Juhuri, also called Judeo-Tat, is spoken by communities of יהודים YEHUDIM in the eastern Caucasus. Vitaly Shalem classifies it within the southwestern Iranian family and associates it with communities he calls Mountain Jewish
in northern Azerbaijan and Dagestan. A geographic community-name and a language-family classification describe different relationships.1
What can different scripts preserve?
Shalem presents the phrase meaning mother tongue in four writing systems:
| Writing system in the source | Written example |
|---|---|
| Hebrew | זאוּהאוּן דאדאיאִ |
| Latin | zuhun dәdәji |
| Dagestani Cyrillic | зугьун дедеи |
| Azerbaijani Cyrillic | зуһун дәдәји |
These are the source’s authored written examples, rather than transcriptions made here from a recording. They make visible how one language can pass through different writing conventions without becoming four separate languages.2
How is community language documented?
The Endangered Language Alliance describes work with Juhuri speakers and synagogue leaders in Brooklyn to record people discussing their lives and the histories and customs of the community
. This is the institution’s description of its project; the recordings have not been independently heard in this intake.3
Documentation preserves people’s speech, memories and choices, alongside linguistic descriptions. A written specimen, a recording and a speaker’s account each provide different evidence; one should not be presented as though it were another.
Which communities does Shalem associate with Juhuri?
Shalem’s account concerns a particular language used by communities of יהודים YEHUDIM in the eastern Caucasus. The broader geographic word Caucasus
does not by itself identify which community or language a source intends. Bukharian has its own treatment as another Iranian language used by communities of יהודים YEHUDIM; the shared language-family relationship does not make the two languages interchangeable.
Guided reflections
- What do the four written forms show about the relationship between language and script?
- How does a community documentation project preserve something different from an authored linguistic example?
- Why should the geographic word Caucasus not substitute for a particular community’s name?