Map of Judeo-Shirazi

Repertoire of Distinctive Jewish Linguistic Features

Words that refer to traditions and religious concepts are typically in Hebrew or Aramaic. For example, the Jidi phrase manzal tev, meaning 'good luck', comes from the Hebrew phrase Mazal Tov. The Jewish covenant of circumcision is referred to as Brit Milah in both Jidi and Hebrew. In addition, terms of phatic communication such as shabbat shalem 'peaceful Sabbath' were also derived from Hebrew. These are considered loanwords because although they have Hebrew origins, they are integrated morphologically and phonologically into Jidi, and Jidi speakers would consider them a part of their language. A Hebrew loanword is also used to refer to non-Jews, such as goyim meaning 'nations.' However, Hebrew and Aramaic words are rather sparse in Judeo-Shirazi in contrast to Yiddish and Ladino.

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According to Habib Borijan, “Judeo-Shirazi is [also] rooted in the old dialect of Shiraz and its environs'' (Borjian 134). From this, Judeo-Shirazi will see influences from the ancient languages of Persia. This is demonstrated by its archaic features. Habib Borjian highlights this idea that "Judeo-Shirazi morphosyntax employs a kind of split ergativity— which is lost in Persian—in the past tenses of transitive verbs” (132). Judeo-Shirazi is archaic, as non-Jews adjusted to a more standard Persian. At the same time, there are many influences from Persian, based on recent language contact.

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Sociolinguistic variation

With regards to sociolinguistic variation, there has not been enough research to determine what inter-speaker and intra-speaker variation exists in Judeo-Shirazi. However, based on patterns in other Jewish communities, we can assume that there were some differences in Hebrew loanword use, with men and more learned men using more than others. Judeo-Shirazi speakers did speak differently from Jews and non-Jews, sometimes using a secret language with many Hebrew and Aramaic words called Loterai (Endangered Language Alliance 1).

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Contemporary status

Judeo-Shirazi has been decreasing in vitality, as most of the speakers are elderly and did not pass it onto their children and grandchildren (Endangered Language Alliance 1). Judoe-Shirazi speakers live in Shiraz, Israel, New York, and California. In addition, “Language minorities in Iran are losing ground to dominant and more widely recognized Persian” (Gholami 1). As the majority language, Persian is integrated into every part of Iranian life, leaving very little space for minority languages like Judeo-Shirazi to thrive. Today, most speakers of Jidi rarely use it as a vernacular; instead, they use languages like English and Persian and incorporate Jidi loanwords.

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There is very little post-vernacular use of Judeo-Shirazi because most descendants of this language have not embraced it as part of their heritage. Like in other Iranian Jewish communities, they have embraced Persian as their community’s special language. There are a few songs and poems in Judeo-Shirazi, but they are hard to locate online. In comparison to other Jewish languages such as Yiddish and Ladino which have books, movies, songs, and board games, Judeo-Shirazi has not spread past its native speakers to non-native speakers.

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Introduction to Elie (our interviewer):

Elie Alyeshermi was born and raised in Shiraz, Iran. His original name was “Mansoor,” which is an Arabic-origin name meaning “he who is victorious.” His father named him “Mansoor,” a non-traditional Jewish name, in order to prevent Muslim kids from bullying him for being Jewish, but he was still bullied. Additionally, his last name, “Alyeshermi,” means “God will protect me” in Hebrew. In 2006, when the head of Al-Qaeda was called “Mansoor,” he decided to change his name to “Elie,” which contains the first three letters of his last name, because it is more ethnically appropriate. From ages 14 to 18, Elie moved to America and decided he would never live in Iran again, and he has not been back since 1961.

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Judeo-Shirazi/Jidi was his first language, and he learned Persian later on in life. He worked very hard to preserve Jidi even though people in his family thought it would be bad manners to speak it because it was not seen as a language in favor. However, Elie knew they were wrong and continued to speak it. When he returned from America at age 18, he went to his uncle's house and spoke Jidi to show them that there is nothing to be ashamed of. Elie is now fluent in Persian, Hebrew, and English, and knows Russian pretty well through his linguistic research. According to Elie, his Judeo-Shirazi is slightly rusty because he does not speak it frequently, but he can understand it. He also explained how it can be very easy to throw Persian into it, but tries to avoid doing that because he wants to keep Judeo-Shirazi as pure as possible. Finally, when asked if he passed the language onto his children, he explained that he chose to teach his children Hebrew instead because it would play a bigger role in their lives, and it has.