Judaeo-Spanish, (גודיאו-איספאנייול) in Israel commonly referred to as Ladino, and known locally as Judezmo, Djudeo-Espanyol, Djudezmo, Djudeo-Kasteyano, Spaniolit and other names, is a Romance language derived from Old Castilian. As a Jewish language, it is influenced heavily by Hebrew and Aramaic, but also Arabic, Turkish, Greek and other languages where Sephardic exiles settled around the world, primarily throughout the Ottoman Empire.
Like many other Jewish languages, Judaeo-Spanish is in danger of language extinction. Most native speakers are elderly, many of them having emigrated to Israel where the language was not transmitted to their children or grandchildren. However, it is experiencing a minor revival among Sephardic communities, especially in music. In some expatriate communities in Latin America and elsewhere, there is a threat of dialect levelling resulting in extinction by assimilation into modern Spanish. .
