The iguana's tale- Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ladino

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DaveBee
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Re: The iguana's tale- Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ladino

Postby DaveBee » Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:46 pm

galaxyrocker wrote: Anyway, it got me thinking: what is the state of traditional music in Ladino? I'm sure, like with most minority languages, that it's in a pretty sad state, at least things like lullabies and such that are likely being replaced by their majority-language counterparts.
There was an Israeli ladino singer, Yasmin Levy, who was getting a lot of radio play a few years back. I don't really keep up with music news though.
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iguanamon
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Re: The iguana's tale- Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ladino

Postby iguanamon » Mon Aug 28, 2017 1:26 am

galaxyrocker wrote:So I came across some traditional Ladino lullabies today, and thought you might be interested. ...It said both were in Ladino, but I really have no way of telling myself. Anyway, it got me thinking: what is the state of traditional music in Ladino? I'm sure, like with most minority languages, that it's in a pretty sad state, at least things like lullabies and such that are likely being replaced by their majority-language counterparts.

The problem with Ladino is that it's a "dead language walking". It isn't being passed down to the children anymore. Music is one of the few areas where Ladino lives. Singers like Sarah Aroeste and Yazmin Levy sing in a more modern style. Ms Levy has been criticized for including Flamenco style guitar in her songs, but not to worry- traditional music is preserved and still sung to some extent in both Turkey and Israel. Music is one of the last things to go in a language, along with food and holidays.

Ladino is not like Irish or Breton. The homeland for the Sephardim was pretty much gone after World War II and even in unaffected areas like Turkey, post war religious politics meant greater emigration to France, US, Israel, etc. Israel purposely discouraged Yiddish and Ladino because it wanted Modern Hebrew to be the unifying language of the state. Ironically, the pronunciation of Modern Hebrew is based on Ladino/Sephardic pronunciation. There are no Ladino neighborhoods in Israel. There is a National Ladino Authority in Israel and a daily 15 minute broadcast on the IBA.

The future of Ladino lies in preservation and not revitalization. The unique factors that created and sustained Ladino/Djudeo-espanyol no longer exist and cannot be replicated again. Future generations will learn the language as it once existed. Music will play an important role in the preservation of the language. The videos that follow are first an example of traditional Sephardic music sung in Ladino and the second is modern singer, Sarah Aroeste's take on a song inspired by a traditional Ladino story about the "chika morena" wandering in search of her lover who some think is a reference to the Sephardim's longing for Spain and Portugal.



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iguanamon
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Re: The iguana's tale- Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ladino

Postby iguanamon » Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:34 pm

My languages continue. Spanish and Portuguese are constant companions in my daily life and I am about to get even more exposure. I'm looking forward to traveling to Spain and Portugal in mid-September. I'll be accompanied by a Brazilian friend. She's fluent in Spanish also. So it should be a memorable trip. She's never been to either country before and I have been a few times already. It will be interesting to see the reactions we get. Of course, that is if I can make it off the island. There's a possible Category 4 (Category 5 being the worst) hurricane heading this way on Wednesday and the damn thing could follow me up to Miami where I'll be going to catch my trans-Atlantic flight. Hurricanes are part of the price we pay for living in "paradise".

Hurricanes are deadly and also a majorly disruptive hassle. I don't have to worry about flooding at my house because I'm a couple hundred feet above sea level. Winds won't affect me because of my concrete walls and concrete roof. I'll just close the shutters and stay inside. It's losing electricity, phone, internet and water plus the disruption all of that causes with everything else we need that's the problem here. I live in a condo, so no generators are allowed. If we were to take a direct hit from a Category 4 storm, these storms can cause catastrophic damage. A Category 4 storm has 130–156 mph/209–251 km/h winds. 28 years ago, a category 5 storm destroyed or damaged 90% of the buildings on the island and left the place without electricity for six months. Since I've been here, I've gone through a Category 3 storm. I hope and pray that the storm misses my island and everyone else here in the Caribbean. Vá embora, furacão!

Ladino
I took a break from reading Ladino in August. I only have about 30 or so pages left to finish in my translated book. So, I'll get to that soon enough.

Haitian Creole
I spoke HC Sunday at the beach with a Haitian. I was hanging out with friends, one of whom is a French teacher. She spoke to him in French, which surprised him and I shocked him by speaking Haitian Creole. My son thinks I can speak every language because he's heard me speak three. Of course, if I traveled with him to Europe outside of Iberia, or China and Japan, he wouldn't be so impressed with my language skills.

Orevwa mezanmi; até logo; hasta la próxima; tchau
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Re: The iguana's tale- Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ladino

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Tue Sep 05, 2017 7:31 pm

Living far enough from Houston to get no impact from Hurricane Harvey makes me glad I live here and not there and makes me wish you could get completely out of Irma's way.

In other matters, I have spent the past few weeks catching up with your blog, and I can only echo the compliments others have paid you. You are an inspiration.

Finally here is a little bluegrass tune called "How Far to Little Rock" by the Stanley Brothers. Considering where you grew up and considering the tune bears a strong resemblance to one of the stories you tell in the blog, I thought you might enjoy it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOQ_zrG78Vc I hope you enjoy it, anyway. I have listened to it many times, and the last line never fails to get a laugh out of me.

Be safe.
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iguanamon
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Re: The iguana's tale- Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ladino

Postby iguanamon » Tue Sep 05, 2017 10:53 pm

Thanks, Mork. I love the Stanley's. Right now, I've done everything I can do to be safe. I live in a reinforced concrete home with a reinforced concrete roof and have metal hurricane shutters. So I should be ok with the wind. I am 200 feet above sea level, so no flooding. I have enough food to last three weeks or so until Tio Sam remembers we're here. This thing should hit on Wednesday morning, September 6, 2017 as a category 5 storm with winds at 185 mph/300 km/h. I will be without power, internet and cell for a long time, possibly, if we get a direct hit here, for weeks or even months. So, I will be away from the forum for a while. Looks like my trip to Portugal and Spain may not happen due to hurricane. After here, it's due to go to Miami, where I would have to fly to catch my flight overseas.
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Re: The iguana's tale- Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ladino

Postby Aria » Wed Sep 06, 2017 1:19 am

I hope all goes as well as possible with the hurricane. As a Floridian I empathize - we're busy preparing since FL is in Irma's path.
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BOLIO
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Re: The iguana's tale- Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ladino

Postby BOLIO » Wed Sep 06, 2017 1:33 am

I-mon, be safe. We took it on the chin here in Houston with the rain with Harvey but 175 mph winds scare the daylights out of me. See you on the other side of this.

BOLIO
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Re: The iguana's tale- Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ladino

Postby PeterMollenburg » Wed Sep 06, 2017 11:26 am

I feel I bit bad if I don't say something, but I would've been thinking it anyway, so i'll say it (type it) as well - I hope it's much less worse than anticipated, and no major problems (especially related to health and well-being) arise. Hope to see you back here soon iguanamon! ;)
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Ogrim
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Re: The iguana's tale- Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ladino

Postby Ogrim » Wed Sep 06, 2017 1:05 pm

Wishing you all the best Iguanamon. A pity about your trip to Europe, but you can always cross the pond some other time. Stay safe!
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Re: The iguana's tale- Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ladino

Postby Systematiker » Wed Sep 06, 2017 1:29 pm

Past the point at which you'll read it, probably, but you are being remembered here. See you on the other side of things!
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