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Judeo-French

Teacher: Dr Sandra Hajek, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Class Level: Advanced Beginners (knowledge of French required)

Class Schedule 2025-26: Thursdays from 13:45-14:45 UK Time (you can check time-zone comparisons on sites such as this one)

Class Length: 1-term class (Hilary Term 2026) (Oxford dates of term are available on the University website)

Class Description: The term ‘Judeo-French’ (Fr. judéo-français) designates the Old French words and texts written by Jews in medieval northern France using the Hebrew alphabet. From the Early Old French period (10th century onwards), Old French glosses appear in Jewish scholars’ commentaries to the Bible and the Talmud (Rashi), whereas in the Late Old French period (13th century and early 14th century), we find Hebrew-Old French biblical glossaries of partially great length, Judeo-French passages in poetical texts for use in Jewish liturgy, Old French glosses featuring in Hebrew dictionaries and medical texts and—rarely—full-length Judeo-French texts like a medical tractate about fevers. In this class, the different genres of Judeo-French texts will be presented in the context of Jewish life and culture in medieval northern France, and participants will be trained in reading, transliteration and linguistic analysis of Judeo-French material from medieval manuscripts.

Reference Materials: Unfortunately, there is no Judeo-French text- or study-book yet. As an introductory lecture (in English) to the subject of Judeo-French, Dr Hajek recommends the following article: Dörr, Stephen/Kiwitt, Marc (2017): ‘Judeo-French’, in: Lily Kahn and Aaron D. Rubin (eds.): Handbook of Jewish Languages, Leiden: Brill, pp. 138–177. There is one introduction to Old French in English: Kibler, William W. (3rd edition, 1986): An Introduction to Old French. New York, NY: Modern Language Association of America. Additionally, there is a journal article on phonetics/phonology and orthography of Old French available on JSTOR: Hall, Robert A. Jr. (1946): ‘Old French Phonemes and Orthography’, Studies in Philology vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 575-585. The titles of scientific works, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. Dr Hajek will use will be given in the form of a detailed list at the beginning of the class.