Yevanic

Greek dialect spoken by the Romaniotes, a group of Greek Jews

Also known as Judeo-Greek · Yevanic language · Judæo-Greek · Romaniyot · Romaniote · Yevanitika

Speakers: 0
Subclass of: Attic Greek
, Jewish languages
Script: Hebrew-script-based alphabet
Indigenous to: Romaniote Jews
, Constantinopolitan Karaites
, Jerusalem District

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Yevanic, also known as Judaeo-Greek, Romaniyot, Romaniote, and Yevanitika, is a Greek dialect formerly used by the Romaniotes and by the Constantinopolitan Karaites. The Romaniotes are a group of Greek Jews whose presence in the Levant is documented since the Byzantine period. Its linguistic lineage stems from the Jewish Koine spoken primarily by Hellenistic Jews throughout the region, and includes Hebrew and Aramaic elements. It was mutually intelligible with the Greek dialects of the Christian population. The Romaniotes used the Hebrew alphabet to write Greek and Yevanic texts. Judaeo-Greek has had in its history different spoken variants depending on different eras, geographical and sociocultural backgrounds. The oldest Modern Greek text was found in the Cairo Geniza and is actually a Jewish translation of the Book of Ecclesiastes (Kohelet).

Overview

Works in this language

11 linked to Yevanic in Wikidata

All data

23 statements · 35% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Ethnologue language status: 8b Nearly Extinct
1
Sources
1.Stated in Ethnologueethnologue.com/language/yejRetrieved 2019-05-10
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Country: Israel
1
Sources
1.“ScriptSource - Israel”scriptsource.org/country/ILRetrieved 2023-08-21
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Different from: Jewish Koine Greek

On other databases

10 identifiers linking Yevanic across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

35%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 3, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). Yevanic (Q34200). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/yevanic-Q34200