ABSTRACT
Catalan is the vernacular language spoken in the Catalonia region of Spain, including its capital, Barcelona. It was the native tongue of Nahmanides and his adversary Pablo, and likely the language of the debate itself, despite the fact that the written accounts are in Hebrew and Latin. A few other Catalan words appears in the account of the 1263 debate written by Nahmanides. Four songs contain advice to newlyweds and were perhaps sung at wedding celebrations, while the fifth song is a cautionary tale about a marriage between an old man and a much younger girl. Additional Judeo-Catalan words are found in a handful of official Hebrew documents and account books, as well as in Hebrew texts related to medicine or botany. The Catalan language is very closely related to Provençal, and although today they are quite distinct, in the Middle Ages they were much more similar. The Jewish communities of Catalonia and Provence also had long-standing historical connections.
