7 There are 16,000 priests and friars,' but it is said that only one knight of the ancient order of St. John is now to be found in the island. The Maltese language is spoken not only in Malta, but also in Gozzo, a small island lying at a distance of about four miles off its coasts, containing a population of 16,534 individuals. 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE.-Maltese would be a pure Shemitic dialect, were it not alloyed with Italian and Latin words. It approximates closely to the Mogrebin, or MoorishArabic, particularly in the conjugation of verbs; and most of its words are either Arabic or of Arabic origin. It resembles modern Arabic, in having no variations of termination to denote the distinctions of case, particles being prefixed to the noun instead of the ancient case-endings. In the Maltese alphabet the twenty-eight sounds of the Arabic alphabet are recognised; but with these are conjoined three other letters which never occur in Arabic, and which are principally met with in words derived from the Italian. The Roman letters are used in writing, Arabic characters being unknown to the Maltese. 6 [MALTA, 1847.] 9 8 Fil bidu kienet il Kelma, u il Kelma kienet åand Alla, u Alla kien il Kelma. 2 Dina kienet fil bidu åand Alla. 3 Kollosh biha sar; u minn åayrha sheyn ma sar, milli sar. *Fiha il haỹa kienet, u il haỹa kienet id dawl tal bniedmin. 5 U id dawl yilma fid dlamiyiet, u id dlamiyiet ma fehmuhsh. Kien hemma bniedem mibâut mn' Alla, li ismu Jwan. 'Dana jie b' shiehed biesh yished mid Dawl, biesh il koll yemmnu bih. Hua ma kiensh id Dawl, izda kien biesh yishhed mid Dawl. Kien dawl tas sewa, li yuri lil koll bniedem li yiji fid dinya. 10 Hu kien fid dinya, u id dinya bih saret, u id dinya ma åarfetush. "Jie fiħ weyju, u niesu ma laqauhsh. 12 Izda lil dawk kollha li laqâuh, tahom il yedd illi isiru ulied Alla, lil dawka li yemmnu b'Ismu : 13 Li le twieldu mid demm, u la mir rieda tal jisem, lanqas mir rieda tar rajel, izda mn' Alla. 14 U il Kelma saret jisem, u aammret fostna (u rayna sebħu, bħala sebħ li mnissel-waħdu mil Missier,) mimlia bil grażya u bis sewa. VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE.-The first attempt to translate the Scriptures into Maltese was made in the early part of the present century, by the Rev. W. Jowett, of the Church Missionary Society. He was assisted by Giuseppe Cannólo, a native of Malta; and in 1822 a small edition of the Gospel of St. John, with the Maltese and Italian in parallel columns, was published in London as a specimen of the work. The translation was so much approved by competent judges, that a version of the Four Gospels and Acts was printed, in 1829, at the expense of the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge: the Latin Vulgate, from which the translation had been made, was appended in parallel columns. The Liturgy of the Church of England has since been translated, under the auspices of the same Society, and they have likewise undertaken the publication of the entire New Testament in Maltese." 1 Choules and Smith, Origin and History of Missions, vol. ii. p. 202. 2 Tischendorf, Travels in the East. 3 Journal Asiatique, 4 ser. vii. p. 178. 4 Journal Asiatique, 4 ser. vii. p. 474. 5 Report of Foreign Translation Committee for 1844, p. 86. THIS language is spoken by the Jews of Turkey. Their forefathers emigrated to Spain and Portugal at a very early period of history: traditions, both Jewish and Christian, represent them as having arrived there soon after the destruction of the first Temple; and it is very probable that they were settled in the Peninsula before the time of the Roman Emperors. This section of the Jewish people claims to be the house of David, and though the claim is not to be proved genealogically (for no genealogies have been kept by the Jews since their dispersion), yet it cannot be refuted by any existing data; and that the house of David will be found distinct from the other families at the time of the restitution of Israel, appears to be the inference drawn, by many members of that nation, from Zech. xii. 10-14. But, be this as it may, it is certain that the Sephardim (Spaniards), as they are still called, consider themselves and are regarded by their brethren as the aristocracy of the dispersed people of Israel." They are distinguished from other Jews, not by any difference of faith or of religious observances, but by a peculiar language, and by diversity of historical associ ations. They look back with a degree of pride on their glorious sojourn of many centuries in the Peninsula. They were not, even there, exempt from persecution ; but their position, social and intellectual, was very different from that of their brethren in other lands. Under the Visigoths, the early masters of the Peninsula, they were permitted to rise to opulence; and the Saracens, whe afterwards established themselves in that country, overlooked the difference of their religious creeds in the similarity induced by their common Oriental origin, and admitted the Jews to an equality with themselves. Thus protected and favoured, the Jews of Spain co-operated with the Arabs in maintaining the light of literature and science during the darkness of the middle ages; and their names became famous in the schools of Cordova, Toledo, Barcelona, and Granada.3 At length, by a merciless mandate of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Jews were forcibly ejected from Spain in 1492, and from Portugal in 1497. There is great discrepancy in the estimates that have been transmitted, concerning 2 1 Da Costa, Israel and the Gentiles, p. 214. 2 Da Costa, Israel and the Gentiles, p. 203. 3 Da Costa, Israel and the Gentiles, p. 211. 66 the number of those thus violently expelled from the land of their adoption. Some authors represent the number of exiled Jews at 800,000, others at 300,000, while a contemporary Spanish statistical account states that the number was 27,000. The confusion in these various estimates was, perhaps, occasioned by the return of many of the Jews after their expulsion. Some among them, by feigned conversion to Christianity, were permitted to remain; and it has been asserted, on credible authority, that even yet, in Spain, " posts of dignity in the Church, the priesthood, and the cloister, are held by men who in heart are Jews, and who meet in secret, at stated seasons, to mourn over and abjure their outward profession of the Roman faith, and to curse, with fearful imprecations, the memory of Ferdinand and Isabella." While many of the Jews thus remained in the Peninsula, the great majority, preferring their religion to the adopted land of their forefathers, emigrated to Turkey; and, according to recent estimates, it appears that about 800,000 of this people are at the present time dispersed through the cities and towns of that empire.1 The Spanish and Judeo-Spanish languages are fundamentally the same; but more than three centuries having elapsed since all communication has been cut off between the Spaniards and the exiled Jews, many changes, neither few nor inconsiderable, have been introduced into the languages spoken by the two nations; so that they now differ greatly from each other in their respective vocabularies, in their systems of orthography, and in their phraseology. Judeo-Spanish is, in fact, the Spanish of the fifteenth century, moulded in accordance with the Hebrew idiom. It is in daily use among the Jews of Turkey, and is, in fact, so exclusively employed and understood by them, that in most of their books of devotion, the Hebrew and the corresponding version in Judeo-Spanish are printed in parallel columns. VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE.—The exiled Jews of Spain and Portugal established a most celebrated press at Ferrara, whence several important works were issued. But the most famous production of this press is a Spanish version of the Old Testament, said to have been translated from the Hebrew expressly for the Jews, by Edward Pinel. A much earlier translation than this, however, was executed by some learned Jews; and Rabbi David Kimchi is said, though perhaps incorrectly, to have been the principal translator. The Bible of Ferrara was published under the superintendence of Abraham Usque and Yom Tov Athias. It was issued in 1553, in two different forms, which have been wrongly looked upon as different editions.2 The dedication in the earlier copies is to Dona Gracia Nasi, a Jewish lady of distinction, mother-in-law to Don Joseph Miquez: in the later ones to Hercules de Este, Duke of Ferrara. 8 2 היסטו חירק חין חי חיל ביירבו חירק דיו : : טולfס לfס קולס פולירון ליגלס פור חיל • חי כחלק ד לו קי פולי fילו סי חיזו סין 6יל : חיל פרינסיפיין קון חיל דייו : 5 לי לה לו לין לה ליסקורלל 6רלומברק לי לה לילה חירק לק לוז די כוס חומכריס : לין לילייוס fיסטfנס לס נילס 7 חיסטי בינו פור טיסטיגו פור 6 פולי חימכיחלו חון חומכר דל ריו ד נומבר יוקנן : חי לה חיסקורלחל כן לס 6רסיכייו : כו חירק fיל לס לו : סי כן כינו פחרק דור רחר טיסטיגוfמיינטו די לס לו פרק קי קרין טולוס פור סו מחכו : טיסטיגוfמיינטו די לס לו : 9 חיל חילק לק לו ביורולירק ק' הלומברה לק כולו חומכרי קי נייני 6ס חיסטי מונדו : 10 6ין 6יל 11 לינו fין קלוק סולייס • לי לוס סוליוס חיל מוכלו : מונדו חיסטנס : חי חיל מונדו פור ליל פולי היגו לו רסיכיירון : ליס דייו פולר די סיר חיגוס חיזוס דל ריו 6ס לוס קי קרילין לין סו נו לו ריסיכיירון : קי נו סון כfסילוס ד סלנגר : כי די בלונטר די קרני : כי רי גילוכטל - בחרון : קי סחלכו דל ריו : כומכר : 14 6י 6יל ניירכו פולי היגו קרני חי מולו חיכטר מווטרוס : fי כימוס 6ס סו חונרה קומו חונרה די חיזו רגfלfלו דל פולר ליינו די גרוסייס חי בירחל : 13 12 מס חס לוס קי חי כן לו קונוסיין Abraham Usque is said to have printed in the same year (1553), at Ferrara, a separate edition of the Psalms, and, two years afterwards, an edition of the Pentateuch, Megilloth (Canticles, Ruth, 1 Da Costa, Israel and the Gentiles, p. 616. Da Costa, Israel and the Gentiles, p. 394. Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Esther), and Haphtoroth, or sections of the Prophets, read by appoint ment in the synagogues. The Ferrara edition of the Old Testament was reprinted in Amsterdam in 1611, and again at Venice in 1617. In the course of the following year, this version was revised and corrected by Manassch ben Israel, and printed in Roman letters, at Amsterdam, in 1630. It was again revised by Rabbi Samuel de Cazeres, and, with a new preface, was printed at Amsterdam in 1661. Besides the above, other editions of the Old Testament were published at Amsterdam, among which, in 1639, was an edition, with short explanatory notes, by Jacob Lambrosus; and the following editions of portions of this version are mentioned by Le Long:-Pentateuch and Haphtoroth, Amsterdam, 1645; Pentateuch, Amsterdam, 1695; Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Psalms (with the Hebrew), Sabionetta, 1671. Another edition of the Old Testament, for the benefit of the Spanish Jews, was printed at Vienna, between the years 1813 and 1816, in four volumes 4to.: it contained, in parallel columns, the Hebrew text and the Judeo-Spanish version in rabbinical characters. An edition in Roman characters was likewise published about the same time, at Amsterdam, corresponding in almost every particular with the Vienna edition, of which it is considered a mere transcription. The American Bible Society has recently issued two editions of the Old Testament in Judeo-Spanish, on behalf of the mission established among the Spanish Jews in Turkey. The first of these editions was printed with the Hebrew text in parallel columns, in 1843, at Vienna, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Schauffler: it consisted of 3000 copies. The second edition has but just left the press, a grant having been voted during the present year (1850) by the Society, to defray the expenses of its publication: it was printed, like the previous edition of the Society, under the supervision of Mr. Schauffler. This version is remarkable for the extreme servility with which it follows the Hebrew idiom; and, as it has long been regarded by the Spanish Jews as the standard of their language, the peculiarity of its style has induced corresponding peculiarities in their customary mode of phraseology, and has perhaps been the main cause of the divergence of their language from that of Spain. A translation of the New Testament into Judeo-Spanish was undertaken by the British and Foreign Bible Society, at the suggestion of Dr. Pinkerton; and, in 1823, the Rev. Mr. Leeves, their agent in Turkey, was intrusted with the preparation of the work. Mr. Leeves, with the assistance of some learned Jews to whom Judeo-Spanish was vernacular, drew the translation from the Greek text, consulting at the same time several different versions of the New Testament. After his translation had been subjected to three successive revisions, it was printed, in an edition of 3000 copies, at Corfu, in 1829, under the care of Mr. Lowndes. This version does not appear to have yet passed through a second edition. 1 Forty-sixth Report of British and Foreign Bible Society, p. cxxx. JEWISH-GERMAN. SPECIMEN OF THE JEWISH-GERMAN VERSION. ST. JOHN, CHAP. I. v. 1 to 14. 7 3 ? דיזעלביגע ווחר חיס ליס סנפמנג וומר דfז ווחרט, חוכר רח ווחרט ווחר נייח גחטט, חוכר גחטט וומר דfז ווחרט. • סנפונג בייח גחטט. • * 6ללע דינגע זינד דורך דמוועלביגע געמאכט, 6ונד 6קנט דאַזעלביגע 6יזט ניכטס געמאכט, יוחז געמאכט 5 חוכר רח: ליכט מיינעט 6ין דער 4 6ין 6יקס וומר לו לעבען, חוכך דאז לעבען וומר דן ליכט דער מענטען. * חיזט. • פינסטערניס, 6ונד די6 פֿינסטערניס קfט עס ניכט בעגריפפען. • 6 עס ווחר חיין מענט פון גחטט געזמנדט, דער קיעס יוקגן. • דערזעלביגע ק6ס כוס נייגניס לfס ער פון דעס ליכט פֿייגעטע 6יך רfס 6ללט דורך 6יקן גלויבטען. • * ער וומר ניכט דfז ליכט ז6נדערן דfס ער לייגעטע פון דעס ליכט. • 9 67 וו6ר ד6ז ווחהרהחפֿטיגע ליכט, וועלכעס 6ללע מענשען ערלייכטעט, די6 6ין ריח וועלט קאממען. • 10 עס וומר 6ין דער וועלט, חוכר ריח וועלט 6יזט דורך דיזעלביגע געמאכט ; 6ונד דיס וועלט קחככטע עס 11 ער קfס 6ין זיין 6ייגענטקוס חוכר ריח זיינען נאהמען חיהן ניכט 6ין • 18 ווי6 פֿיעלע 6יהן 6בער 6פנ6סמען ניכט. • רענען גחב ער מאַכט, ג6טטעס קינדער 5י ווערדען; דענען די6 6ן זיינען נאמען גלויבען. • 13 וועלכע ניכט פֿון דעס וויללען דעס 14 חוכר רח ווחרט ווחרר פלייס, חוכר פלייסעס כfך פון דעס ויללען חייכעס מסככעס, זאנדערן פון גfטט געבחרען זינר. • וולקנעטע חוכטער חוכו, חוכר וויר זאַהען זיינע העררליכקייט, זיינע העררליכקייט 6לס דטס 6יינגעבארנען זאהנעס פלס פֿחטער, פיללער גכחרע חוכר ווחהרהייט. • ON THE JEWISH-GERMAN LANGUAGE AND VERSIONS. ALTHOUGH the language of the German Jews differs from pure German only in the circumstance of its being written in Hebrew characters, yet, as these Jews form an important and distinctive section of the dispersed people of Israel, the several versions executed or printed by them, and for their special benefit, may be entitled to a separate consideration. The number of these Jews settled in the Austrian states has been computed at 700,000:1 until within the last two centuries their condition was degraded and pitiable in the extreme, and their character became enfeebled under the manifold sufferings they were called to undergo in the words of their historian, "they became divested of natural feeling, absorbed in pecuniary interest and self-preservation, and even accustomed to their servile and abject position.' They are now happily released from the persecutions by which their existence was formerly rendered so wretched, as to be justly termed, by a contemporary historian, "a mass of suffering;" but it is remarkable, that they are now said to be characterised by a tendency to "merge Mosaic as well as Talmudic Judaism in a philosophical and social Pantheism." The first portion of the Scriptures translated and published expressly for the German Jews consisted of the Pentateuch and Megilloth (i. e. Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Canticles), an edition of which was printed in Hebrew characters at Cremona, in Italy, in 1542: the author of this translation is unknown, but it is attributed to Elias Levita, a celebrated Jewish grammarian.2 Two years afterwards a version of the Pentateuch, the Megilloth, and the Haphtoroth (lessons from the Prophets appointed to be read in the synagogues), was made by Michael Adam, a converted Jew, and an edition was printed at Constance. The first four chapters of Genesis were printed at the same place, in 1543, from the German-Jewish translation; and the books of Exodus, Joshua, Ezekiel, and Cantitles, appeared at Prague in 1553. Some separate books of the Old Testament were likewise published by R. R. Nathan, F. E. Michol, Mardochaeus, F. Jacob, and others. The first edition of the German New Testament in rabbinical characters was printed at Cracow, in 1540: the work was executed by Johan Hersuge, a converted Jew, on the basis of Luther's version; 1 Da Costa, Israel and the Gentiles, p. 616. 2 Townley's Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 227. |