Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Jewish languages
(804 words)

1. Concept

The field of Jewish languages includes all those languages spoken as a mother tongue by people who feel themselves as belonging to the Jewish people ( Judaism) either religiously, ethnically, or culturally. These languages include the two traditional languages of Judaism, Hebrew, “the language of God,” and ancient Aramaic [3. 86]. Hebrew, the earliest record of which is in the Hebrew Bible, was not widely used for verbal communication, but rather as a language of…

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Riemer, Nathanael, “Jewish languages”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 30 September 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_021725>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20190124



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