several terms that include: Jewish-defined language, majority language, (language) variety, linguistic intelligibility, religiolect, and castelect. Three religiolects hold a special place in culture, because they have been used both over a wide geographical area and for a long period of time: Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Spanish, and Yiddish.Keywords: Christians; languages; linguistic spectrum; religiolects; Judeo-Arabic; Muslims; sociolinguistics; Yiddish