Hi Georgios,

I like Dimitra believe this to be a very interesting discussion.  I am awaiting all the post and resources quoted for evidence.  Looking forward to a very enlightening history lesson as always.

Blessings,

Beryl

"Judeo-Greek" refers to both ancient and modern Greek as they were spoken and written by Jews. Other names are Yevanic and Romaniote.

Ancient Judeo-Greek

Like many other peoples of the Hellenistic world, the Jews were well acquainted with the Greek language and used it as a lingua franca, a language of culture and a means of everyday communication. Ancient Judeo-Greek may be studied from epigraphic sources and Bible translations, such as the Septuagint, Aquila, etc.

http://www.jewish-languages.org/judeo-greek.html

When circumstances were favorable – and in Greece they were – the Jews continued to use Greek throughout late antiquity and the Byzantine period. The language relics that have reached us from this historical stage are scarce, limited mainly to Cairo Genizah fragments and solitary glosses in Hebrew/Aramaic texts.

Modern Judeo-Greek

The arrival of Italian- and Spanish-speaking newcomers in Greece at the end of the 15th century changed the socio-linguistic portrait of Greek Jewry. Many communities adopted Judeo-Spanish language and customs, but some preserved the old, so-called "Romaniote" liturgical tradition and the Greek idiom. By the beginning of the 20th century, the Jews of such communities as Ioannina, Arta, Preveza, and Chalkida still spoke a form of Greek that was somewhat different from the Greek of their Christian neighbors. Linguistically, the differences seem to be limited to phonetic, intonational, and lexical phenomena. In contrast to some other Jewish languages, no awareness of language separateness seems to have existed.

The Holocaust decimated the Romaniote communities to such an extent, that practically no competent speakers of this language variety remained alive. The survivors were not numerous enough to maintain a linguistic milieu, and the younger generation moved to Standard Modern Greek in Greece, Hebrew in Israel, and English in the USA.

No systematic research was attempted while Judeo-Greek still flourished. The only texts published in Modern Judeo-Greek were folklore and para-liturgical poetry. An edition of a manuscript and a dictionary of Hebrew/Aramaic loanwords in Modern Judeo-Greek by J. Krivoruchko are now in preparation.

Hi georgios ,here are some more articles on the hebrew  Heritage.

Dany

GREEK OR HEBREW HERITAGE?

     In the days of the Maccabees, God’s people were engaged in a life and death struggle with the Greeks and their ideas. Israel’s adversary in the second century B.C. was Antiochus Epiphanes, ruler of Syria, and one of the subsequent heirs of the Greek world-conqueror, Alexander the Great. The plan of Antiochus was to "Hellenize" the whole empire, including tiny and seemingly insignificant Israel. Hellenization meant complete conformity in Israel to Greek ideas, in all secular fields and especially in religion. Long before the Greeks came into prominence, the angel had warned Daniel that the "prince of Greece" would come (Dan. 10:20). The scripture was thus fulfilled.

     The scholar D.S. Russell in his work, From Early Judaism to Early Church, tells us just how far the Greeks went in accomplishing their purposes: "Jewish youths (young priests among them) enrolled and took part in the games. Many wore the distinctive cap of Hermes, the patron of Greek sports, and athletes tried to remove the mark of circumcision so as to avoid the derision of the crowds...Some of the influences were insidious; others were quite open as in the case of the games in the gymnasiums which were normally accompanied by sacrifices to heathen gods." It was against these influences that the Maccabees or Hasmoneans finally rose up in revolt.

     This clash with Greek culture did not only affect the ancient world. It mightily affects us today, in the early years of the twenty-first century. We see in Daniel that the Greeks are part of the four world empires, which would continue to dominate humanity from Daniel’s time until our own day. We also see from Daniel that these empires all fall at the same time (Dan. 2:35). From Revelation 18:1-24, we learn that this does not happen until the end days. Until these kingdoms fall, their spiritual and insidious influences will continue to affect our world, including Israel and the church. It may be that of these four world empires and their systems, we have been most affected by the Greeks.