Historical Judeo-Spanishspeech communities in the Mediterranean. Ringed circles represent modern speech communities. Haketia is spoken on the southwest Mediterranean.
The name "Haketia" derived from the Arabicحَكَىḥakā, "tell",[3] and is therefore pronounced with [ħ], reflecting the Arabicحḥāʾ. In some places it is written "Jaquetía" with the same pronunciation.
The well-known form of Judaeo-Spanish spoken by Jews living in the Balkans, Greece, Turkey and Jerusalem isLadino Oriental (easternLadino). Haketia may be described by contrast asLadino Occidental. The language is a variety ofSpanish that borrows heavily fromJudeo-Moroccan Arabic. It evidently also contains a number of words of Hebrew origin and was originally written usingHebrew letters. There is some cultural resemblance between the two Judaeo-Spanish dialect communities, including a rich shared stock ofromanzas (ballads) from medieval Spain, though both words and music often differ in detail (as indeed they do between one Oriental-Sephardic community and another).
The Haketia lexicon is made up mostly of Spanish words but 34.5% of words are from Arabic and 18.5% are from Hebrew. It contains manycalques of Hebrew phrases, such ashiĵas de Israel, a literal translation of the Hebrew phraseבנות ישראל, meaning "daughters of Israel".[4]
Other words have shifted in meaning. For example,שכן[ʃaˈχen], "neighbor", becamesajén, which has taken on the meaning "Christian/Spanish".[4]
Spanish prefixes and suffixes are combined with Hebrew base words.[4]
Characteristics of Haketia's phonology include:[4]
The pharyngeal fricativesḥ /ħ/ andˁ /ʕ/ in words with Arabic or Hebrew roots. For example:ya ḥasrá /ja ħasˈɾa/ ('those were the days!', from Moroccan Arabic يا حسرة /jaː ħasˈɾa/),yˁatik /jʕaˈtik/ ('will give you', from Moroccan Arabic يعاطيك /jʕaːˈtˤiːk/),ḥanukía /ħanuˈki.a/ ('Hanukkiah', from Hebrew חֲנֻכִּיָּה /ħănukkijˈjaː/);Maˁarab /maʕaˈɾab/ ('Morocco', from Hebrew מַעֲרָב 'west' /maʕăˈɾaːv/).
The glottal fricative /h/ (frequently voiced [ɦ]) in Hebrew words, like inkehiŀlá /kehilˈla/ ('community', from Hebrew קְהִלָּה /qəhilˈlaː), or Arabic words, like inharaĵ /haˈɾaʒ/ ('uproar', from Moroccan Arabic هرج). An etymological <h> written but no longer pronounced in modern Spanish may be retained in Haketia:hazer /haˈzeɾ/ ('to do'. cf. Modern Spanishhacer /aˈθeɾ/). Word-medial sequences of vowels in hiatus in words of Spanish origin are sometimes interrupted by the insertion of /h/:dihablo /diˈhablo/ ('devil', cf. Spanishdiablo /ˈdjablo/) or /ʔ/:ma'uyar /maʔuˈjaɾ/ ('to meow', cf. Spanishmaullar /mauˈʎaɾ/). The glottal stop is also sometimes added word-initially to reinforce exclamations or words of encouragement of Spanish origin:'ay! /ʔaj/ ('alas!', cf. Spanishay /aj/),'anda! /ˈʔanda/ ('go on!', cf. Spanishanda /ˈanda/),'arsa /ˈʔaɾsa/ ('lift it!', cf. Spanishalza /ˈalθa/). On the other hand /ʔ/ is lost in borrowings from Hebrew: gueuŀlá /ɡeulˈla/ ('redemption [of the Jewish people]', from Hebrew גְּאֻלָּה /gəʔulˈlaː/).[5]
The profusion of gemination, especially in loanwords from Arabic or Hebrew, even when absent in the original form, as inberajjá /beɾaxˈxa/ ('blessing', from Hebrew בְּרָכָה /bəɾaːˈxaː/) andazzul /azˈzul/ ('blue', cf. Spanishazul /aˈθul/);[5] also, by consonantal assimilation, at word boundaries, like insalimos de Pésaḥ /saˈlimos de ˈpesaħ/ →salímod-de Pésaḥ [saˈlimodde ˈpesaħ] ('at the end of Passover', lit. 'we exited Passover').
Words from Moroccan Arabic maintain their original form even when it contradicts the phonotactic rules of Spanish:ghzal /ɣzal/ ('handsome young person', from Moroccan Arabic غزال /ɣzaːl/ 'gazelle, beautiful'),kbir /kbiɾ/ ('notable, chief', from Moroccan Arabic كبير /kbiːɾ/ 'big, great'),ghrib /ɣɾib/ ('foreigner', from Moroccan Arabic غريب /ɣɾiːb/),ḥram /ħɾam/ ('forbidden', from Moroccan Arabic حرام /ħɾaːm/).[5]
The phonemes/b/,/d/, and/ɡ/ are pronounced as voicedstops only after a pause, after anasal consonant, when they are geminated or—in the case of/d/—after alateral consonant; in all other contexts, they are realized asfricatives (namely[β,ð,ɣ]) orapproximants. The velar fricativegh /ɣ/ also appears as a phoneme in words from Arabic:guer /geɾ/ ('proselyte', from Hebrew גֵּר /geːɾ/) vs.gher /ɣeɾ/ ('only', from Moroccan Arabic غير /ɣiːɾ/).[5]
ThePharyngealized consonants of Moroccan Arabic and Hebrew (/sˤ/, /dˤ/, /tˤ/) are borrowed as regular consonants (/s/, /d/, /t/): saddik /sadˈdik/ ('saint', from Hebrew צַדִּיק /sˤadˈdiːq/),qaddear /qaddeˈaɾ/ ('to finish, to terminate', from Moroccan Arabic قضى /qdˤa/), terefá /teɾeˈfa/ ('treif', from Hebrew טְרֵפָה /tˤəɾeːˈfaː/).[5]
/q/ and /w/ are retained in borrowings from Arabic, but change to /k/ and /v/ in borrowings from Hebrew: qaddear /qaddeˈaɾ/ vs. kehiŀlá /kehilˈla/, waḥsh /waħʃ/ ('nostalgia, longing, missing', from Moroccan Arabic وحش) vs. vadday /vadˈdaj/ ('for sure, of course', from Hebrew וַדַּאי /wadˈdaj/).[5]
Like other dialects of Judeo-Spanish, Haketia hasSeseo andYeísmo:corassón /koɾasˈson/ ('heart', cf. Spanishcorazón /koɾaˈθon/),buya /ˈbuja/ ('rowdiness, racket, ruckus', cf. Spanishbulla /ˈbuʎa/).
Texts written in Hebrew letters show occurrences of a trilled /r/, as in אוררורוסו /oroˈɾoso/ ('dreadful', cf. Spanishhorroroso). In this respect Spanish influence is widespread in Haketia speech, as evidenced inMarruecos /maˈrwekos/ ('Morocco'). Older texts show occurrences of a simple alveolar tap /ɾ/: טיירה /ˈtjeɾa/ ('earth, ground, land', cf. Spanishtierra /ˈtjera/).
The voiced sibilant /z/, not only in Hebrew or Arabic words but also in the realization of an original /s/ as a result of assimilation between vowels:laz alegríaz /laz aleˈgɾi.az/ ('the joys', cf. Modern Spanishlas alegrías /las aleˈgɾi.as/); this /z/ can evolve in a second phase from sibilant to an interdental fricative [ð]:mozotros /moˈzotɾos/ → [moˈðotɾos] ('we').
Under the influence of Moroccan Arabic phonology, the Old Spanish [ʒ] and [dʒ] allophones of the /dʒ/ phoneme merged in Haketia as /ʒ/:ĵudió /ʒuˈdjo/ ('Jew', cf. Eastern Ladinodjudyó /dʒuˈdjo/ ordjidyó /dʒiˈdjo/).[5]
Like other dialects of Judeo-Spanish, Haketia has retained the postalveolar sibilants of Old Spanish, the voicedĵ /ʒ/ as inhiĵas /ˈiʒas/ ('daughters', cf. modern Spanishhijas /ˈixas/) andmuĵer /muˈʒeɾ/ ('wife, woman', cf. modern Spanishmujer /muˈxeɾ/) and the unvoicedsh /ʃ/ as inshabón /ʃaˈbon/ ('soap', cf. modern Spanishjabón /xaˈbon/) andenshawar /enʃaˈwaɾ/ ('to rinse', cf. modern Spanishenjuagar /enxwaˈgaɾ/); but in spoken Haketia, influenced by modern Spanish <j>, most of these cases are sometimes pronounced as the voiceless velar fricative [x]. /ʃ/ is also a phoneme in Haketia in words of Arabic or Hebrew origin; often it is pronounced [s], principally by women:shabbat shalom /ʃabˈbat ʃaˈlom/ →sabbat salom [sabˈbat saˈlom] ('Shabbat shalom', from Hebrew שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם /ʃabˈbaːθ ʃaːˈloːm/);kiddush /kidˈduʃ/ →kiddús [kidˈdus] ('Kiddush' from Hebrew קִדּוּשׁ /qidˈduːʃ/), etc.; next to a voiced consonant, this [s] can become [z]:ḥeshván /ħeʃˈvan/ → ḥezván [ħezˈvan] ('Cheshvan', from Hebrew חֶשְׁוָן /ħeʃˈwaːn/). On the other hand [ʃ] can also be the realization of an /s/ before a /k/ as inmoshca [ˈmoʃka] ('fly', cf. Spanishmosca /ˈmoska/), andbushcar [buʃˈkaɾ] ('to look at', cf. Spanishbuscar /busˈkaɾ/).
Bilabial consonants become velars before /w/:güeno /ˈgweno/ ~ueno /ˈweno/ ('good', cf. Spanishbueno /ˈbweno/),cuerta /ˈkweɾta/ ('door, gate', cf. Spanishpuerta /ˈpweɾta/).
Labialization of velar consonants when after /u(n)/ and before /a/:ḥanukká /ħanukˈka/ →ḥanukkwá [ħanukˈkwa] ('Hanukkah', from Hebrew חֲנֻכָּה /ħănukˈkaː/),ukuán /uˈkwan/ ('only, nothing more', from Moroccan Arabic وكان /wkaːn/),nuncua /ˈnunkwa/ ('never', cf. Spanishnunca /ˈnunka/),ĵuguada /ʒuˈɡwada/ ('play, move, turn', cf. Spanishjugada /xuˈɡada/).
Coalescence of the cluster /nj/ into the palatal nasal /ɲ/:quiñentos /kiˈɲentos/ ('five hundred', cf. Spanishquinientos /kiˈnjentos/).
Reduction of /j/ after a stressed /i/:maravía /maɾaˈbi.a/ ('wonder', cf. Spanishmaravilla /maɾaˈbiʎa/).
In some communities, particularly in Tétouan, consonant elision:poned /poˈned/ →poné [poˈne] ('put [2PL.IMP]'),comites /koˈmites/ →comite [koˈmite] ('you ate').
Native words form the plural by suffixing the morpheme |-s| (which corresponds to /-s/ in words ending with unstressed vowels and /-es/ otherwise). Masculine nouns loaned from Hebrew typically form the plural by suffixing the morpheme |-ˈim|, though some use |-ˈot| instead. For instance, the plural of masculinesefer 'book' issafarim, whereas the plural of masculinemazón 'victual' ismezonot. Feminine nouns loaned from Hebrew usually form the plural with |-ˈot|, though some use |-ˈim| instead.
The dual number only appears in nouns loaned from Hebrew in certain verses, such as "Mosé subió a losshamaim" ("Moses rose to thetwo heavens"). These nouns form the dual number by suffixing the morpheme |-ˈaim|.
Haketia, unlike other varieties of Judaeo-Spanish, did not develop a literary tradition, so the language remained as a colloquial form of communication and was not used as a vehicle for formal education since inSpanish Morocco,Spanish was used, along withFrench, at theAlliance Israélite Universelle schools. Due to the influence of the Spanish and French conquests and the large number of Jews from northern Morocco who emigrated toVenezuela, Spain and laterArgentina, the language was levelled with modern Spanish, which has contributed greatly to its diminution. Nevertheless, there has been a slow renaissance of the language, helped bymusicians such as Vanessa Paloma[6] with a variety of performances and the recordings of her sound archive KHOYA[7] as well as others such asDoris Benmaman [lad],Mor Karbasi andKol Oud Tof Trio [lad], among others.José Benoliel andAlegría Bendayán de Bendelac have both compiled Spanish-Haketía[8] dictionaries, published in 1977 and 1995, respectively. TheCaracas Center of Sephardic Studies [lad] regularly publishes articles in Haketia in its magazineMaguen-Escudo.[9] The language is also spoken in some communities in the Amazon areas of Brazil.[10]
Joseph Benoliel collected oral tradition, grammar, and a lexicon.Alegria Bendelac conducted fieldwork.[11]Nina Pinto-Abecasis collected folklore.[12] Vanessa Paloma Elbaz collected many songs from the oral tradition and published extensively on the community and its music in the early twenty first century.[13]
Decline began as early as 1860 during the Spanish occupation of Tetuan and accelerated as an increasing share of Haketia speakers adopted Modern Spanish. Today Haketia is a declining language with only 1,000 speakers remaining, down from 30,000 in 1900.[4]
^Moreno, Aviad (14 October 2016)."Maguén-Escudo".Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World.Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved26 August 2020.
^Cunha, Álvaro (2012).Hakitia: o judeu-árabe na Amazônia. São Paulo: Sapientia.
^"Haketia".Encyclopedia.com.Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved30 March 2023.
