Usador:Universal Life/Buena Escritura

Original Phonemes of Judaeo-Spanish

Fonema A

• Amar - To love
• Bakal - Grocery
• Pachá - Leg
  • It's always written with the letter "a". No need to show the emphasis as amár or bakál becasue it's the natural location. In cases where the emphasis is not on natural locations, it's shown with the accent á.
    • Normally always pronounced as /a/. In the Prishtina and Monastir dialects, pronounced as /e/ in non-stressed final positions.

Fonema A Callada

There are two different signs used for this: "å" and "à". They are used in different conditions. The function of this phoneme is that, it reflects the phonemenon of words containing versus not containing the "a" letter in Old Spanish. That's según vs. asegún; mostrar vs. amostrar; sentar vs. assentar; levantar vs. alevantar; rematar vs. arrematar; rebaxar vs. arrebaxar etc.

The problem in the polymorphism of these words is derived from the dialects of the 15th century Spain, carried throughout with Judaeo-Spanish until today, but non-existing in Modern Spanish because of the dominion of the Castilian dialect.

Let's examine how these words are pronounced in Judaeo-Spanish, according to the dialects (Unstressed wovel reduction is not taken into consideration). Three words are used as samples; åsegún, àmostrar, àrrêmatar in 6 dialects.

Dialect 1	Dialect 2	Dialect 3	Dialect 4	Dialect 5	Dialect 6
asegún	asegún and según	según	asegún and según	según	según
amostrar	amostrar	amostrar	amostrar and mostrar	amostrar and mostrar	mostrar
arrematar	arrematar	arrematar	arrematar and rematar	arrematar and rematar	rematar

The expression asegún and según or amostrar and mostrar means that both of them are used but depending on the position of the word. An example (in pronounciation) would be:

• /Asiγún el ministro.../ but,
• /I siγún lo ke disho el ministro.../ (because the word that preceded ends with a vowel)

Policies of othography regarding this phoneme

1. With verbs that has an extra a- in the beginning will be always written with the character "à".
   • Àmostrar, àssentar, àlevantar, àbastar, àmatar, àjustar etc.
   • For those which start with arre-, the ar- portion will be the extra. (Arre- form comes from Aragonese and very widespread in Judaeo-Spanish, the re- form is pure Castilian and those dialects which used this form used to be called Castellano.)
   • Àrrêbbivir, àrrêmatar, àrrêbbaxar etc.
2. The words with more flexible and optional "a", will be written with the character "å" (Åsegún)
   • This is usually SILENT in MOST of the dialects, it's flexible as in the above mentioned example in some dialects and only in one or very few dialects it's always pronounced.

Fonema A Callada (Eńxemplos)

• Àrrêbbivir - To revive
• Àrrêmatar - To get rid of (someone)
• Àrrêbbaxar - To humiliate
• Àmostrar - To show
• Àssentar - To sit
• Àlevantar - To stand up
• Àbastar - To be enough
• Àmatar - To extinguish
• Àjustar - To add
• Åsegún - According to

Fonema Ä (A Aragonés)

• Ämbezar - To teach
• Ämbezarse - To learn
• Äntojos - Eyeglasses
• Änojarse - To be offended
  • Always written as "ä"
    • Pronounced as /a/ or /e/ according to the dialect. So the words abovementioned are pronounced respectively as:
      • Ambezar/Embezar
      • Ambezarse/Embezarse
      • Antojos/Entojos
      • Anojarse/Enojarse according to the dialect.

Fonema Ae

• Aedado - Aged, Old
  • Pronounced as /a/ + /e/. However some dialects pronounce it same as the diphtong "ai" /aj/. So the word aedado in those dialects would be pronounced as /ajdaδo/.

Fonema Ai Naturala

• Aire - Air
• Tomáis - You take
• Huay - Wow (Guay in Spanish)
  • Written as "ay" at the end of words, written as "ai" elsewhere.
    • Pronounced as /aj/ if it's at the end of syllables. In the middle of syllables pronounced as /a/.

Fonema Ai Ajena

• Aydē - Come on (Anda in Spanish)
• Aylak - Idler, wanderer, drifter
• Áysberg - Iceberg
  • Always written as "ay" (variation "áy").
    • Always pronounced as /aj/.

Fonema Aí

• País - Country
• Raíç - Root
• Aínda - Still
• Caído - Fallen
  • Always written "aí".
    • Pronounced separately (in two syllables) /a/ + /i/ and /i/ is stressed. Has two allophones; /aí/ and /aé/, only when í is mid-syllable. So caído is always pronounced /ka(y)iδo/ but the other above-mentioned words has two different pronounciations, according to the dialect.
      1. So País can be pronounced as /pa(y)ís/ but also /paés/ and
      2. Raíç can be pronounced as /ra(y)ís/ but also /raés/ etc.

Fonema B Naturala

This phoneme is roughly where Modern Spanish writes with "b" (not always, as the examples below).
Pronounced "b":

• Bueno - Good
• Àbastar - To be enough
• Ombre - Man
• Doble - Double
• Obtener - Obtain
• Verbo - Verb
• Debbaxo - Below

Pronounced "b" or "v" according to the dialect:

• Abrigar - To shelter
• Ebreo - Hebrew
• Obligado - Obligatory, compulsory
• Publicar - To publish

Pronounced "v":

• Avrir - To open
• Ovra - Work, production, opus
• Árvole - Tree
• Escribir - To write
• Laborar - To work
• Adobar - To repair

Cómo meldar la letra "b"

It's always read as a "b" under these conditions:

• If a word starts with "b": Bueno, Bakal, Bailar, Bivir, Bursa, Barato, Bandiera, Bendezir, Biervo, Besar, Bolar etc.
• If a word starts with "ab": Àbastar, Abastecer, Abandonar, Àbaxar, Àbaxado, Abafar, Absoluto etc.
  • Exception: "r" should not follow.
• Within the word, if it comes after "m": Ombre, Hambre, Ombro, Lumbre, Ämbezarse, Palomba, Lamber etc.
• Within the word, if it comes after "o" and before "l" (-obl-): Doble, Doblar, Problema etc.
  • Note:It should NOT be in the beginning of a word as in Obligado.
• If a word starts with "ob" and NOT followed by "l":Obtener, Observar, Obstácůlo etc.
• Within a word, if it comes after "r": Verbo, Barbuña, Proverbio etc.

So shortly, it is always pronounced as "b";

1. If the word begins with b-, ab- or ob-
2. If inside of the word these combinations are present: -mb-, -obl- and - rb-.

It's read as a "b" or a "v" depending the dialects under these conditions:

• If a word starts with "abr": Abrigo, Abrámila, Abrigado, Abril, Abrigarse etc.
  • It doesn't work if it starts with "à"!
• If a word starts with "ebr": Ebreo etc.
• If a word starts with "obl": Obligado, Obligar, Obligación etc.
• If a word contains (but not starts with) "ubl": Publicar, Publicación etc.

It's always read as a "v" everywhere else:
Examples:Escribir, Laborar, Adobar, Hablar, Aprobar, Subir, Culebra, Alabar, Saber etc.

Some Notes on B/V

• In conditions where a word containing "b" which is pronounced /b/, gets a prefix which puts the "b" in a position to be pronounced as /v/; the "b" is doubled in order to preserve the pronounciation. Baxo - Debbaxo (So that it wouldn't be pronounced as /devasho/ but /debasho/)
• In foreign words as well, in such positions, the "b" is doubled to preserve the pronounciation, such as Xabbat. If you write Xabat, it would be pronounced as /Shavat/.
• Thus, the "bb" is never read double, it's like the /b/ of English or French. The writing of double "b" in Xabbat, has nothing to do with the Hebrew letter "bet" containing a "dagesh".
• In the Spanish speaking world, the letter "b", even if is in the beggining of a word, when that word comes after a word ending in a vowel, the "b" softens and produces /β/. They say /Muj bweno/ but /Ke βweno/. Just like Cuban Spanish, this DOES NOT exist in JS. The word "bueno" is ALWAYS pronounced /bweno/ and never /βweno/ or /vweno/.

A question arises: Why not to write "v", in places where b is pronounced as v? The answers is as follows:

1. Judaeo-Spanish never had a /b/ sound where "b" is pronounced as /v/, except for a few foreign words. Old Sephardim used to have the notion of the sound /b/ only pronounced in the above-mentioned positions, except for a few Hebrew or Italian words. So when they use to try to pronounce a Turkish words such as "abla", they would mispronounce it as "avla". The use of "b" in words such as escribir, intends to re-establish this same notion, that disappeared in the 1940s.
2. The language today is under heavy influence of Castilian, the Modern Spanish. With the disappearance of the above-mentioned notion, when people start to make use of Castilian words, they do it in a manner contradicting Judaeo-Spanish rules. Henceforth, even if the word /lavorar/ exists in JS, JS borrows the words /kolaborar/, /kolaborativo/ with /b/; it makes no sense. There are many more examples. The re-establishment of this notion wouldn't stop the flow of words and grammatical influx from Castilian, however it would stop unhealty borrowings, and also could help re-establishing purism in the language, which together with other factors, could stop the influx from Castilian.
3. An undeniable factor comes from within the language itself: The dialectal pronounciation of b as /b/ or /v/ in some positions. Many academics are not aware of this fact, however, if you go and ask old native people how they the words such as abrigarse, abrámila, ebreo, obligado, publicar; they will pronounce these words with /b/ or /v/, clearly according to where they are born. We also see the same polymorphism of b/v in different publications, relevantly with the place of origin of the authors. So, it would be a frank denial and oblivion, not to regard and transcribe this existing phonological phenomenon in the language.
4. Not all dialects of JS, but many of it have/had this strong phonemic concept of /b/ vs. /-v-/; just as /d/ vs. /-δ-/ and /g/ vs. /-γ-/. If we are going to transcribe all the sounds, then why don't we write Deδo and Paγar? But the aim of this script is not to transcribe the sounds but rather the phonemes, in order to conserve them and have a standard othograpghy for all dialects.
5. A last but not the least reason is that, it would ease the communication with the entire hispano world.

The words that has a "v" in Castilian but uses "b" in Judaeo-Spanish:

• Bivir - To live
• Àrrêbbivir - To revive
• Bolar - To fly
• Àboltar - To turn
• Bivo - Alive
• Boz - Sound
• Biervo - Word
• Bivdo - Widow

Examples of Words Written with B

• Abandonar - To abandon, to leave - read as b
• Abastecer - To supply - read as b
• Abrámila - Plum - read as b or v, according to the dialect
• Abrigar - To shelter - read as b or v, according to the dialect
• Abrigo - Shelter - read as b or v, according to the dialect
• Abril - April - read as b or v, according to the dialect
• Absoluto - Absolute - read as b
• Adobar - To repair - read as v
• Alabar - To praise - read as v
• Aprobar - To approve - read as v
• Arriba - Up(stairs) - read as v
• Atabbafar, Abafar - To suffocate - read as b
• Áysberg - Iceberg - read as b
• Àbastar - To be enough - read as b
• Àbaxar - To go down - read as b
• Àbaxada - Common cold, catarrh - read as b
• Àboltar - To turn - read as b
• Àrrêbbaxar - To humiliate - read as b
• Àrrêbbivir - To revive - read as b
• Ämbezar - To teach - read as b
• Ämbezarse - To learn - read as b
• Bailar - To dance - read as b
• Bakal - Grocery - read as b
• Bandiera - Flag - read as b
• Barato - Cheep - read as b
• Barbuña - Kidney bean - read as b
• Batal - Invalid and jobless person - read as b
• Bendezir - To bless - read as b
• Besar - To kiss - read as b
• Biervo - Word - read as b
• Bivdo - Widow - read as b
• Bivir - To live - read as b
• Bivo - Alive - read as b
• Bolar - To fly - read as b
• Boz - Sound - read as b
• Bueno - Good - read as b
• Bursa - Bursa, a city - read as b
• Culebra - Snake - read as v
• Debbaxo - Below - read as b
• Doble - Double - read as b
• Doblar - To fold, to double - read as b
• Ebreo - Hebrew - read as b or v, according to the dialect
• Escribir - To write - read as v
• Fabbrika - Factory - read as b
• Hablar - To speak - read as v
• Hambre - Hunger - read as b
• Laborar - To work - read as v
• Lamber - To lick - read as b
• Líbbero - Free - read as b
• Lumbre - Flame, Fire - read as b
• Obligación - Obligation - read as b or v, according to the dialect
• Obligado - Obligatory, compulsory - read as b or v, according to the dialect
• Obligar - To oblige - read as b or v, according to the dialect
• Observar - To observe - read as b
• Obstácůlo - Obstacle - read as b
• Obtener - Obtain - read as b
• Ombre - Man - read as b
• Ombro - Shoulder - read as b
• Palomba - Pigeon - read as b
• Problema - Problem - read as b
• Proverbio - Proverb - read as b
• Publicar - To publish - read as b or v, according to the dialect
• Publicación - Publication - read as b or v, according to the dialect
• Rabbino - Rabbi - read as b
• Saber - To know - read as v
• Subir - To go/come up - read as v
• Verbo - Verb - read as b
• Xabón - Soap - read as v

Fonema B Ajena

The /b/ sound that has foreign origin; may be written with "b" or "bb", explained above.

Fonema Bua/Bue/Gua/Gue

• Bueno - Good
• Agua - Water
• Abuargualás - ?
  • Always written according to the original spelling; that's "bue", "bua", "gue" or "gua".
    • Normally pronounced separately according to the spelling. However some dialects, especially some places in Morocco, pronounces all of the above mentioned spellings as /whe/ or /wha/ (Like English "wh" in "when" but little bit more rounded, as if it was "wu"). So the above mentioned words become pronounced as /wheno/, /awha/ and /awharwhalás/.
    • Some dialects of European JS, does the same thing, but not to "bue" and "bua", but only to "gue" and "gua". So, there, it becomes /bweno/ but /awha/.

Fonema Ç

• Çapato - Shoe
• Cenar - To dine
• Cien - Hundred
• Coraçón - Heart
• Açúcar - Sugar
• Luç - Light
• Paç - Peace
  • Always written as a "ç" except if in front of "e" or "i", where it's written as "c".
    • The pronounciation depends on the dialects. First we have to segregate two groups of dialects: One; the ones pronouncing it as /ts/ (like the tsadik of Hebrew) and Two; the ones that don't. The ones that do, always pronounce it as /ts/. The ones that don't, pronounce it as a /s/ everywhere except at the end of a word. Some pronounce it as /s/ always at the end, some pronounce it as /z/ at the end and some pronounce it both as /s/ and /z/ according to the situation. The latter says /serrame la lus/ but /la luz manka/.

SPELLING	Dialect 1	Dialect 2	Dialect 3	Dialect 4
ÇAPATO	tsapato	sapato	sapato	sapato
CENAR	tsenar	senar	senar	senar
CIEN	tsien	sien	sien	sien
CORAÇÓN	koratson	korason	korason	korason
AÇÚCAR	atsukar	asukar	asukar	asukar
LUÇ	luts	lus	luz	lus and luz
PAÇ	pats	pas	paz	pas and paz

Fonema Ch

• Chico - Small
• Chay - Tea

Fonema D Naturala

• Dar - To give
• Padre - Father
• Madre - Mother
• Dedo - Finger
• Buendad - Goodness
  • Always written with a "d".
    • Same pronounciation rules as in Castilian, except for, in some dialects the "d" at the end is pronounced as "t". So the word buendad can be pronounced as /buendaδ/, /buendá/ or /buendat/ according to the dialects. This exception has an irregularity of its own that occurs especially when the word of concern is a verb. In that condition, the pronounciation of the final -d of a verb is irrespective of how the dialect make us of its own final -d's. The verbs such as tomad, comed and bivid and its compounds such as dadme are almost universally pronounced as /tomá/, /komé/, /biví/ and /da:me/ in the Oriental dialects, irrespective of how they pronounce buendad or verdad for instance. And in Occidental dialects and Haketia, there are dialects which pronounce it as a full /δ/ as well.

Fonema D Ajena

• Diz - Knee
• Oddaíca - Small room
  • Written as "d" or "dd" according to position. "Dd" is used to prevent the soft pronounciation /δ/.
    • Always pronouned as in Diente never as in Puede.

Fonema Dj Ajena

• Djamí - Mosque
• Adjilé - Haste, Urgency
  • Always written as "dj". Only in foreign words. Words such as Justo or Judía never written with "dj".
    • Always pronounced as "j" of English word "Just". Only in Haketia, always pronounced as "j" of French.

Fonema Dl

• Tomadlo - Take it
• Dadlo - Give it
  • Pronounced as /ld/ in the Oriental dialect and as /dl/ in the Occidental dialect.
    • If a word, albeit foreign in origin, contains the sound /dl/ in all the dialects (or at least in the Oriental one), it's transcribed as "ddl". No examples found yet.

Fonema Dh

• Sudh - South
• Sudheste - Southeast
• Sudhoeste - Southwest
• Mercedh - Grace, mercy
• Dhueler - To hurt
  • Pronounced as /d/ in some dialects and as /r/ in some other.

Fonemas E, Ê, Ě i Ē

Word	Salonician Dialect	Dialect of Istanbul	Dialect of Edirne	Occidental Dialects	Explanation	Meaning
De	de	de	de	di	monosyllabic word	of
Les	les/lez	les/lez	les/lez	lis/liz	monosyllabic word	to them
Llena	yena	yena	yena	lyena/yena/lyene/yene	stressed "e"	full
Ermoso	ermozo	ermozo	ermozo	irmozu	"e" is in mid-syllable	beautiful
Venir	venir	vinir	vinir	vinir	presence of -ir	to come
Sentir	sentir	sintir	sintir	sintir	presence of -ir	to listen
Mentira	mentira	mintira	mintira	mintira/mintire	presence of -ir	lie
Señor	senyor	sinyor	sinyor	sinyor	end syll.+next syll. stressed "i", "o" or "u"	mister
Mejor	mejor	mijor	mijor	mijor	end syll.+next syll. stressed "i", "o" or "u"	better
Vezino	vezino	vizino	vizino	vidzinu/vizinu	end syll.+next syll. stressed "i", "o" or "u"	neighbour
Segundo	segundo	sigundo	sigundo	sigundu	end syll.+next syll. stressed "i", "o" or "u"	second
Teralaña	teralanya	tiralanya	tiralanya	tiralanye/tiralanya	end syll.+next syll. unstressed "a"	spider
Ämbêzamiento	embezamiento	ambezamiento	ambezamiento	a/embizamientu	use of ê because of -ar	teaching
Ēddukasyón	edukasyon	edukasyon	edukasyon	edukasyon	use of ē because it's a foreign word	education
Rēlijiyón	relijiyon	relijiyon	relijiyon	relijiyon	use of ē because it's a foreign word	religion
Bēbida	bevida	bevida	bevida	bevide/bevida	exceptional use of ē not to confuse the sense with "bivir"	drink
Quěrida	kerida	kerida	kirida	kirida/e	use of ě because of -er	darling

Fonema Ė

• Dėsde - Since
• Mėsmo - Same
  • To countervene the contrast of /dezde/ vs. /dizde/; /mezmo/ vs. /mizmo/ etc. Because the "e" is stressed, the dialectal reduction of it to /i/ is not possible and in Mediavel Spain, the same contrast of mesmo/mismo etc. existed as well. This is clearly a dialectal polymorphism, carried out through 15th century till now. To favour one variety over the other would hamper the dialectal richness of the language. So the letter "ė" will standardise the spelling and preserve the dialects as well.
  • For instance, Istanbul, a city who recieved Sephardic communities from different regions of Spain, including Castile and Aragón, have a variety of regional JS coinés, like those in Balat, Kuledibi, Kuzguncuk, Kadiköy etc. One can hear both the words /mezmo/ and /mizmo/ in the streets of Istanbul, as each regional coiné favoures/favoured one over the other. The interaction of the Sephardim in these regions and the disappearance of these virtual communities, brought these coinés or sub-dialects into the brink of destruction. Establishing a phonemic script, discovering the use of every phoneme in each original community all over the world, reforming the language and reimposing and popularising each dialect into the mind of young Sephardim, can only save the language's destiny.

Fonema È

• Ènteressante - Interesting
• Èmportante - Important

Fonema Ei Naturala

• Reina - Queen
• Coméis - You eat
• Veinte - Twenty
• Rey - King
  • Written as "ey" at the end of words, written as "ei" elsewhere.
    • Pronounced as /ej/ if it's at the end of syllables. In the middle of syllables pronounced as /e/.

Fonema Ei Ajena

• Eylul - A month in Jewish calendar
  • Always written as "ey" (variation "éy").
    • Always pronounced as /ej/.

Fonema F

• Flor - Flower
• Favor - Favour
• Fierra - Iron
• Fabbrika - Factory
• Fustán - Skirt
  • Always written with and pronounced as "f".
    • Exception (in some dialects) when it comes before -ue or -ui, explained below.

Fonema Fue/Fui

• Fuerte - Strong
• Fuente - Fountain
• Fuego - Fire
• Fuerça - Strength
• Fuir - To run away
  • Always written with "f".
    • Pronounced /fue-fui/ or /xue-xui/ (/x/ designates a strong "h", "j" of Northern Spain, "ch" in German "loch" or like "chet" of Hebrew) according to the dialect. So, someone from Edirne would pronounce the word "fuego" as /xwéγo/.

Fonema G

• Ganar - To win
• Gato - Cat
• Alguno - Some, Someone
• Gerra - War
• Giar - To guide
• Gizar - To cook
• Gaf - Slip
• Grip - Flu
• Agora - Now
• Agua - Water
• Jugar - To play
• Avagar - Slow
• Dialogg - Dialogue
• Aggaddá - Haggadah
• Ggoler - To smell

Pronounciation of G

• The letter "g" has two main pronounciations: /g/ and /γ/.
• The Castilian pronounciation of "g" (except for "ge" and "gi" which we write "je" and "ji") is kept exactly the same in some dialects of JS. Examples: /ganar/, /gato/, /alguno/, /gerra/ but /juγar/, /aγwa/, /aγora/.
• There is no JS dialect that pronounces all the "g"s with /g/ sound. However some dialects pronounce all the "g"s with the /γ/ sound, except for when they come before "e" and "i" (Castilian "gue" and "gui"). Examples: /γanar/, /γato/, /alγuno/, /gerra/, /juγar/, /aγwa/, /aγora/.
• Some dialects follow a mixed rule between the two above mentioned dialects. They pronounce the "g" as /g/ in the beggining of a word, however they soften it, unlike Castilian, next to sibilant or fricative sounds. So they say /ganar/ but /alγuno/.
• Some dialects pronounce the word "agua" as /awha/. (Explained earlier).
• The double g, "gg" has two functions. In hard positions, like the beggining of a word, they are to be pronounced as /γ/. So Ggoler is to be pronounced as /γoler/ in every dialect. As vice-versa, "gg" in soft positions, like between vowels or end of a word, is to be pronounced hard /g/ - just like "dd". So Dialogg, Rodrigg, Aggaddá are to be pronounced /dialog/, /rodrig/ and /agadá/ respectively. The double g in Aggaddá is not there because of the dagesh in the Hebrew letter gimel.

Fonema Gh

Only exists in Haketia. For representing the Arabic letter غ. It's pronounced as the same letter in Moroccan Arabic. It's a vibrant pharyngeal, very similar to French "r", but less thrilled. Also very similar to how Anatolian Turks pronounce "ğ".

Fonema Ğ

• Juğeves - Thursday
• Tuğerto - Twisted, Bent
• Veğo - I see
• Creğo - I believe
  • The "ğ" has nothing to do with the Turkish "ğ". It's there to standardise the orthography in front of several allophones. It is a sign of diphtongisation of words: ue to ugue or from eo to eigo.
  • It's always found between two vowels: UĞE or EĞO
    • It has two pronouciations, according to the sorrounding vowels. Depending on the dialect, it's silent, pronounced as /γ/ or /y/ or pronounced as /γu/ or /ey/. See table below.

Spelling	Dialect 1	Dialect 2	Dialect 3
Juğeves	jueves	juγeves	juγueves
Tuğerto	tuerto	tuγerto	tuγuerto

Spelling	Dialect 1	Dialect 2	Dialect 3
Veğo	veo	veyo	veyγo
Creğo	kreo	kreyo	kreyγo

• These Dialects 1-2-3 in the two tables above do not correspond to each other.

Fonema H

• Hablar - To speak
• Haldiquera - Pocket
• Harina - Flour
• Hoja - Leaf, Page
• Hijo - Son
• Hija - Daughter
• Humo - Smoke
  • This phoneme has three clear allophones:
    1. /ø/ (no sound) - In Turkey and some regions of Bulgaria and Rhodes
    2. /f/ (like f in English) - In most of places of Europe, including Salonika and Sarajevo
    3. /h/ (like h in English hat) - In the dialect Haketia (Morocco and some other African places) and few sub-dialects in Europe.
    • It's NOT pronounced in some dialects, pronounced as /f/ in some dialects and /h/ in some other.

Fonema Hue

• Huevo - Egg
• Huerta - Garden
• Huérfano - Orphan
• Huay - Wow
  • This phoneme has clearly nothing to do with the "phoneme h". It has two allophones:
    1. /w/
    2. /γu/

Letra H

The letter "h" represents two different phonemes; the phoneme h and hue. The phoneme hue happens only if the letter comes before -ue. In that case no dialect reads it "f" or "h". In all the other cases, it's the phoneme "h", which can be silent, /f/ or /h/ according to the dialect.
The Castilian "h" is used in some other cases. These are the cases where Latin had a "h" or another letter like "g". So, they write Hoy, Hay, Hombre, Ahora, Hermano.
The JS, never writes these silent "h", be it derived from "h" Latin, "h" Hebrew (hey) or "other letter" Latin (like "g"). So we write Oy, Ay, Ombre, Agora, Aggaddá, Beemá and Ermano. If written with "h", they would be confused with the natural phoneme h and people could pronounce them "Foy, Fombre, Fagadá, Befemá" by mistake.
Some words, such as Ermoso, that originally had a "f" at the start of the word, through rapid evolution of JS, lost it completely and no dialect in the Levantine JS, says /fermozo/ or /firmozu/, except one very small well-conserved sub-dialect. Additionnaly Haketia, conserves the "h" sound in hermoso.
In this case we write Ermoso as the standard word, but accept the spelling Hermoso as a variant for Haketia and the small sub-dialect above mentioned. (Just like the American spelling color for colour.)
The strong "h" sound (like in het of Hebrew) that comes from Hebrew or Arabic, in JS, is NOT transcribed by "h", but by JH.

Fonema Hh

Only exist(ed) in Haketia. See Fonema Hh below.

Fonema I

• Hilo - Thread
• Sí - Yes
• I - And
• Vitrina - Shop window
• Kiló - Kilo
• Iddea - Idea
  • It's always written with the letter "i". No need to show the emphasis as hílo or vitrína becasue it's the natural location. In cases where the emphasis is not on natural locations, it's shown with the accent í.
    • Always pronounced as /i/.

Fonema Î

• Împerio - Empire
• Îstoria - History
• Lîngua - Language
  • Always written with the letter "î".
    • Is pronounced as /i/ or /e/ according to the dialect. This phoneme has been carried and preserved since Spain, since more than five centuries. In Old Spain, this contrast would reflect the dialects: emperio (Castilian) vs. imperio (other dialects), lengua (Castilian), lingua (other dialects). Same goes for JS; it conserves the polymorphisms istoria/estorya, imperio/emperio, lingua/lengua. It should NOT be confused with the polymorphism of emportante/importante, enteresante/interesante.

Fonema J

• Ánjel - Angel
• Àrrecojer - To pick up
• Enjuntos - Together
• Escojer - To choose
• Jarro - Pitcher
• Jente - People
• Joya - Jewel
• Judía - Jew (female)
• Judió - Jew (male)
• Justo - Right, Just, Exact
• Mujer - Woman
• Ojo - Eye
• Oreja - Ear
• Verjel - Orchard
  • Always written with "j".
    • It has two natural allophones: /dj/ (as English "j" or French "dj") and /j/ (French "j"). It's pronounciation changes according dialects.
      1. In some dialects, such as Haketia, it's always read as /j/.
      2. In some other dialects, it's always a /dj/ in the beginning of a word and always a /j/ in the middle (except for if it comes after à).
      3. And in some other dialects, like Istanbul, Edirne and Salonik, it's always a /dj/ in the beginning of a word, after "n-", after "r-" and after inicial "a-"; and in other positions it's a /j/.

Spelling	Dialect 1	Dialect 2	Dialect 3
Jarro	jarro	djarro	djarro
Jente	jente	djente	djente
Justo	justo	djusto	djusto
Verjel	verjel	verjel	verdjel
Ánjel	ánjel	ánjel	ándjel
Àjustar	ajustar	adjustar	adjustar
Ojo	ojo	ojo	ojo
Oreja	oreja	oreja	oreja
Escojer	eskojer	eskojer	eskojer

Fonema Jh

• Jhaźino - Sick
• Jhadra - Whims
• Aljhad - Sunday
• Jhabber - News
• Jhaver - Partner, mate
• Ajharvar - To beat
  • Always written with "jh", represents a strong "h" sound like the "j" in Northern Spain or the ח (xet) of Hebrew.

Fonema Jj Ajena

• Jjurnal - Newspaper
• Jjilé - Waistcoat
• Deranjjar - To disturb
• Enrejistrar - To register
  • The /j/ sound from foreign words. Written as "jj" in the start of a word, if it comes as "aj-", after "n-" or "r-". Otherwise always written as "j".
    • Always pronounced as /j/.

Fonema K Naturala

• Querer - To want
• Quitar - To remove
• Cada - Each, every
• Comer - To eat
• Culo - Ass
• Crîar - To create
  • Written with "qu before -e and -i. Otherwise always written with "c".
    • Read as /k/.

Fonema K Ajena

• Kolay - Easy
• Diskutir - To discuss
• Kapak - Cover
• Kaji - Almost
  • Always written with a "k" and pronounced /k/.

Fonema Kh

Only exists in Haketia. Represents ق the Arabic letter khaf (or qaf). It's a velar fricative sound.

Fonema L

• Lana - Wool
• Lavar - To wash
• Àlevantar - To stand up
• Líbbero - Free
• Laxón - Chat

Fonema Ll

• Llo - I
• Llevar - To bring
• Maravilloso - Wonderful
• Llena - Full
• Cebolla - Onion
• Estrella - Star
• Familla - Family
• Callente - Hot
  • Always written "ll".
    • The pronounciation depends on the dialect and the position. In the start of a word, it's pronounced as a usual "y", as a palatal strong "y" or as a /ly/ sound according to the dialect. In mid-position, some dialects do not pronounce it at all, some pronounce "y", some as strong palatal y and some as /ly/.
    • To example the pronounciation, the word estrella, can be pronounced as:
      • /estrea/
      • /estreya/
      • /estreyya/
      • /estrelya/
    • The words that contain "li" in Castilian, became "ll" in JS. (Familla, callente)
    • The foreign words that contain double ll sound, are transcribed with a trple l (lll), such as the proper names "Bellla" and "Stellla".

Fonema Ly

• Milyón - Million
  • Used for foreign words that contain a /ly/ sound, pronounced the same regardless of the dialect.

Fonema M

• Madre - Mother
• Ma - But
• Malgrado - In spite of, despite of
• Mover - To abort
• Mach - Match
• Maalé - Quarter

Fonema N

• Nada - Nothing
• Nano - Dwarf
• Nacer - To be born
• Negro - Bad
• Naranja - Orange
• Na - Here it is
• Nifús - Population

Fonema Ń

• Muńcho - Much
• Ańsí - So, that's how, like this
• Ańsina - Like that
• Eńxemplo - Example
  • Always written "ń".
    • It's pronounced as an /n/ in most of the dialects, but not pronounced at all in some other dialects. So you get the variety /muncho/ vs. /mucho/ and /enshemplo/ vs. /eshemplo/.

Fonema Ñ

• Año - Year
• Cuñado - Brother-in-law
• Señor - Mister
• Baño - Bath
• Ñeto - Grandson
• Ñeve - Snow
• Ñervarse - To get angry
  • Always written "ñ".
    • Pronounciation is whether /ny/ or /ŋ/ according to the dialect. But most of it uses /ny/.
    • When it is in the begginig of a word, some dialects add an /i/ sound to the start. Therefore, in those dialects, it is said /inyeto/, /inyeve/ and /inyervarse/.

Fonema Nue

• Nuestro - Our
• Nueve - Nine
• Nuevo - New
• Ernuera - Daughter-in-law
  • Almost all dialects pronounces the letter "n" as an "m", if it comes before -ue. But some dialects, keep the "n" pronounciation. Sometimes in some dialects, the pronounciation depends on the social class.

Fonema Œ

• Dœśpués - After(ward)
• Vœluntad - Will, wish
• Prœnunciación - Pronounciation
  • Pronounced /e/ or /o/ according to the dialect.

Fonema Rd

• Tarde - Late
• Verde - Green
• Gordo - Fat
• Verdad - Truth

Fonema Sc

• Buscar - To find
• Pėscar - To fish
• Pėscado - Fish
• Mosquito - Mosquito

Fonema Sue

• Sueño - Dream
• Suegra - Mother-in-law

Fonema Is/Iss

• Seis - Six
• Visitar - To visit
• Quisites - You wanted
• Tomáis - You take
• Coméis - You eat
• Bivís - You live
• Pissar - To pie

Fonema Ts Ebrea

• Matsá - Matzah
• Tsáddik - Tzadik
  • Always written with "ts", even if some dialects pronounce it as /s/ or /ch/, even on a non-regular fashion.

Fonema V

• Venir - To come
• Uva - Grape
• Ver - To see
• Vaca - Cow
• Validja - Luggage
• Vavá - Grandmother
• Verde - Green, Muslim Turkish (slangue)
• Ventana - Window

Fonema Ź

The /z/ sound, in foreign words. Never used at the end of the words. The purpose of use is to maintain the difference in the pronounciation of /dz/ and /z/, in the dialects where "z" is pronounced as /dz/.

Fonema ˤ

Only exists in Haketia. Represents the sound of ayin (Old Hebrew and Arabic).

Borrowed Phonemes in Late Phase I (1860s-1930s)

Fonema X Francesa

• Egzamén - Examination
• Egzakto - Exact
• Taksi - Taxi

Borrowed Phonemes in Late Phase II (1930s-1990s)

Fonema Ö

• Mösyő - Mister

Fonema Ü

• Kontünear - To continue

Borrowed Phonemes in Late Phase III (1990s-2010s)

Fonema Hh

• Hholanda - Netherlands

Fonema ı

• Sıkılear - To get bored