Бухарский еврейский диалект: история и современность

Jewish dialect derived from the Tajik branch of the Persian language

Bukharian (autonym: Bukhori, Hebrew script: , Cyrillic: , Latin: Buxorī) is a Judeo Persian dialect historically spoken by the Bukharan Jews of Central Asia. It is a Jewish dialect derived from—and largely mutually intelligible with—the Tajik branch of the Persian language.

Historically, Bukharian was spoken by Jews in Central Asia. The language classification of Bukharian is as follows: Indo European > Indo Iranian > Iranian > West Iranian > Southwest Iranian > Persian > Tajik > Bukharian. In 1987, the total number of speakers was 85,000. In the USSR, there were 45,000 speakers; in Israel, there were 32,000; and in all other countries combined, there were 3,000. among whom were tens of thousands of Bukharan Jews in the 19th to 20th centuries. (In modern times, the dialects spoken by the few remaining Jews in these cities barely differ, if at all, from their non Jewish counterparts.) Today, the language is spoken by approximately 10,000 Jews remaining in Uzbekistan and surrounding areas, although most of its speakers reside elsewhere, predominantly in Israel (approximately 50,000 speakers), and the United States. Like most Jewish languages, Bukhori traditionally used the Hebrew alphabet. But throughout the past century, due to Soviet influence, Bukhori has been written using the Latin alphabet in the 1920s, then Cyrillic from 1940 onwards. The Hebrew alphabet fell further into disuse outside of Hebrew liturgy when the Bukharian Jewish schools were closed in Central Asia and Bukharian Jewish publications, such as books and newspapers, began to appear using the Cyrillic alphabet. Today, many older Bukharian Jews who speak Bukharian only know the Cyrillic alphabet when reading and writing Bukharian. The origin of its respective spelling system is Talmudic orthography. The main organizational supporter for Bukharian Jewish culture today is the World Bukharian Jewish Congress, which aims to teach and spread awareness of the history, culture, language, and literature of the Bukharian Jews. Based on the Soviet census of 1979, 20% more Central Asian Jews spoke Russian than Bukharian. Rybakov has also authored a guide to learning the Bukharian language for English speakers.