Haketia (also written as Hakitia or Haquitía) is a largely extinctJewish-Moroccanlanguage, also known as Djudeo Spañol or Ladino Occidental (western Ladino), that was spoken on the Northeast coast of Morocco in Tetuan, Tangiers and the Spanish towns of Ceuta and Melilla, in the latter of which it has achieved partial official recognition.
Description
The well-known form of Ladino, as formerly spoken by Jews living in the Balkans, Greece, Turkey and Jerusalem, is "Ladino Oriental" (eastern Ladino). Haketia may be described by contrast as "Ladino Occidental". The language is a mix of old Spanish, Hebrew, and Arabic words. It was originally written using Hebrew letters, but using Spanish grammar rules. There is some cultural resemblance between the two Judaeo-Spanish dialect communities, including a rich shared stock of Romanzas (ballads) from medieval Spain, though both words and music often differ in detail (as indeed they do between one Oriental-Sephardic community and another).
The name "Haketia" derived from the Arabic ?aka ???, "tell", and is therefore pronounced with aspirated "H", reflecting the Arabic guttural "?a". In some places it is written "Jaquetía" with the same pronunciation.
Haketia is considered to have influenced Llanito, the creole language spoken in the British dependent territory of Gibraltar.
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