Issue #605 - 2023-02-27 - Trying to save a disappearing language

latest | archive | edited by Gabor Szabo
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Hi there!

In 1492 the Jews were expelled from Spain and 4 years later also from Portugal. Many of those Jews settled in the Ottoman Empire and kept talking and changing their language. This is what created the language we call 'Judeo-Espanyol' or in its modern name 'Ladino'. For 500 years these people kept speaking and improving their language which is now a mix of medieval Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Turkish, Greek, Italian, Hebrew, Arabic, and probably a few other languages. These Jews are usually referred to as the 'Sephardic' Jews because 'Sepharad' means Spain in Hebrew. It was originally written using old Hebrew letters called Rashi and Solitreo, but in the last 100 years or so it was switched to Latin letters.

Unfortunately due to various reasons (The modernization of Turkey by Atatürk, the Holocaust, emigration to USA, Israel and elsewhere) the majority of remaining Ladino speakers switched to the local language and today there are only a few ten thousands of native Ladino speakers, most of them above 60.

There are various grass-root projects to revitalize the language. One of them is called Kantoniko. It is a multi-lingual dictionary with sample sentences, audio, poster etc. There are also experiments to use the material for educational purposes for people who would like to learn Ladino. The project has some Open Source code written in Python and JavaScript. There is also a lot of data under various Creative-Commons licenses.

I know Python is not your cup of tea, but the whole project might be interesting to some of you and might take a look at it. I recorded a series of videos in English about the site and how to contribute to it.

Enjoy your week!

Gabor Szabo


Announcements

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Articles

First release of SPVM::File::Temp and SPVM::File::Find

by Yuki Kimoto (KIMOTO)

SPVM (Static Perl Virtual Machine) is a perl-ish static typed programing language. SPVM provides fast calculation, fast array operations, easy C/C++ binding, and creating executable files.

Assert Your Environment

by Mikko Koivunalho

When container image gets passed around, the information about the required env settings will certainly get lost. Here is something of a solution to that: How to ensure you have the environment variables and values you need?

Tantalizing TTD

by Flavio Poletti (POLETTIX)

I see TDD as an ideal that you can rarely attain. In green-field projects I rarely know how things should work so my test-writing lags behind the code-writing. However usually after 'some' development I start to feel the lack of tests and then my focus changes.

Template fragments with Mojolicious

by Christiaan Kras

It is about adding template fragment functionality to Mojolicious, for use with htmx.


Testing

Ordering Your Tests

by Tom Wyant (WYANT)

On one hand I think having the tests ordered can be a good idea, but on the other hand we will also want to make sure that the success of the tests does not depend on their order and that they can also be executed in parallel. So I am not really in favor of specifying the order of the test.


Fun

The Weekly Challenge

The Weekly Challenge by Mohammad Anwar will help you step out of your comfort-zone. You can even win prize money of $50 Amazon voucher by participating in the weekly challenge. We pick one winner at the end of the month from among all of the contributors during the month. The monthly prize is kindly sponsored by Peter Sergeant of PerlCareers.

The Weekly Challenge - 206

by Mohammad Sajid Anwar (MANWAR)

Welcome to a new week with a couple of fun tasks "Shortest Time" and "Array Pairings". If you are new to the weekly challenge then why not join us and have fun every week. For more information, please read the FAQ.

RECAP - The Weekly Challenge - 205

by Mohammad Sajid Anwar (MANWAR)

Enjoy a quick recap of last week's contributions by Team PWC dealing with the "Third Highest" and "Maximum XOR" tasks in Perl and Raku. You will find plenty of solutions to keep you busy.

The Highest Maximum

by Arne Sommer

Yet another power packed solutions in Raku. Well done, keep it up.

Exclusive Third Or First

by Bruce Gray

A very thorough blog post with lots of twist and turns. Great job and thanks for sharing.

Reset Content

by Dave Jacoby (JACOBY)

Not just the title but the whole story plot is not to be missed. Highly Recommended.

Perl Weekly Challenge: Week 205

by Jaldhar H. Vyas

Classic Raku show of power. For anyone looking for Raku magic then this is the place.

The Weekly Challenge 205

by James Smith

Beautifully crafted solutions in Perl as always. Thanks for sharing the nitty-gritty, hard to ignore.

PWC205 - Third Highest

by Flavio Poletti (POLETTIX)

Straight forward solutions in Perl and Raku is shared week after week without any fuss. Thanks for sharing.

PWC205 - Maximum XOR

by Flavio Poletti (POLETTIX)

Raku magical power can make any solutions look elegant. Great work, keep it up.

Perl Weekly Challenge 205: Third Highest and Maximum (Bit-Wise) XOR

by Laurent Rosenfeld

Compact one-liner (kind of) in both Perl and Raku. Nothing less was expected from Laurent. Thanks for your contributions.

nested loops in a rush!

by Luca Ferrari

Raku is playing the smart game and getting the job done without any trouble. Great job.

Perl Weekly Challenge 205

by W Luis Mochan

Knows for this one-liner in Perl. He didn't disappoint us this week too. Well done.

Weekly challenge 205

by Peter Campbell Smith

Task analysis of both tasks is well drafted, specially the second one. Just loved it. Thanks.

The Weekly Challenge #205

by Robbie Hatley

Simple for-loops is your friend this week. Robbie shared how? Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

Third Exclusive

by Roger Bell West (FIREDRAKE)

Roger never misses the opportunity to use the power tool of the language. Well done and keep it up.

Weekly Challenge 205

by Simon Green

Use of CPAN can be handy when it comes to Perl. By the way Python is not far behind either.


Weekly collections

Event reports

Perl Jobs by Perl Careers

Senior Perl Developer with Cross-Trained Chops. UK Remote Perl Role

Our client is looking for senior Perl developers, Node engineers, and those with mighty Python and SQL skills to lead their team. Cross-trained team members are their sweet spot, and whether you’re cross-trained yourself or are open to the possibility, this may be your perfect role.

Adventure! Senior Perl roles in Malaysia, Dubai and Malta

Clever folks know that if you’re lucky, you can earn a living and have an adventure at the same time. Enter our international client: online trading is their game and they’re looking for Perl folks with passion, drive, and an appreciation for new experiences along with a strong background in Modern Perl – Moose and PSGI/Plack, and a solid grounding in using Perl’s testing tools.

C, C++, and Perl Software Engineers, Let’s Keep the Internet Safe. UK Remote Perl Role

A leading digital safeguarding solutions provider is looking for a software engineer experienced in C, C++, or Perl. You’ll have strong Linux knowledge and a methodical approach to problem solving that you use to investigate, replicate, and address customer issues. Your keen understanding of firewalls, proxies, Iptables, Squid, VPNs/IPSec and HTTP(S) will be key to your success at this company.



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