Contemporary Writing

Since the 19th century the non-religious texts in Judeo-Spanish are usually written in Latin characters.

Initially no specific orthographic system was established, but the rules for writing French, Italian, Spanish, Turkish or even English were applied according to the background of the authors.

Nowadays a orthography based on exclusively phonetic principles is widespread among the Judeo-Spanish communities in the world. This orthography is not completely standardized and in sharp contras to the conventions of the modern Spanish language it makes no distinction, for instance, between the hard c, k and q (all being rendered by k), or between the soft c and s (both rendered by s only).
 

Alphabet

Letter	A a	B b	D d	E e	F f	G g	H h	I i
Phonetic Value	[a]	[b]	[d]	[]	[f]	[g]	[h], [x]	[i], [j]
Letter	J j	K k	L l	M m	N n	O o	P p	R r
Phonetic Value	[]	[k]	[l]	[m]	[n]	[]	[p]	[r]
Letter	S s	T t	U u	V v	X x	Y y	Z z
Phonetic Value	[s], [z]	[t]	[u], [w]	[v] or [ß]	[gs]	[j]	[z], []

Notes:

• i is pronounced [j] (as the y in English yet) in the diphthongs ie, ia etc., cf. kreasion creation, importansia importance;
• u is pronounced [w] (as the w in English wet) in the diphthongs ue, ua etc., cf. bueno good, kuando when;
• the sound [x], written h, is similar in pronunciation to the Scottish ch in loch;
• the final s is pronounced [z] in front of words beginning with vowels or voiced consonants, cf. los ojos the eyes, las noches the nights;
• z is pronounced also [] (as the s in English vision) in front of [m], cf. el mizmo himself.

Digraphs

• ch is pronounced [t] (as the ch in English chest);
• dj is pronounced [d] (as the j in English jet);
• ny is pronounced [] (similar to the English ni in onion);
• sh is used for [] (as the sh in English shop).