Jewish Languages Quiz

From Hebrew to Aramaic, Ladino, Yiddish, and Judaeo-Arabic--how much do you know about the languages that Jews spoke in the past and continue to speak today?

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Question 1. Where did Yiddish originate?
 Poland
 The Soviet Union
 Germany
 Hungary
 Lithuania

 

Question 2. In the Middle Ages, Hebrew was used primarily for what?
 Day-to-day conversations
 Written correspondence
 Ritual and religious purposes
 None of the above

 

Question 3. The first attested Jewish Aramaic texts are from:
 The Jewish military outpost in Elephantine
 The Book of Ezra
 The Book of Daniel
 The Zohar

 

Question 4. Which is NOT a name for Ladino?
 Spanyol
 Judezmo
 Solitreo
 Judió

 

Question 5. Judah Monis, the first full-time Hebrew instructor in American, taught at which university?
 University of Michigan
 Brandeis University
 Harvard University
 Yale University

 

Question 6. Up to the beginning of the 20th century, Ladino was almost always written in
 A mix of characters from Hebrew and Spanish
 Spanish characters only
 Aramaic characters
 Hebrew characters with some modifications

 

Question 7. According to rabbinic literature, Hebrew is the language of whom?
 God
 The angels
 All humanity
 All of these

 

Question 8. Where is the only Ladino newspaper in the world published?
 Madrid
 Tel Aviv
 Istanbul
 Jerusalem

 

Question 9. How is Hebrew written?
 From left to right
 From right to left
 From above to below
 From below to above

 

Question 10. Who developed a vocabulary for modern Hebrew by incorporating words from ancient and medieval Hebrew, in addition to creating new words?
 Rashi
 Mendele Mokher Seforim
 Eliezer ben Yehuda
 Moses Mendelssohn

 

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