Until about a hundred years ago almost the entire Judeo-Greek literary heritage of Romaniot communities – translations of books of the Bible and songs= remained in manuscript. The only two larger Judeo Greek works published before them were the polyglot Pentateuch, printed in Istanbul in 1547. which contained a translation in Judeo-Greek, and the Judeo Greek translation of the Book of Job, printed in Istanbul in 1576 (of which no copy has survived).
The first scholar to draw attention to Judeo-Greek sons was Spyridon Papageorgiou. He was a Christian from Cofu, one of the few localities where a Romaniot community had survived and where Judeo-Greek was spoken until recent times. At the fifth international Congress of Orientalists held in Berlin in 1882, Papageorgiou delivered a lecture on Judeo-Greek religious hymns of the Jews of Corfu. IN 1900 he published in Epeteres Parnassos, the annual translations of the Athens Philological Society, several Judeo-Greek dirges which were sung in the synagogue and in private homes on the Ninth of Av. M. Caimi and L. Belleli, both natives of Corfu, also took an interest in Judeo-Greek songs.
In the period between the two World Wars, the late Rabbi David Frankel, well known publisher and bookseller, visited Greece and bought many manuscripts and books, Kethubot and other documents of Jewish interest. After his return to Vienna, he published a catalog of the material he acquired entitled Lekorot Yisrael BeMalkhut Yavan. The catalog listed Judeo-Greek songs in manuscripts.
In 1953 Joseph Matsah published sixteen Judeo-Greek songs in Greek transliteration. More recently he put out a larger collections of songs in Sefunot (Vol.15). The thirty four sons in the collection are printed in Jewish characters and are accompanied by a Hebrew translation by Revuen Tov Elem. These songs, many of which have been published before by Papageiorgiou and those who followed in his steps, include songs for the Sabbath, holidays and other festive occasions as well as elegies for the Ninth of Av.
Most of these songs come from Janina and Corfu. In Janina, like in Corfu and some other Jewish communities in Greece, Romaniot traditions and the Judeo-Greek language had survived until World War II. The Judeo-Greek spoken in Corfu contained many Italian words.
The Judeo-Greek Bible translations, too have been the object of study since the end of the last century. Lazar Belleli was the first to do so. Almost three decades ago, Dr. Goldschmidt published in Kiryat Sefer (1957-1958) “Targume HaMIkra LiYevanit Me’et Yehduim Bnei Hameah HaTet Zayin” (Bible translations into Greek by Jews in the 16th century).
Two American jews have taken an interest in Judeo-Greek. The late Benjamin Schwartz published in the Joshua Bloch Memorial Volume (1960) a Judeo-Greek elegy about the destruction of the Temple with English translations. He also prepared for print with Aoostolos N. Athanassakis “The Judeo Greek Hymns of Ianina” with an English translation. The book is not yet published. Ms. Rachel Dalvin, a Greek Jewish historian living in the United States contributed the article “Judeo-Greek” to the Encyclopedia Judaica.