The Multilingualism of Georgian Jews

• In Event: Language ideology with Respect to Yiddish

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is to explore the multilingualism as practiced by the Georgian Jews while living in Georgia as well as after their migration to Israel (and/or other countries).
According to historical sources, the first wave of Jews arrived in Georgia as early as 26 centuries ago. The second one, that spoke Aramaic, settled in Georgia at the beginning of our era. Later, from the 19th century onwards, Ashkenazi Jews speaking Yiddish and Russian, Kurdish or Lakhlukhi Jews speaking Neo-Aramaic, and mountain Jews speaking Judeo-Tat or Juhuri and Russian appear in Georgia.
In the course of the centuries, Georgian Jews partially forgot Hebrew and Aramaic languages, limiting their usage to religious practices and traditional rituals (religious terminology, vocabulary associated with customs and traditions). Georgian became their everyday language. However, during the Soviet period, some of them shifted to Russian. In the 20th century, Georgian Jews created a Jewish variety of Georgian (Judeo-Georgian) that served as one of the key markers of their ethnic and cultural identity.
The Jews lived in all parts of Georgia and, consequently, could speak the minority languages spoken in this or that region. Such was Abkhazian spoken in Abkhazia, Ossetian used in the Autonomous Republic of South Ossetia, or Megrelian spoken by the Megrels in the Samegrelo region.
From the end of the 20th century onwards, after the repatriation to Israel and/or migration to America, Canada, Europe, and Russia, modern Jewish, English, Arabic, and European languages were added to the versatile linguistic repertoire of Georgian Jews (Biblical/Classical Hebrew, Aramaic, Georgian, Russian, Judeo-Georgian, Yiddish, Neo-Aramaic, Juhuri, Abkhazian, Ossetian, Megrelian).
The present paper will discuss the linguistic competencies of different generations based on their self-evaluation.

Author

• Tamari Lomtadze, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University