Jewish Speech in Early 19th-Century Greek Comedy

Abstract

The article introduces the historical context of multilingual comedy by Greek writers of the early 19th century in Asia Minor, then an Ottoman realm. The author analyzes two passages from Erotomaniac Chatziaslanis and Monsieur Kozis containing Modern Greek dialects, Karamanlidika, Judeo-Spanish, Judeo-Turkish, and Judeo-Greek. The analysis shows that Jewish characters prefer to communicate in Judeo-Turkish. Both plays actively utilize (Jewish and non-Jewish) linguistic varieties for stereotyping and comedic purposes.