On the Multilingualism of Mountain Jews of the Caucasus

Abstract

Today the main problem for the transnational Mountain Jews’ community and its leaders and activists is saving of the “native” language from the threat of future extinction. Against this background, the idea about variable multilingualism (polyglossia) falls out of the official discourse. However, multilingualism was typical for all known local Mountain Jewish groups, who lived in Northeast and Northwest Caucasus, and remains an integral part of their linguistic identity. The article, based on written sources and fieldworks materials (2019–2023), attempts to provide a detailed description and analysis of the multilingualism of Mountain Jews; the emphasis is on the specific social, religious, everyday and professional functionality of this phenomena.