Comparative linguistic analysis of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian scriptural translation in early modern Spain

The literary production of Jews, Christians, and Muslims of medieval and early modern Spain has received attention from numerous scholars. However, research on the religiously affiliated minority varieties of Ibero-Romance Ladino and Aljamiado often examines each variety only in comparison to Early Modern Spanish (Castilian). As a result, there are few studies which compare Ladino and Aljamiado directly. I will argue that these varieties are closer to each other than they are to Early Modern Spanish (Castilian). The first chapter recounts the shared history and uses of these varieties and their communities in and out of Spain. The second chapter is a linguistic analysis of three translations of the Moses narrative in Exodus 2 in the Ladino Biblia de Ferrara and the Castilian Reina-Valera, and in Surah 28 in the Aljamiado Corán de Toledo, which shows the relation between each through the metrics of orthography, verbal system, and syntax. The findings reveal that each source text is similar to each other to different degrees and has a varying level of adherence to the original and accommodation to Ibero-Romance grammar. Ladino and Aljamiado are most similar in terms of syntax when employing calque translation, the Castilian and Aljamiado are closer in their translation of verbs, and the Castilian is closer to the Ladino and Aljamiado than they are to one another regarding spelling. This suggests translation strategies differ between Ladino, Aljamiado, and Castilian and that there are further factors such as language change, language contact, or change in translation methods over time affect the translation of scripture.