סְטֵפָה

Stefa

/steˈfa/

Definition

Stack of banknotes, wad of cash

Origin & History

The word "סְטֵפָה" (stefa) is one of many words that entered Israeli Hebrew from Ladino, which was the language of Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492 and settled mainly in regions of the Ottoman Empire. Ladino itself is a version of old Spanish with additions from many other languages that Ladino speakers came into contact with, especially Turkish and Greek. The word "stefa" is one of those words that were adopted in Ladino from Greek - in this case, from the Greek word "στίβα" (stiva), meaning "pile." In Israeli Hebrew, the word has taken on a more specific meaning - "a stack of banknotes." Ladino was a common language among Jews in the Balkans, Greece, and Turkey, and in the early 20th century it was the most common spoken language in the large Jewish community of Thessaloniki. However, after the Holocaust, in which most Ladino-speaking communities were destroyed, and following the migration of survivors to Israel and their adoption of the Hebrew language, the number of Ladino speakers has greatly diminished. But many words from Ladino, like "stefa," remain part of modern Hebrew as evidence of the multilingual cultural discourse that existed between Ladino and Hebrew during the Yishuv period and in the early years of the State of Israel.

Language Evolution

Ancient Greek

στίβα (stiva)

Pile, stack

Ladino (15th-20th century)

סְטֵפָה (stefa)

Pile, stack

Modern Hebrew

סְטֵפָה (stefa)

Stack of banknotes

Related Words

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