Judezmo : An introduction to the language of the Sephardic Jews of the Ottoman Empire

by David M. Bunis

575 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 1999

About the author

David M. Bunis is a leading scholar in Judezmo (Ladino) studies and a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he heads the Judezmo program in the Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies. He earned his doctorate in linguistics at Columbia University with a dissertation on the Hebrew-Aramaic elements of Modern Judezmo. Since joining the Hebrew University faculty in 1980, Bunis has taught and supervised research on the Judezmo language and literature and has contributed extensively to the field through international conferences, academic collaborations, and editorial work.
Bunis is co-editor of Massorot, a Hebrew-language journal on Jewish linguistic traditions, and editor of Languages and Literatures of Sephardic and Oriental Jews. He has published widely, with key titles including A Lexicon of the Hebrew and Aramaic Elements in Modern Judezmo, Judezmo: An Introduction to the Language of the Ottoman Sephardim, and Voices from Jewish Salonika. He serves as an advisor to Israel’s Autoridad Nasionala del Ladino and sits on the Akademia Nasionala del Ladino.
His contributions have been recognized with major honors, including the Yad Ben Zvi Life’s Work Prize, the EMET Prize, and appointment as a Corresponding Member of the Real Academia Española.