The Judaeo-Spanish language preserved by Sephardic Jews after the 1492 expulsion from Spain — a 15th-century Iberian Romance variety with Hebrew, Turkish, and Greek admixture.
Where it’s spoken
Ladino (Judezmo, Djudeo-Espanyol) crystallised among the Sephardic Jewish communities expelled from Spain and Portugal in 1492 and 1497. The diaspora settled across the Ottoman Empire — Salonika, Constantinople, Sarajevo, Sofia — and preserved late-medieval Castilian as their everyday language. The Holocaust devastated the largest Ladino-speaking communities; perhaps 100,000 speakers remain today, mostly elderly, in Israel, Turkey, and the Balkans.
What it sounds like
Phonologically conservative — it preserves features of 15th-century Spanish that modern Castilian has lost, like the distinction between /b/ and /v/ and the older sibilant series. Heavily loaned from Turkish, Greek, French, Hebrew, and (later) Italian.
How it’s written
Traditionally written in the Hebrew alphabet using either a square script for printing or a cursive form (Rashi or Solitreo) for handwriting. The Latin alphabet is now also common, especially in Israel and Turkey.
Find more languages by letter
Ladino starts with L and ends with O. Browse other languages along the same letter.
Languages that contain a letter from "Ladino":