Judeo-Iranian languages (Judeo-Persian, Judeo-Tat…)

The Judeo-Iranian languages encompass all Iranian vernaculars used by Jewish communities in Iran, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, generally written in Hebrew characters. Judeo-Persian, attested by documents from the early Middle Ages, constitutes one of the oldest documented forms and gave rise to a literature of biblical translations and poetic works. Judeo-Tat (or Juhuri) was spoken by the Mountain Jews of the eastern Caucasus, while other dialects existed among the Jews of Bukhara and various Iranian cities. These languages blend an Iranian substratum with a Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon linked to religious life. Long neglected, they constitute an important part of the Jewish linguistic heritage, today endangered by emigration and assimilation.

Sources & resources

• Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World — Brill
• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan