mi

Inherited from Old Spanish mi (“me”), from Latin mihi, dative of ego.

Hanuka linda sta aki; ocho kandelas para mi.

Beautiful Hanukkah is here, so eight candles for me.

me (declined form of yo used as the object of a preposition)


me

Inherited from Old Spanish me (“me”), from Latin mē (accusative singular of ego), from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)me-. As an indirect object, possibly in part from Latin mihi (dative of ego), through a Vulgar Latin *mi.

Me demando: de ke no azesh este konserto en Estanbol. Es mas kolay de ir i vinir.

2019 May 22, Silvio & Eyal Ovadya, “Un evenimyento, una dicha/un proverbo”, in Şalom:

She asked me: why don’t you do this concert in Istanbul. It’s easier to go and come.

(personal, dative pronoun) dative of yo: to me, for me

[…] mos fuimos en luna de miel a París, i yo empesí a engodrarme … i engodrarme. El prenyado a mí me yakishea muncho.

2006, Matilda Koén-Sarano, Por el plazer de kontar, page 142:

we left to have our honeymoon in Paris, and I started to fatten myself … and fatten myself. I look so much like I am pregnant.

(personal, reflexive pronoun) reflexive of yo: myself


ke

Netanya

Inherited from Old Spanish que (“that”), from Latin quid (“what”), but usurping all the roles of Latin quod. Cognate with English who and Spanish que.

[…] i el ke izo mas empresión fue naturalmente Haím Refael, ke kontó de la Shoá i de estadía en Auschwitz i de komo kedó en vida.

2006, Matilda Koén-Sarano, Por el plazer de kontar, page 401:

And the one who made the biggest impression was, naturally, Haím Refael, who recounted the Shoah, the stay in Auschwitz, and how he kept alive.

I despues, respondyo Riza Pasha: "Sinyor, estos 2 sinyores son los ke vos avli ayer ke syempre estan mirando en el byen de la sivdad sin dingun enteres".

19th century, Sa'adi Besalel a-Levi, edited by Aron Rodrigue, Sarah Abrevaya Stein, A Jewish Voice from Ottoman Salonica: The Ladino Memoir of Sa'adi Besalel A-Levi, Stanford University Press, published 2012, →ISBN, page 222:

And then Riza Pasha replied, ‘Sir, these are the two gentlemen whom I mentioned to you yesterday who are always looking after the city’s welfare irrespective of [self-]interest.’

Onde vemos ke en esta parasha de "Bo" dize el pasuk: "i sera kuando dirian a vozotros guestros ijos: ke es isto?".

2005, Aki Yerushalayim, volumes 26–28, page 36:

Where we see that in this parashah of Bo, the verse says: ‘and when shall it be that your children would say to you: what is this?’

(exclamative) such; what (a) (used to form exclamations indicating that something is remarkable, in either a good or ungood way)


nada

Inherited from Old Spanish nada (“nothing”), inherited from Latin (nūlla rēs) nāta (literally “no born thing, not a thing born”), an extension of nēmō nātus (“not a soul”, literally “nobody born”). For descendants of the other part of the expression see Galician ren (“nothing”), French rien (“nothing”), Catalan res (“nothing; anything”). For the grammaticalization of an original nominal as a negative see Jespersen's Cycle and French personne, pas.

inh

Todas tus repuestas nada no rezolven

2004, Moshe David Gaon, פואזיאס, מכון מעלה אדומים בשיתוף עם מרכז משה דוד גאון לתרבות הלאדינו, אוניברסיטת בן גוריון, →ISBN, page 42:

"Ima, no ay nada! En l'armada oímos kozas peores!"

2006, Matilda Koén-Sarano, Por el plazer de kontar, Nur Afakot, page 335:

"Ima, that's nothing! We heard worse in the army!"

nothing, bupkis, zero, zilch (not…anything)


ese

head

ese m (Hebrew spelling איסי, feminine esa, neuter eso, masculine plural esos, feminine plural esas, neuter plural esos)

איסי (Hebrew)
esa (feminine)
eso (neuter)
esos (masculine plural)
esas (feminine plural)
esos (neuter plural)

Inherited from Old Spanish ese (“that”), from Latin ipse.

Wa eso era el encuentro.

1992, Marie-Christine Varol-Bornes, Vidal Sephiha, Domaine judéo-espagnol I: Langue et littérature, volume 1, Publications Langues'O, page 102:


uno

uno (Hebrew spelling אונו, plural unos, feminine una, feminine plural unas)

אונו (Hebrew)
unos (plural)
una (feminine)
unas (feminine plural)

Inherited from Old Spanish uno, from Latin ūnus (“one”), from Old Latin oinos, from Proto-Italic *oinos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos (“one, single”). Cognates include Catalan un, French un, Italian uno, Portuguese um, Romanian unu, Spanish uno, and more distantly Yiddish איין (eyn). Doublet of un.

inh

Avían tres amigos: el uno era merkader, el sigundo era doktor i el tresero tinía chiflik.

1999, Matilda Koén-Sarano, לז׳נדאס: אגדות וסיפורי מוסר מן המסורת היהודית־ספרדית, נור, page 59:

There were three friends: one a merchant, the second a physician, and the third had a farm.

Dos ermanos eran en Balataa; el uno se izo doktor dişçi, el otro se izo jeneralisto; duspués, s’aviya etcho doktor de bébés

2009, David M. Bunis, editor, Languages and Literatures of Sephardic and Oriental Jews, Bialik Institute, →ISBN, page 266:

They were two brothers in Balat. The [first] one became a dentist, the other became a GP; after that he had become a pediatrician.

I el sol es de dos modos kontrarios uno de otro, ke la parte ke esta para la tierra es de fuego, ma la otra parte ke da para el sielo es de pedrisko, ke kon esto se konserva uno kon otro, i el envierno tiene la vanda del pedrisko para la tierra i ansi aze muncho friyo, i si no fuera ke la otra vanda es de fuego, no era posivle ke pudieran la djente sonportarlo.

2013 November 30, Jacobo Sefamí, Miriam Moscona, Por mi boka: Textos de la diáspora sefardí en ladino, Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial México, →ISBN, page 66:

And the sun is of two phases contrary to one another: the part for the earth is fire, yet the other part for the sky is hail, one with the other is kept with this, and winter has hail’s side for the earth, making it very cold, and if it weren’t for the other side, the fiery one, it would not be possible that people could bear it.


si

Inherited from Old Spanish si (“oneself”).

inh+

oneself; herself; itself; himself; themselves (form of se used after prepositions)


ti

Inherited from Old Spanish ti (“thee”), from Latin tibi, dative of tu.

Delantre de ti io mi orgolio abato
I mi corason lo razgo con kevranto¹)

1910, Reuben Eliyahu Israel, Traducsion libera de las poezias ebraicas de Roş Aşana i Kipur, Craiova: Institutul Grafic, I. Samitca şi D. Baraş, Socieatate in Comandita, →OCLC, page 10:

I suppress my pride before you, and my heart tears it with despair.


se

head

se m or f by sense (Hebrew spelling סי, third person)

Inherited from Old Spanish se (“oneself”), from Latin sē.

inh+

third person reflexive direct or indirect object oneself, herself, himself, itself; each other; one another

En 1923, se modernizo la identidad de las personas, pero a unos ermanos de mi Papu le metieron en el nufus la alkunya Rodrik, i a la otra mitad de la famiya, la alkunya Rodriges.

2007, Hernán Rodriguez Fisse, “Alkunya Rodrik o Rodriguez”, in El Amaneser, section 27:

People’s identities were modernised in 1923, but like some of my grandfather’s brothers they put him on the Rodrik surname identity card, and as for my family’s other half, the surname Rodriges.

used to convey the meaning of the English passive voice in the third person


se

From Old Spanish ge (from Latin illī, compare Portuguese lhe, Italian gli), whose pronunciation shifted from /ʒe/ to /ʃe/ in Early Modern Spanish, at which point it was reanalyzed as /se/ (rather than shifting to /xe/ as expected).

used instead of indirect object pronouns le and les before the direct object pronouns lo, la, los, or las


nadie

Inherited from Old Spanish nadi, nade (“no one”), inherited from Latin nātī (“born men/people”), perfect past participle of nāscor (“to be born”), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-.
The semantic change is due to commonly being used with negated verbs in spoken Ibero-Romance, supposing for example *nātī nōn fēcērunt (“born [people] did not do it”), cognate with Old Galician-Portuguese nado (“no one”). Compare the development of French personne from “person” to “no one”. Old Spanish commonly also used the phrase omne nado. Nada (“bupkes”) also originates from the same root, from (rēs) nāta (“born thing”); see Jespersen's Cycle.

Con bastón y con sombrero,
Ya fuera Shabbat o Pascua,
A eznoga siempre el primero,
Antes que nadie llegaba.

1992, Aki Yerushalayim, numbers 45-48, page 32:

With cane and hat,
'Twas already Shabbat or Passover,
Always first at synagogue,
Before anybody else was arriving.


los

Inherited from Old Spanish los (“the; them”), from Latin illōs accusative plural masculine of ille.

Tu sos envestido i envelupado de giustidad, a ti solo apartiene la sopirioridad
Si no ai en nozotros ovras ⁴) boenas, acodrate de noestros padres i de sus santedad.
Siempre los tengas en tu memoria i apiada a tu comunidad

1910, Reuben Eliyahu Israel, Traducsion libera de las poezias ebraicas de Roş Aşana i Kipur, Craiova: Institutul Grafic, I. Samitca şi D. Baraş, Socieatate in Comandita, →OCLC, page 12:

You are dressed and enveloped with justice, only to you does superiority belong; were good deeds absent from us, remind yourself of our fathers and their holiness. You always have them in memory; rescue your people.


vos

you (formal singular, nominative and accusative)


ken

head

ken (relative pronoun, Hebrew spelling קין, plural kenes)

קין (Hebrew)
kenes (plural)
kien (alternative)
quen (alternative)
quien (alternative)

Inherited from Old Spanish quien (“who”), from Latin quĕm, accusative of qui. Cognate with Spanish quien.

inh+

Dime kon ken andas, te dire ken sos.

Tell me whom you go with, [and] I’ll tell you whom you are.

Ken no tiene iža, no tiene amiga

1994, Tracy K. Harris, Death of a Language: The History of Judeo-Spanish, University of Delaware Press, →ISBN, page 93:

Whoever hasn’t a daughter, hasn’t a female friend [either].


lo

Inherited from Old Spanish lo (“the; him; it”). As a masculine pronoun, from Latin illum, the accusative masculine singular of ille (“that, that one”). As an article or impersonal neuter pronoun, from Latin illud, the neuter singular of ille. Compare Portuguese o.


les

head

les m or f by sense (Hebrew spelling ליס)

Inherited from Old Spanish les, from Latin illīs, dative plural of ille.

Los fraguadores les vino kolay de tomar todas las pyedras de ensima los muertos, syendo estas kevuroth eran de los primeros djidyos ke vinyeron de la Espanya.

19th century, Sa'adi Besalel a-Levi, chapter 42, in Aron Rodrigue, Sarah Abrevaya Stein, editors, A Jewish Voice from Ottoman Salonica: The Ladino Memoir of Sa'adi Besalel A-Levi, Stanford University Press, published 2012, →ISBN, page 290:

It came easy for the builders to take all the dead's tombstones, being that these graves belonged to the first Jews who came from Spain.

dative of eyos and eyas; (to) them, (for) them


le

Inherited from Old Spanish le, from Latin illī, dative of ille.


yo

ייו (Hebrew)
io (alternative)
lyo (alternative)

Inherited from Old Spanish yo (“I”), from Late Latin eo, from Classical Latin egō̆.

Yo, ke nunka en mis dias ke non sali aver fuego, syendo fui akavidado, ma akea noche fui ovligado de ir a este fuego, non para verlo, otro ke syendo era serka dela kaza de si. Shelomo Fernandes.

(Can we date this quote?), Sa'adi Besalel a-Levi, edited by Aron Rodrigue, Sarah Abrevaya Stein, A Jewish Voice from Ottoman Salonica: The Ladino Memoir of Sa'adi Besalel A-Levi, Stanford University Press, published 2012, →ISBN, page 215:

Myself, never in all my days had I gone out to watch a fire, seeing as how I was warned against that, but that night I was obligated to go after this fire, not to watch it, but [because] it was approaching Mr. Shelomo Fernandes's house.

[…] i no digas: fulano es fermozo i yo no, ke bien saves ke deske el ombre es muerto, ke no se kuenta salvo por animalia muerta.

2002, Aki Yerushalayim, numbers 68-72, page 59:

And don’t say: so and so is handsome and I’m not; you know well that since the man is dead that he doesn’t count except as a dead animal.

2006, Matilda Koén-Sarano, Por el plazer de kontar, page 142:

we left to have our honeymoon in Paris, and I started to gain weight … and gain weight. I look so much like I am pregnant.

Agora soltanto
So reflekto de Tu Brilyo
Yo no me demando
Sospiro
Mirando en lo Alto
So felis
Dunke bivo…

2008, Matilda Gini Barnatán, Viviana Rajel Barnatán, Darío Meta Barnatán, La ija i la madre komo la unya i la karne, Ibersaf Editores, →ISBN, page 69:

Now letting go, I am [an] image of your radiance, I wonder not; I sigh, looking above, I am happy, therefore I live…


todo

Inherited from Old Spanish todo (“all”), from Latin tōtus. Compare Catalan tot, French tout. Related to total.

Todo lo ke vos kero dainda no saves,
Dizeme bulisa si tu bien me keres,
Kon todo te digo ke seyas mazaloza,
Por todo el mundo ke seyas alavada.

1994, Eli Shaul, Folklor de los judios de Turkiya, Isis, →ISBN, page 123:

All that I want to tell you you still don’t know,
Tell me, lady, if you really want me,
With all that I tell you so that you finish happy,
So that you finish world-famous.


tú

From Latin tū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂.


donde

From Vulgar Latin de unde, from de + unde.


ambos

ambos m pl (Hebrew spelling אמבוס, feminine plural ambas)

אמבוס (Hebrew)
ambas (feminine plural)
anbos (alternative)

Inherited from Latin ambōs m pl. Old Spanish consistently had amos, representing the inherited form, while ambos existed in neighbouring Old Leonese. Later, Latin influence probably helped ambos spread into Ladino as well, where it displaced the form without /b/.


esta

"Sí, esta es una biskikleta rovada", le dize el pulís, "i tú sos el ladrón!"
"Yo? Ladrón?!" se metió a gritar Aharon, "Esta bisikleta yo la trushi de Italia ayer. Na, está sovre mi pasaporto!"
"Ayde, no kontes patranya i ven pishín kon mi!" le disho el pulís, tomándole le bisikleta de la mano i aferrándolo del braso. I se lo yevó a la prezión.

2006, Matilda Koén-Sarano, Por el plazer de kontar, page 126:

‘Yes, this is a stolen bicycle,’ the officer said. ‘And you are the thief!’
‘Me? [A] thief‽’ Aharon began to shout, ‘I brought this bicycle from Italy yesterday. For goodness’ sake, it’s on my passport!’
‘Let’s go, stop talking nonsense and come with me, immediately!’ the officer told him, seizing the bicycle in [one] hand from him and holding him by the arm. [Then] he arrived at prison.


eia

La nasion judia resita orasiones
Eia entona sus alavasiones
O dio ! melezina todas sus pasiones
Termine la aniada i sus maldisiones.

1910, Reuben Eliyahu Israel, Traducsion libera de las poezias ebraicas de Roş Aşana i Kipur, Craiova: Institutul Grafic, I. Samitca şi D. Baraş, Socieatate in Comandita, →OCLC, page 8:

The Jewish nation recites prayers, sings [you] its praises—Oh God! Heal all its wounds. End the year and its curses.


muestro

מואישטרו (Hebrew)

From Latin noster (compare Spanish nuestro).


קיין

From Latin quĕm, accusative of qui. Compare Spanish quién.


kien

I kien se kedó en la tienda?

2006, Matilda Koén-Sarano, Vejés liviana, נור הפקות, page 167:


muncho

מונגﬞו (Hebrew)
mucho (alternative)
muchu (alternative)
munço (alternative)
munĉo (alternative)
muntcho (alternative)

Inherited from Old Spanish mucho (“much”), from Latin multum (“much”).

inh+

Akoruto, kuando afita una trajediya, munchos bushkan a deskuvrir un lado positivo.

2019 February 27, Metin DELEVİ, “El Samuray ke salvo a miles de djudios de los nazis”, in Şalom:

Often, when a tragedy takes place, many people try to discover a positive side.


קי

ke (romanization)
קה (alternative)
קֶי (alternative)

Netanya

Inherited from Old Spanish que (“that”), from Latin quid (“what”), but usurping all the roles of Latin quod. Cognate with English who and Spanish que.

לה פאז קי אירה אונה סולומברה, לה קי […] לוס פואיב״לאס די לה טיירה איסטאב״אן פירסוגיינדו, איס אאורה אונה ריאלידאד

1920 January 13, “פאס אין טודוס לוס קונטינטיס סאלב"ו אין איל די לה אמיריקה”, in La epoca de New York:

The peace that was a dream, the [one] that the peoples of the earth were pursuing, is now a reality

La paz ke era una solombra, la ke […] los puevlos de la tera estavan persugendo, es aora una realidad

¿קי מי אפרובﬞיגﬞארה לה פרימוגﬞיניטורה?

1886, אלכסנדר טומסון, אלה תולדות בני ישראל: קיירי דיזיר סיינטו אי דייז אי סייטי קואינטוס, טיראדוס דיל ארבעה ועשרים אי די לאס איסטוריאס אנטיגואס : פארה איל אוזו די לוס ישראליטאס פרוטיסטאנטיס, דפוס א"ה בוייאג׳יאן, pages 44–45:

What will make use of the precedence for me?

קי ריזאליט, קי קייפאזיליק איס איסתו!

1937 September 3, La Vara, number 734, New York, page 5:

What a scandal, what a disgrace this is!


mozotros

lad-pron

mozotros m pl (Hebrew spelling מוזוטרוס)

מוזוטרוס (Hebrew)
mosotros (alternative)
muzotrus (alternative)
nosotros (alternative)
nozotros (alternative)

Inherited from Old Spanish nosotros (“we”).

inh+

Coordinate term: mozotras

Mozotros dagidiyávamos las tabelas a una o a dos a kad'uno, según el número de los partisipantes, i la mamá mos divizava las avikas o los botones ke sirvían de parás.

2006, Matilda Koén-Sarano, Por el plazer de kontar, Nur Afakot, page 100:

We distributed the signs by one or two each, according to the number of participants, and the mother divided for us the white beans or buttons that worked as currency.


mozotras

מוזוטראס (Hebrew)


vozotros

בֿוזוטרוס (Hebrew)


vozotras

בֿוזוטראס (Hebrew)


eyos

head

eyos m pl (feminine eyas, Hebrew spelling אילייוס)

eyas (feminine)
אילייוס (Hebrew)
ellos (alternative)

Inherited from Old Spanish ellos (“they”), from Latin illōs, accusative masculine plural of ille. Doublet of los.

inh+

I kedava la kaza entera kon todos los byenes en poder de estos guardyanes komo si fueran eyos mizmos los patrones, i eran sirvidos en gaste de el patron de la kaza.

19th century, Sa'adi Besalel a-Levi, edited by Aron Rodrigue, Sarah Abrevaya Stein, A Jewish Voice from Ottoman Salonica: The Ladino Memoir of Sa'adi Besalel A-Levi, Stanford University Press, published 2012, →ISBN, page 188:

And these caretakers, as if they themselves were the owners, kept custody over the entire house and all of its belongings, and the [real] homeowner served them by [paying] the expenses.

I despues me fui a un balo, ma eyos
me metieron endjuntos kon perros i gatos
i ainda mis pasos eran mizurados i kontados.

2002, Aki Yerushalayim, numbers 68–72, page 53:

And then I went to a ball, but they put me together with dogs and cats, and yet my steps were measured and counted.

Siguro le vinieron algunos chuilis ke manyana parten i intonses tenia ke fazer fecho kon eyos agora.

1999, Eliezer Papo, La megila de Saray, E. Papo, page 106:

Surely some peasants that leave tomorrow came thereto, so [somebody] has to deal with them now.


kualo

head

kualo m (Hebrew spelling קואלו, plural kualos, feminine kuala, feminine plural kualas)

קואלו (Hebrew)
kualos (plural)
kuala (feminine)
kualas (feminine plural)
cual (alternative)
cualo (alternative)
kual (alternative)
qual (alternative)

Inherited from Old Spanish qual, from Latin quālis (“which”).

Coordinate term: ke

Le demandí kon la bava a la boka: "Um!… I de kualo es?"
"De pera", me disho Viktoria.
Yo al gostí… Estava maraviyoza.

2006, Matilda Koén-Sarano, Por el plazer de kontar, Nur Afakot, page 145:

I asked her mouthwateringly: ‘Mmm…! What is this?’
‘Pear’, Viktoria told me. To me, the taste was… wonderful.

Se torno el haham dezesperado a su kaza i komio kon muncha ansia, despues de lo kualo metio su vestido blanko de Yom Kippur i entro al kal.

2005, Aki Yerushalayim, volumes 26–28, page 60:

The sagely yet desperate rabbi returned home and ate anxiously, after which he put on white clothes for Yom Kippur and entered the synagogue.

Aki me meto a kantar yo
al tanyer de la gitara,
kualo al ombre ke lo apanya
un penserio ingradesido,
bilbiliko solitario
kon el dizir se konsola.

2013, Myriam Moscona, Jacobo Sefamí with Martín Fierro, José Hernández, Por mi boka: Textos de la diáspora sefardí en ladino, Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial México, →ISBN, page 222:

Here I get involved in singing
by playing the guitar,
which in the man holding it
[there’s] a growing concern;
lonely little kid
who consoles himself by speaking.


walú

Borrowed from Moroccan Arabic والو (wālu).


kual

Despues de pokos dias, mandaron el direktor, el kual se yamava Musyu Maks.

19th century, Sa'adi Besalel a-Levi, chapter 22, in Aron Rodrigue, Sarah Abrevaya Stein, editors, A Jewish Voice from Ottoman Salonica: The Ladino Memoir of Sa'adi Besalel A-Levi, Stanford University Press, published 2012, →ISBN, page 227:

After a few days they sent the director whose name was Musyu Maks.