The word ladino has different uses. On the one hand, it refers to a cunning person. The Ladino in some American countries is a mestizo. At the same time, Ladino is a variant of Old Spanish that is still spoken among the descendants of Spanish Jews.
A ladino is someone cunning and with hidden intentions
Although it is a term in disuse and that can be considered as a cultism, ladino is an adjective that serves to describe someone especially ingenious and cunning. It is normally used in a derogatory sense and it is implied that the ladino person is manipulative, twisted and with some hidden intention. In Spanish, synonyms such as rascal, scoundrel, rogue or rogue are used.
Ladinos in Guatemala
Guatemala is a small Central American country in which historically there has been a process of cultural miscegenation between indigenous and Spanish cultures. In the Guatemalan context, Ladinos are those mestizos who assumed Spanish as their mother tongue. This phenomenon is known as Ladinization and currently Ladinos are recognized as an ethnic group with its own identity.
From a sociological point of view, the Guatemalan ladino was originally a mestizo who renounced his cultural roots, because he did not want to be an indigenous person but rather aspired to become a member of the middle class. In some way, the Ladino was in no man's land, since he was neither a pure Indian nor a member of the ruling class.
The Ladino or Judeo-Spanish language
At the end of the 15th century in Spain the Jews were expelled by the Catholic Monarchs. There are several reasons that explain this fact: the persecution of Judaism as a religion, the role of the Inquisition to maintain Catholic hegemony and the prominence of the Jews as a social group highly feared and envied for its financial power.
The expulsion of the Jews brought diverse consequences. One of them was the creation of their own identity in those places where Jewish communities settled, such as Mexico or the current territory of Israel. The cultural identity of Jews of Spanish origin was maintained because they preserved their language, Ladino or Judeo-Spanish. Ladino is actually the language that was spoken in Spain during the Middle Ages.
It is currently a minority language, but in recent years an attempt has been made to preserve and maintain its cultural legacy. A curious example of this phenomenon occurs in Spain, specifically in the Spanish public radio, in which every week a program is broadcast in the Ladino language (the program is titled "Emission Sefarad" and listening to it you can appreciate how Spanish was spoken in the 15th century).
Photos: iStock - Imgorthand / Alex Potemkin
