| Also Known As: Leshon Knaan,Canaanic,Judeo-slavic
Description:
Knaanic (also called Canaanic, Leshon Knaan or Judeo-Slavic) was a West Slavic Jewish language, formerly spoken in the lands of the Western Slavs, notably the Czech lands, but also the lands of modern Poland, Lusatia and other Sorbian regions. It became extinct in the Late Middle Ages.
The language is sometimes referred to as "Judeo-Czech", though the term is a misnomer as during the Knaanic language's formation the Czech language did not yet differ from the Western Slavic language that gave birth to modern Czech, Polish or Slovak languages.
The name comes from the land of Knaan, a geo-ethnological term denoting the Jewish populations living east of the Elbe river (as opposed to the Ashkenazi Jews living to the West of it, or the Sephardi Jews of Iberian Peninsula). As such, the land is often simply translated as Slavonia, or Slavic Europe.
The term might in turn be related to ancient Canaan (Hebrew כנען "kəna'an"). The use of a name derived from Canaan for a Slavic language spoken by a Jewish peoples living in a Slavic region is an indication to the Canaanite origin of Hebrew language (and people) as perceived by the speakers themselves and/or surrounding Slavic people,..... full article at Wikipedia |
