Verse:Irta/Judeo-Mandarin: Difference between revisions

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'''Judeo-Mandarin''' is a descendant of Old Mandarin, spoken by most Chinese Jews in Irta.
{{Infobox language
|creator = [[User:IlL|Inthar]]
|name = {{SUBPAGENAME}}
|altname = Yiddish (in-universe), Judeo-Gaelic, Nithish, Yithish, Ithish
|image =
|setting = [[Verse:Irta]]
|nativename =אן ייִדיש ăn Yidiș/אן אידיש ăn Idiș
|pronunciation = ən '(j)ɪd̪ɪʃ
|region = Europe; North America
|states =
|speakers = 13 million
|date = 2021
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam1=Indo-European
|fam2=Celtic
|fam3=Goidelic
|fam4=Old Irish
|fam5=Middle Irish
|script=Hebrew script
}}
In [[Verse:Irta|Irta]], '''Ăn Yidiș''' (natively אן ייִדיש ''ăn Yidiș'' /ən 'jɪt̪ɪʃ/ [ən 'jɪd̪ɪʃ] or אן אידיש  ''ăn Idiș'', historically א קֿאָליזש תּאק נא יידיהּ ''ă Gholiģ (tăg nă Yidih)'' /ə 'ʁoltʃ (t̪ʰək nə jit̪ih)/ '(Judeo-)Gaelic'; in-universe Hebrew: יידיש ''yidiš''; in-universe Standard Irish: ''an Īdysı'' /ən̠ʲ ˈiːd̪ˠɪʃ/) is a Goidelic language which is the historical vernacular of the Tsarfati (= our France) Jews (נא צרפֿתיהּ ''nă Zărfósih''). Today it is the main vernacular of major (often Hasidic) Jewish communities in Europe, Britain, Ireland, Canada, the US, Korea and Japan. With over 13 million speakers, ~70% of whom live in North America, it is the second most spoken Celtic language after Irish and the most spoken Jewish language in Irta. Ăn Yidiș is a possible answer to "What if Yiddish were Goidelic?" and is called "Yiddish" (or sometimes "Nithish" /nɪðɪʃ/, "Yithish" or "Ithish") in in-universe English.  


Among Ăn Yidiș speakers, Hebrew, English and Irish are common second languages (religious Jews learn Hebrew for worship and prayer and Aramaic for study of rabbinic texts such as the Talmud).
Note: As a Gentile Korean speaker I believe I'm ''somewhat'' more qualified to sketch this than to sketch a hypothetical Judeo-Celtic language. I'll just sketch the sound changes here, without venturing into creating the Jewish-specific vocabulary.
 
Traditional scholarly consensus holds that Ăn Yidiș evolved from a 10th century [[{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Proto-Ăn Yidiș|Middle Irish dialect that was spoken in Western France]], at the borders of the then-Irish empire where enforcement of Catholic religious persecution was laxer. A minority view holds that there was no single Proto-Ăn Yidiș: Jewish speakers of Middle Irish originally spoke two separate Irish dialects, whose descendants are Alpine Ăn Yidiș and Eastern European Ăn Yidiș, respectively, and Standard Ăn Yidiș is effectively a koine of the two Proto-Ăn Yidiș dialects. (We'll assume the single origin hypothesis in most cases.)
 
On top of the inherited Gaelic vocabulary, Ăn Yidiș mainly borrows words from Hebrew and Talmudic Aramaic, but also from [[Azalic]], [[Galoyseg]], [[Nithish]] (Todo: rename Nithish) and [[Hivantish]]. Much like our Scottish Gaelic, {{SUBPAGENAME}} was influenced by Brythonic languages, hence the grammatical similarity of Ăn Yidiș to Scottish Gaelic (although Scottish Gaelic doesn't exist in this timeline). Some syntactic influence can also be seen from Rabbinic Hebrew and Aramaic, which are head-initial languages like Goidelic.
 
The phonaesthetics of Ăn Yidiș is "Scottish Gaelic but less Icelandic and more Romanian, Polish, and Mandarin." Its grammar is also based heavily on Scottish Gaelic but is simpler; for example, it has no non-imperative finite verbs except forms of the auxiliary בּי ''bi'', and also simplifies subordinating conjunction + auxiliary combinations to some extent.
 
== History ==
{{main|Verse:Irta/Ireland}}
 
{{main|Ăn Yidiș/Proto-Ăn Yidiș}}
 
{{main|Ăn Yidiș/Literature}}
 
==Phonology of IFAY Ăn Yidiș==
The following describes the (somewhat artificial) standard, often called אן כּאיזאן ''ăn Cayzăn '' [əŋ 'kʰajtsən~əŋ 'kʰajdzən] 'the standard', originally codified by the Ăn Yidiș Research Institute (אנט אינשׂטיתּוֹט פישׂיפטאך תּאצש אן ייִדיש ''ănd Insditud Fisifdăch tăģ ăn Yidiș''; abbreviated to איפאַי/IFAY /i'faj/).
=== Consonants ===
The consonantal phonology of Standard Ăn Yidiș is fairly conservative (in fact, more conservative than Modern Irish) and has a similar inventory of consonants in most dialects (except for some dialects like Ballmer Ăn Yidiș which merges ''l'' and ''ł'' into dark L). Some differences from Irish and Scottish Gaelic are:
* depalatalization of slender labials
* some Slavic-like and Polish-like sound changes, like Old Irish palatalized c > /tʃʰ/, etc.
* almost complete loss of the fortis-lenis distinction in resonants in most dialects.
** The now almost extinct conservative Alpine dialect preserves Old Irish fortis unpalatalized ''n'' /n̪ˠ/, fortis unpalatalized r /rˠ/ and palatalized ''l'' /ʎ/, written as נּ רּ לּ. These are found word-initially in native but not Semitic vocabulary, e.g. נּאי /n̪ˠʌj/ 'nine' (Standard נעי /nej/ ''ney''), and are retained non-initially in Semitic words as well: חנּה /'xaun̪ˠə/ 'Chana (Hannah)' (Standard /'χanə/ ''Chană''), תּפילּה /tfiʎə/ 'prayer' (Standard ''tfilă''). In these dialects, כּלּה /ˈkʰaʎə/ 'bride' does not sound like the reflex of the Irish word ''caile'' 'maidservant' which has ''l'' /l/ instead.
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
|+'''Standard Ăn Yidiș consonants'''
!rowspan="2" colspan="2"|
!rowspan="2" | Labial
!colspan="2" | Dental/Alveolar
!colspan="2" | Retroflex
!rowspan="2" | Palatal
!rowspan="2" | Velar
!rowspan="2" | Glottal
|-
! <small>plain</small>
! <small>affr.</small>
! <small>plain</small>
! <small>affr.</small>
|-
!colspan="2"| Nasal
| '''m''' {{IPA|m}}
| '''n''' {{IPA|n}} ||
| [ɳ] ||
| '''ņ''' {{IPA|ɲ}}
| [ŋ]
|
|-
!rowspan="2" | Stop<br/>/Affricate
!<small>tenuis/lenis</small>
| '''b''' {{IPA|p}}
| '''d''' {{IPA|t̪}} || '''z''' {{IPA|t̪&#865;s̪}}
| [ʈ] || [tʂ]
| '''ģ''' {{IPA|tʃ}}
| '''g''' {{IPA|k}}
|
|-
!<small>aspirated/fortis</small>
| '''p''' {{IPA|pʰ}}
| '''t''' {{IPA|t̪ʰ}} || '''ț''' {{IPA|t̪&#865;s̪ʰ}}
| [ʈʰ] || [tʂʰ]
| '''c&#x326;''' {{IPA|tʃʰ}}
| '''c''' {{IPA|kʰ}}
|
|-
!rowspan="2"|Fricative
!<small>voiceless</small>
| '''f, ph''' {{IPA|f}}
| || '''s''' {{IPA|s̪}}
| || [ʂ]
| '''ș, c&#x326;h''' {{IPA|ʃ}}
| '''ch''' {{IPA|χ}}
| '''h, th, țh''' {{IPA|h}}
|-
!<small>voiced</small>
| '''v, bh''' {{IPA|v}}
| ||
| ||
|
| '''gh, dh''' {{IPA|ʁ}}
|
|-
!rowspan=2| Approximant
!<small>central</small>
| '''ł''' {{IPA|w}}
|
|
| '''r''' {{IPA|r~ɻ}}
|
| '''y, zh, ģh''' {{IPA|j}}
|
|
|-
!<small>lateral</small>
|
| '''l''' {{IPA|l}}
|
| [ɭ]
|
|
|
|
|}
Notes
* Aspirated stops are as strongly aspirated as in Mandarin and are also slightly lengthened when not initial: [pˑʰ t̪ˑʰ t̪&#865;s̪ˑʰ t&#865;ʃˑʰ kˑʰ].
* Unaspirated stops can only be voiced after vowels, and never at the onset of a stressed syllable; voicing initial unaspirated stops by default sounds non-native, although some accents can voice them after nasals. They may be weakly ejectivized [pʼ t̪ʼ t̪͡s̪ʼ tʃʼ kʼ] when not voiced.
* ''t d s'' are dental and may be slightly velarized. In some dialects ''t d'' may have fricative allophones [θ ð].
* Initial ''n'' is dental; initial ''l'' is alveolar. Otherwise ''n l'' are alveolar unless they assimilate (e.g. in the case of n before ''t d s'') or retroflex (when following ''r'').
* /t&#865;ʃ t&#865;ʃʰ ʃ/ may be alveolopalatal [t͡ɕ t͡ɕʰ ɕ].
* ''r'' is most commonly an alveolar or retroflex approximant (not velarized or pharyngealized, so more like Hiberno-English r than American r). The sequences /rn rl rtʰ rt⁼ rt&#865;sʰ rt&#865;s⁼ rs/ are realized as retroflex [ɳ ɭ ʈʰ ʈ⁼ ʈ&#865;ʂʰ ʈ&#865;ʂ ʂ], even across word boundaries: נאך אפֿשר לעט ''năch efșăr led'' [nəχ efʃə ɭet] 'can't you?' It may also be a retracted alveolar flap [ɾ&#800;] or trill [r&#800;].
* Stop + fricative clusters are distinct from affricates: some minimal pairs are טשעבאר ''dșevăr'' /tʃevər/ 'sister' and צשעבאר ''ģevăr'' /t&#865;ʃevər/ 'winter'; תּשי ''tși'' /tʰʃɪ/ '3' and ת&#1523;שי ''c&#x326;i'' /t&#865;ʃʰɪ/ 'at her'.
** /{{sh}}/ may have a voiced allophone after unaspirated stops. In this case a short epenthetic schwa is found before it: ''gșien'' [k<sup>ə</sup>{{sh}}iən] 'sun'.
* /h/ is always pronounced clearly. It is usually [h~ɦ] but is [ç] after /ɪ/. Word-finally it is always [ħ̞] unless preceded by /ɪ/
* /n/ assimilates to [ŋ] before /k kʰ/.
 
=== Vowels ===
Vowels in all Ăn Yidiș dialects have been subject to major vowel shifts and diphthongizations from Middle Irish (which were already in progress by proto-Ăn Yidiș times). Most dialects also lost vowel length, which is still present in Irish.
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Standard Ăn Yidiș monophthongs
|-
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |Front
! rowspan="2" |Central
! rowspan="2" |Back
|-
! style="width: 45px; " |<small>unrounded</small>
! style="width: 45px; " |<small>rounded</small>
|-
! style="" |Close
| '''i''' /ɪ/
| '''ü''' /y/
|
| '''u''' /u~ʊ/
|-
! style="" |Mid
| '''e''' /e/
|
| '''ă''' /ə/
| '''o''' /o/
|-
! style="" |Open
|
|
| '''a''' /a/
|
|}
In addition, there are the following diphthongs. not counting vowel + /j w/ sequences: ''ea oa ie ua üe'' /eə oə iə uə yə/ (Cualand ĂnY doesn't have /yə/)
 
* /e o/ are mid [e̞ o̞].
 
Some dialects such as Cualand Ăn Yidiș keep hiatus vowels, like Scottish Gaelic
 
=== Stress ===
Most Hebrew and Aramaic loans are stressed on the second-to-last syllable, like Hebrew loans in Yiddish, but some common Hebrew and Aramaic loans are stressed on the initial or the third-from-last syllable instead. What loans this happens to depends on dialect. In Standard {{PAGENAME}}, antepenultimate stress occurs regularly whenever the third-from-last syllable ends in a geminate consonant: e.g. רבּנים ''rábănim'' '(Orthodox) rabbis' (plural of רב ''rav''), קבּלה ''Gábălă'' 'Kabbalah', and also irregularly, as in חנוכּה ''Chánică'' 'Hanukkah'.
 
tsere in closed ultimate syllables reduces to i
 
=== Intonation (in Secular Ăn Yidiș) ===
In the varieties closest to Standard Ăn Yidiș, such as the secular varieties spoken in the US and [[Verse:CF Tricin/Cualand|Cualand]], stressed syllables are pronounced ~1.3 times as long as unstressed ones. Questions do not differ from declaratives in intonation. In exclamations the intonation is more exaggerated than normal.
==== Within a prosodic unit ====
A prosodic unit begins at mid-level pitch and falls linearly to a low pitch right before the stressed component. The intonation of the stressed component depends on the syntactic role of the prosodic unit, but at the end of the sentence it usually (except e.g. for sarcasm) falls on the stressed syllable and remains low thereafter.
 
# The highest level of prosodic unit is the sentence itself, and
# subclauses of the sentence
# Within a clause, the main high-level prosodic units include fronted phrases in cleft constructions (including interrogative pronouns), auxiliary-subject phrases, verb-phrases (which contains the lexical verb), and infinitive clauses.
# These prosodic units are themselves divided into smaller phrases.
 
==== Sentence-level ====
: טעש אפשר לוֹם א ראָ כ&#1468;די אט-ת&#1471;יאור
: '''''Deș''' efșăr lum ă '''ro''' cdey ăd-'''theyăr'''?''
: (Secular American) [t⁼ɛ́{{sh}} ‖ ɛ­­&#772;f{{sh}}ə ɭùm | ə {{zh}}ɔ́ ‖ kʰt{{den}}⁼ɛ̂j | əð ɦɛ̂jə̀{{zh}}]
: 'What can I say to describe you?' (the peak of ''cdey ăd-theyăr'' is higher than that of ''efșăr lum ă ro'')
 
(Unmarked syllables are on a roughly linear pitch gradient between the ones marked for pitch with tone diacritics)
 
=== Miscellaneous ===
* ə V > V: (cf. Israeli Hebrew)
 
== Mutation ==
Some but not all modern varieties of Ăn Yidiș have initial consonant mutation which serves grammatical roles. Standard Ăn Yidiș has lenition and h-prothesis but no eclipsis. Initial lenition is called הרפ&#1468;יה ''hărpóyă'' lit. 'rafe-ization/weakening', after the diacritic רפה ''rofă''. Sometimes it's called הרפ&#1468;יה ק&#1471;עלאך ''hărpóyă Ghełăch'' to distinguish it from הרפ&#1468;יה עבראך ''hărpóyă Evrăch'', i.e. Hebrew ''begadkefat'' which mutates some consonants differently and operates within Hebrew and Aramaic loans in Ăn Yidiș.
 
*Lenitions:
**b /p/ > bh /v/
**d /t/ > dh /ʁ/
**z /ts/ > zh /j/
**f /f/ > fh /0/
**g /k/ > gh /ʁ/
**ģ /tʃ/ > ģh /j/
**c /kʰ/ > ch /χ/
**c&#x326; /tʃʰ/ > c&#x326;h /ʃ/
**m /m/ > mh /v/
**ņ /ɲ/ > ņh /n/
**p /pʰ/ > ph /f/
**t /tʰ/ > th /h/
**ț /tsʰ/ > țh /h/
 
''s'' and ''ș'' never lenite unlike their corresponding Irish sounds.
 
Initial /h/ from lenition is deleted whenever it would form a forbidden consonant cluster. For example, ''tchină'' /tʰχinə/ lenites to ''thchină'' (/χinə/ instead of */hχinə/).
 
==Orthography==
:See also: [[Verse:Irta/Hebrew#Tsarfati Hebrew]]
Ăn Yidiș is written in an adapted Hebrew alphabet. As in our Yiddish, non-Hebrew, non-Aramaic words are usually written phonetically (except when initial lenition is specified). Vowels are written with full letters or with full letters with vowel diacritics. Though Ăn Yidiș speakers tend to omit niqqud diacritics, they'll be used consistently in this article.
===Consonants===
Assume no initial lenition. The consonants are spelled as follows in non-Hebrew, non-Aramaic words:
 
* /k kʰ χ ʁ/ ק כּ כ/ך ג
* /tʃ tʃʰ ʃ ɲ/ צש ת&#1523;ש ש נ&#1523;/ן׳
* /ts tsʰ s/ צ/ץ ת&#1523; ס
* /t tʰ n/ ט תּ נ/ן
* /p pʰ f v m/ בּ פּ פף ב מ/ם (initially /v/ is spelled וו when not or not obviously a result of lenition, especially in foreign words)
* /j r l w h/ י(י) ר ל ל׳ ה
(Assuming PSem *s was /ts/)
 
Final /h/ is always written ה&#1468; in vowel-pointed spelling.
 
ג&#1468;, ד&#1468;, ד in Hebrew and Aramaic loans are unaspirated /k/, /t/, /t/. ח in Hebrew loans represents /χ/.
 
Rafe (רפה ''rofă'') is used for initial lenition: בֿ גֿ זֿש דֿ זֿ טֿ כֿ מֿ^ פּ&#1471; פֿ צֿ צֿש קֿ תֿ for bh gh ģh dh zh dh ch mh sh ph fh țh c&#x326;h gh th /v ʁ j ʁ j h x v h f 0 h ʃ x h/
 
/j/ between two vowels is written יי.
 
Historical slender r becomes ''ș'' /ʃ/ after voiceless fricatives and aspirated stops: כּשעי e.g. ''cșey'' /kʰʃej/ 'earth, soil'.
 
===Vowels===
On the null initial, vowels are spelled as follows (in non-Hebrew, non-Aramaic words):
 
אַ א אַי ע עא עי אי איע אָ אָא אָי אוֹ אוֹא אוֹי אוּ אוּע אוּי
 
''a ă ay e ea ey i ie o oa oy u ua uy ü üe üy''
 
For non-null initials the appropriate consonants are used replacing the null-initial aleph if necessary. For example:
 
בּאַ בּא בּאַי בּע בּעא בּעי בּי בּיע בּאָ בּאָא בּאָי בּוֹ בּוֹא בּוֹי בּוּ בּוּע בּוּי
 
''ba bă bay be bea bey bi bie bo boa boy bu bua buy bü büe büy''
 
Hebrew words are spelled similarly to (Modern) Hebrew, with the following additional rules:
* /o/ from qamatz qatan does not use vav as a mater lectionis.
* A dagesh on bet, gimel, kaf, pe, or tav is always written when they represent their unlenited values, i.e. /p k kh ph th/. Note that ת = /s/ in Hebrew and Aramaic loans.
 
===Other notes===
By folk etymology, some native words which are coincidentally similar to Hebrew words are spelled as if they were derived from Hebrew:
 
* כּלהאק ''calăg'' (f) 'woman' "←" כּלה ''cală'' (f) 'bride, daughter-in-law', in ĂnY also 'young lady, lass' + ''-ăg'' diminutive suffix (''celăg, celă'' in some dialects with umlaut, reflecting MIr ''caile''). A semantic shift towards the Hebrew meaning of ''cală'' is also evident; similar words in Irish and Scottish Gaelic mean 'girl'.
* אנעתשא ''ănéyșă, ănéșă'' 'now', from *inoisse, from OIr indossa. It's written like and has been influenced by ''ăn eys șa'' 'this time' where עת ''eys'' 'time' is a Hebrew loan.
* The spelling of ייִדאך ''Yidăch'' 'Jew(ish)' was influenced by the Hebrew word יהודי 'ibid.'; the expected phonetic spelling would be ייִטאך. (It actually came via Middle Irish ''*Iúdach''.)
 
=== Punctuation ===
Like Japanese, Ăn Yidiș does not usually use question marks; they're unnecessary because of question particles (they're still used in transliteration in this article). Question marks are only used when no interrogative particle or word is used, e.g. in single-word questions. The same convention is used when Ăn Yidiș speakers write in Hebrew.
 
== Dialects ==
Ăn Yidiș dialects differ in accent, grammar and vocabulary.
 
The Ăn Cayzăn  standard was
* phonologically based on an artificial "middle of the road" accent (by late-19th-century standards) optimized for wide intelligibility
* grammatically based on the late 19th century Hasidic dialect which was spoken in our Lithuania but nudged a bit closer to Irish and Mishnaic Hebrew grammar (read: close to our Scottish Gaelic but simplified a little)
* vocabulary-wise, it's a koinéized mixture of different dialects, with the addition of some hypothetical cognates of Irish words.
 
The Ăn Cayzăn  accent has not been a natively spoken accent of Ăn Yidiș before. Formal written Ăn Yidiș, which is used e.g. in novels, newspapers, or communal records, follows Ăn Cayzăn  grammar closely, but many speakers speak another variety and read the formal written language in their native accent. Ăn Cayzăn  is also used when speakers of different Ăn Yidiș dialects speak with each other. The most common spoken dialects today are Ballmer and Bohemian dialects (mainly spoken in Hasidic communities) and Modern Ăn Cayzăn  (spoken by secular Ăn Yidiș speakers). In Irta, Ăn Yidiș is usually taught with Ăn Cayzăn grammar and a Bamăriș accent since Bamăriș is the most commonly spoken variety.
 
==== Bohemian Ăn Yidiș (Southeastern) ====
''Ănt Yădăș''
 
Historically non-Hasidic; today mainly spoken in our timeline's Israel
 
* NZ-ish chain vowel shift:
*# /ɪ/ > /ə/ > /a/ > /e/ > /ei/ > /ai/
*# ie, üe, ua > /i y u/; ea, oa > /iə uə/
*#* often transcribed "ii üü uu ie ua"
 
Retains historical slender ''r'' as ''ŗ''
 
==== Baltic Ăn Yidiș (Northern) ====
called "'n Iđiș" or Nithish
 
A (historically Hasidic) Haredi dialect spoken in the Baltic. It's the predominant European Ăn Yidiș dialect.
 
*/ə/-/o/ merger
* Cayzăn  /əm ən əl ər/ correspond to syllabic /m l n r/; the singular definite article is always pronounced /n/
*/e o eə oə/ are [E O e o]
*''d z ģ'' /t t͡s t͡ʃ/ are [ð z ʒ] after a vowel
* Proto-Ăn Yidiș unstressed אָ becomes /u/ in most envs
** קאַבוֹל ''gavul'' 'to receive' (Cayzăn  קאַבאל ''gavăl'')
** מתּנה ''mátunu'' > ''mátinu'' 'gift' (Cayzăn  ''mátănă'')
** כּלה ''calu'' 'bride, daughter IL' and כּאַלא ''cală'' (< MIr ''caile'') 'girl, lass' are still separate words in this lect
 
==== Alpine Ăn Yidiș ====
Conservative phonology, not spoken very much today; preserves fortis resonants more than other dialects
 
אָן ''on'' 'in him' /O:n/ or /oun/ has a different vowel than ל'אָן ''łon'' 'full' /ɫon/; ''ołn'' is now the prevailing pronunciation for this word, even when speaking Ăn Căyzon, due to the influence of Ballmer Ăn Yidiș which descends from this dialect.
 
c&#x326; ģ remain palatal stops in some of these dialects, or they become retroflex stops. ŗ ł retain their Proto-Ăn Yidiș values.
 
=== Ballmer (Baltimore) Ăn Yidiș ===
:[[Ăn Yidiș/Ballmer]]
 
=== Cualand Ăn Yidiș ===
{{main|Verse:Irta/Cualand#Cualand Ăn Yidiș}}
 
==Grammar==
Ăn Yidiș grammar is similar to Irish or Scottish Gaelic grammar but somewhat simplified, similar in some ways to how our Modern Hebrew is a simplification of Biblical Hebrew.
 
===Verbs===
Ăn Yidiș has lost most older finite verb forms, and only the verbal noun, the passive participle, and the imperative survive in most contexts. The imperative is on the way out in modern Ăn Yidiș and is being replaced by ă(g) + VN! or ney + VN! which marks aspect but not number, unlike the old imperative.
:{{heb|תּאָ מי א ל&#1523;אַסאך א כ&#1471;אנ'אל' חנוּכּה תּאזש אנאף}}
:'''''To mi ă łasăch ă chăņăł Chanică tăģ ănăf.'''
:be.PRES 1SG PRES to_light.VN DEF candle Hanukkah of tonight
:''I'm lighting tonight's Hanukkah candle.''
 
The passive participle has a suffix ''-ță'' or ''-thă'' (manifesting as aspiration of the final plosive of the stem):
: {{heb|תּאָ נא הילא כּאנ'אל'ן ל'אַסצא אן-עת-שאַ.}}
: '''''To nă hilă căņăłn łasță ănéșă.''''' (or ''ăníșă'')
:''All the candles are now lit.''
 
==== Clitic complex ====
===== The auxiliary בּי ''bi'' =====
"To thu" should become "tu"
 
The auxiliary בּי ''bi'' is used with predicates that are
* verbs,
* existentials,
* adjectives,
* adjuncts.
It forms part of the clause-initial clitic complex and begins an independent clause.
(בּי ''bi'' is the imperative and the infinitive form of the auxiliary.)
 
Ăn Yidiș has innovated the tense-aspect system (pres, past/conditional, fut, jussive‚ imperative) x (imperfective, perfective) using the form of בּי ''bi'' and the preverbal aspect marker. The auxiliary marks tense and the preverbal aspect marker marks other aspectual information such as perfectivity.
 
The negative particle כ&#1471;א ''chă'' (from the Old Irish preverb ''nícon·'', like Scottish Gaelic ''cha(n)'') becomes כ&#1471;נ- ''chn-'' before a vowel: כ&#1471;א תּעל ''chă tel'' 'doesn't like', כ&#1471;נאפשר ''chnefșăr'' 'can't'.
 
Note that ''mă năch'' 'if not (real)' or ''dăn năch'' 'if not (irreal)' is used where Irish would use ''mura''. The two senses of the Irish conjunction ''nach'' (NEG.COMP or NEG.REL) are also distinguished: ''gu năch'' (complementizer) and ''ă năch'' (relativizer).
 
The present tense forms of ''bi'' with pronouns are: ''to mi, tu, te, ti, to șņi/tņi, tiv, tied, tăr''. With nouns ''to X'' is used.
 
* t' e ă(g) = present progressive (to becomes t' before a vowel)
* t' e ņey = past perfective
* v' e ă(g) = past imperfective or present conditional
* v' e ņey = pluperfect or past conditional
* bi e ă(g) = future and present habitual/timeless
* bi e ney = future perfective
* răv e ă(g)  = jussive impfv. ('may he.../let him...')
* răv e ney = jussive pfv.
 
*''To'' is most often used for the constructions: ''t' e ăg ih'' = he eats; he is eating and ''t' e ney ih'' = he ate/has eaten.
** pres. interr. ''vel e...'' = does he...?
** pres. neg. ''chnel e...'' = he does not...
** pres. neg. interr. ''năch el e...'' = doesn't he...?
*** Negative interrogatives are also used to say that something is an obvious fact or to express surprise, like in both Scottish Gaelic and Hebrew.
** pres. comp. ''gu vel/gvel e...'' = (says/believes/hopes...) that he...
** pres. comp. neg. ''gu năch el e...'' = (says/believes/hopes...) that he does not/did not...
** pres. rel. (direct relative) ''o h-e...'' = that he... (אַ ''a'' triggers h-prothesis, it's from ''*āh'' < ''*a tha'')
** pres. rel. (direct relative) ''o h-...'' = that is...
** pres. rel. neg. (head != subject) ''ă năch el e...'' = that is not...
** pres. rel. neg. (head == subject) ''ă năch el ...'' = that he does not...
** real cond. ''mă t' e...'' = if he...
** real cond. neg. ''mă năch el e...'' if he doesn't...
** ireal conditional: ''dăm b'e''
** irreral cond. neg. ''dăn năch rǎv e...''
*Future: ''bi e ăg ih'' = he will eat
**''ăm bi șe...'' = will he...?
**''chă bhi șe...'' = he will not...
**''năch bi șe...'' = won't he...?
**''ă/gum bis șe...'' = REL/COMP he will...
*Past: ''v'e ăg ih'' = he was eating/he would eat
**''ă răv e...'' = was he...?/would he?
**''chă răv e...'' = he was not.../he would not...
**''năch răv e...'' = was he not...?/would he not...?
***''gu răv e''' = COMP he was
* "if": ''mă to'' (pres aff), ''mă năch el'' (pres neg), ''mă vă'' (past aff), ''mă năch răv'' (past neg), ''mă bis'' (fut aff), ''mă nach bis'' (fut neg)
**''afíli mă to/mă năch'' = even if
** דאָז ''doz'' 'then' can be used for the apodosis.
*''ih!'' = Eat! (2sg)
*''ihiv!'' = Eat! (2pl)
*''nǎ h-ih(iv)!'' = Don't eat!
Hebrew verbs are usually borrowed in their verbal noun forms but some dialects usually borrow the participle.
 
When the corresponding tag question is used in reply to a statement, it means 'I know, right?'/'It really is the case!'
: A: ''T'e chu mah ăr minăch.'' 'He's so good at explaining things.'
: B: ''Năch el!'' 'I know, right?'
 
====Copula====
Due to Hebrew influence, Ăn Yidiș is closer to being zero-copula than Irish is; the copula *iš was fused, dropped or reanalyzed as part of the pronoun in some cases. Unlike in Irish, the copula is just syntactic; it's used for nominal sentences whereas adjunct, adjective and verb predicates use the auxiliary בּי ''bi''.
=====Inflection=====
The following forms are used when the predicate is definite. The interrogative forms below also serve as tag questions for copular sentences:
{{Gloss/indexable|phrase = {{rtl|כנע אך פיעך אחד א ה-אָן, אַן ע.}}|translit = Chne ăch fiech echăd ă h-ołn, an e? |IPA = /χan e əχ fiəχ 'ehəd ə hown, an 'e/ | morphemes = | gloss = NEG.COP anything_but raven one 3SG.M, Q 3SG.M| translation = It's just one raven, isn't it?|index=3}}
 
(Both clauses have falling intonation, as in Scottish Gaelic!)
 
* present affirmative: mișă tusă șe și șņi șivșă șied
** also used for "yes" (for a copula sentence)
* present affirmative, in cleft constructions: mișă tusă șeșăn șișă șņi șivșă șiedsăn
* present interrogative: ă mișă, ăn tusă, ăn e, ăn i, ă șņi, ăn ivșă, ăn ied
* present negative: chamșă, chadsă, chne, chni, cha șņi, chavșă, chnied
** also used for "no" (for a copula sentence)
* present neg. interrogative: năch + mișă tusă e i șņi ivșă ied
* past affirmative: bă mhișă, bă thusă, b'e, b'i, bă șņi, b'ivșă, b'ied
** also used for "yes" (for a copula sentence)
* past interrogative: ăm + past aff. (ămbă mhișă etc.)
* past negative: cha(m) bă mhișă, etc.
** also used for "no" (for a copula sentence)
* past neg. interrogative: năch + past aff.
* future uses ''bi e măr'' + complementizer present copula
* real "if" pres: ''măș, mă năch'' (rather than a cognate of Irish ''mura'')
* real "if" past: ''mă bă, mă năch bă''
* irreal "if": ''dăm bă, dăn năch bă''
* relative present aff. אש ''ăș'', rel. pres. neg. א נאך ''ă năch''
* complementizer pres. aff. קוֹן ''gun'', pres. neg. קוֹ נאך ''gu năch''
 
When the predicate is indefinite ("is-a"), the construction "șe PRED ă t'in (def noun phrase)" is used, where ''șe/și/șied'' inflects according to the above rules:
 
:כֿנעל שי נ&#1523;עי איה&#1468; כּעראכּאן-שינט, כּי שע וועגאַן א בֿ' אינצי
: '''''Chnel și ņey ih cerăcăn-Șind, ci șe vegán ă v' inți.'''''
: ''She did not eat turkeys, because she was a vegan.''
 
When the predicate is definite ("is-the"):
* 1st and 2nd person: mișă PRED = I am PRED
* 3rd person: șe PRED e TOPIC (or și...i, or șied...ied, as appropriate for the topic noun phrase) = TOPIC is PRED, or șe PRED e = he is PRED
 
===== Bare copula =====
Ăn Yidiș also uses the so-called ''bare copula'' (אוֹגד רוּשכּ&#1523;א ''ughăd rüșc&#x326;ă''), deriving from an omitted ''iš'' without a following pronoun, mainly for fixed expressions like
* ''efșăr lă X'' 'X can'
** ''b'efșăr lă X'' 'X could (both past and conditional)'
* ''tel lă X'' 'X likes'
** ''bă thel lă X'' 'X would like' (also 'X liked')
Bare-copula questions are answered in the following way:
 
Say the question is אן אפשר לא יואל שעין&#1523; ''Ăn efșăr lă Yual șeyņ?'' 'Can Yual (Yoel) sing?'. Then the 'yes' and 'no' answers are:
* אפשר ''Efșăr.'' 'Yes (he can).'
* כ&#1471;נאפשר ''Chnefșăr.'' 'No (he can't).'
The tag questions work as follows:
* כ&#1471;נאפשר לא יואל שעין&#1523;, אן אפֿשר ''Chnefșăr lă Yual șeyņ, ăn efșăr?'' 'Yual can't sing, can he?'
* אפשר לא יואל שעין&#1523;, נאך אפֿשר ''Efșăr lă Yual șeyņ, năch efșăr?'' 'Yual can sing, can't he?'
 
Only the present affirmative form differs from the usual copula. The interrogative particle ''ăn'' changes to ''ăm'' before a labial, and ''chan'' becomes ''cha'' before a vowel.
 
===Nouns===
Like modern Irish, Standard An Yidiș has masculine and feminine genders. Hebrew words may not have the same gender as in Hebrew. Declension is simplified compared to Irish and Scottish Gaelic:
* The nominative is used the most often, including as prepositional objects; the Old Irish accusative and prepositional cases are lost.
* The inherited genitive is only used to mark definite objects of verbs, similarly to Hebrew ''et'', and almost never possessors. (They're even used, un-etymologically, for objects of imperatives, except possibly in poetry.) The genitive is no longer productive in head-initial compounds.
* The inherited vocative survives only for ''Zie'' 'God', and the vocative form is used only when some element comes before it: אוי ז&#1471;עי '''''oy''' Zhey!'' /oj ˈjej/ 'O God', מא-ז&#1471;עי ''(oy) '''mă-'''Zhey!'' '(fixed expression) oh my God'. To call family members, forms such as מא-מ&#1471;אָר ''mă-mhor!'' 'my mother!' are used.
** The vocative particle אוי ''oy'' always lenites, however, unless the following noun is an inalienably possessed noun. (It's a contraction of the Hebrew particle ''oy'' + the Gaelic vocative particle *a (+lenition).)
 
Possession is expressed with the construction ''ăn X ăģ Y'' (lit. the X at Y), for example אן כּאַתּ אַק׳ מא־מֿאַכּ ''ăn cat ăģ mă-mhac'' 'my son's cat'. The Irish- and Biblical Hebrew-like genitive construction ''X ăn Y'' is poetic; using the old genitive for Y in the latter construction is optional.
 
Concatenation exists but is more derivational, analogous to compounding in English. In native head-initial concatenations, the second element of a compound is treated as an adjective for mutation purposes:
* ''ła-'''b'''ŗehă'' (m) 'birthday' (''ła'' 'day' is masculine)
* ''călă-'''fh'''erhiņă'' (f) 'rainforest' (''călă'' 'forest' is feminine).
 
Native plurals are more regular, marked with mostly ''-ăn'', or less commonly
* umlaut, final palatalization: fer > fiŗ
* -ăch > -ih
 
Hebrew words often form plurals in unstressed ''-im'' /im/ or ''-ăs'' /əs/ but native Celtic words may use them too and not all Hebrew words use the Hebrew plural. Hebrew nouns beginning with ''m-'' are almost always loaned as masculine (to avoid mutation after the unmarked singular definite article); as an exception, משפּחה ''mișpóchă'' 'family' is feminine. Both native and Semitic ''t''-words are feminine by default, from the reanalyzed native feminine s-words and the tendency for Hebrew t- to form abstract nouns.
==== Definite article ====
For masculine nouns when ''not'' accusative:
* Nouns beginning with a vowel take אנט ''ănd'': אנט אישק׳א ''ănd ișģă'' = the water
* before a labial (''p b f m v''), אם ''ăm'':
** אם פּתי ''ăm pesi'' 'the fool'
** אם בּיעג ''ăm biegh'' 'the food'
** אם פיאך ''ăm fiăch'' 'the raven'
** אם ווֹנעטאר ''ăm vunedăr'' 'the (romantic) admirer'
** אם מצווה ''ăm mițvă'' 'the (religious) commandment'
* before ''ņ'', אן&#1523; ''ăņ'':
** אן&#1523; נ&#1523;י ''ăņ ņi''  'the thing'
* before a historical liquid (''r ŗ l ł''), א ''ă'' (some dialects treat these as "sun letters", hence ''ăl lenăv'' etc.):
** א לענאב ''ă lenăv'' 'the child'
** א ל&#1523;אַ ''ă ła'' 'the day'
** א רוח ''ă rüăch'' 'the spirit'
** א ר&#1523;אָל&#1523;תּא ''ă ŗołtă'' 'the star'
* otherwise אן ''ăn'':
** אן כּוֹן ''ăn cun'' 'the dog'
** אן קאבאר ''ăn găvăr'' 'the goat'
** אן צשאָנארט ''ăn c&#x326;onărd'' 'the leader'
** אן זשאָל&#1523; ''ăn ģoł'' 'the game'
** אן תּלמיד ''ăn talmid'' 'the pupil' (אן תּלמוד ''ăn Talmid'' 'the Talmud' is homophonous)
** אן טאָן ''ăn don'' 'the (Ăn Yidiș) folk song'
** אן צעך ''ăn țech'' 'the house'
** אן זקן ''ăn zogăn'' 'the old man'
** אן נס ''ăn neys'' 'the miracle'
** אן ייִדאך ''ăn Yidăch'' 'the Jew'
** אן התר ''ăn heysir'' 'the heter (special permission given by a rabbi)'
** אן חתן ''ăn chosăn'' 'the bridegroom; the son-in-law'
** אן סאיאל&#1523; ''ăn săyăł'' 'the world'
** אן שמן ''ăn șemăn'' 'the oil'
 
For feminine nouns when ''not'' accusative and masculine nouns when accusative:
* Nouns beginning with a lenitable consonant (except ''d'', ''z'', ''t'' and ''ț'') lenite, and the following rule is applied to the lenited form:
** א ''ă'' before historical liquids, and non-sibilant fricatives (/j/ doesn't count as a fricative):  א מֿענשיל ''ă mhenșil'' = the wife, א פ&#1471;ר'עקארץ ''ă fhŗegărț'' = the answer
** אן ''ăn'' otherwise: אן ז&#1471;שעל&#1471;אך ''ăn ģhełăch'' = the moon, אן אות ''ăn us'' = the letter (character)
* Feminine nouns beginning in ''d z t ț'' don't lenite: אן תּוֹרה ''ăn Tură'' 'the Torah'.
** Note: Nouns that were feminine in Old Irish and began with ''s-'' have all become t-/ț- words in Proto-Ăn Yidiș, except ''s(stop)-'' and ''sm-'' words (since those didn't lenite), pluralia tantum and obvious derivations from other ''s''-words: אן תּאַבין&#1523; ''ăn Taviņ'' '(poetic) November' (from ''an tSamhain''). Newer words such as Hebrew loans are not subject to this.
 
For plural non-accusative nouns and feminine definite accusatives take נא ''nă'' and ''h-'' is added before a noun beginning with a vowel.
*נא ציש ''nă țiș'' = the houses
*נא ל'אַאן ''nă łaăn'' = the days
*נא מנאָ ''nă mno'' = the wives
*נא ה-אותיות ''nă h-usyăs'' = the letters
*נא סוכּות ''nă sücăs'' = the sukkot
*נא ניסים ''nă nisim'' = the miracles
 
Plural definite accusatives take נאן ''năn'' (נאם ''năm'' before ''b p m f v'' and נאן&#1523; ''năņ'' before ''ņ''), The noun itself doesn't inflect for the accusative.
*נאן ציש ''năn țiș''
*נאן ל'אַאן ''năn łaăn''
*נאם מנאָ ''năm mno''
*נאן אותיות ''năn usyăs''
*נאן סוכּות ''năn sücăs''
*נאן ניסים ''năn nisim''
* נאן&#1523; נ&#1523;יאן ''năņ ņiăn''
 
This can be summarized by the following table. [NOM SG], [DEF ACC SG] and [PLURAL] are principal parts.
{| class="wikitable " style=" text-align: center;"
|+ Definite articles
|-
! style="width: 90px;" | Case
! style="width: 100px;" | Masculine sg.
! style="width: 100px;" | Feminine sg.
!  style="width: 100px;" | Plural
|-
! Non-accusative
| (1) [NOM SG] || (2) [NOM SG] || ''nă (h-)'' [PLURAL]
|-
! Accusative
| (2) [DEF ACC SG] || ''nă (h-)'' [DEF ACC SG] || ''năn/năm/năņ'' [PLURAL]
|}
(1) See above on masculine non-accusative definite articles
 
(2) See above on feminine non-accusative definite articles
 
==== Declension ====
An Ăn Yidiș noun effectively has three principal parts: the singular indefinite form, the singular definite accusative form and the plural form. In the definite accusative plural the noun itself is the same as the indefinite plural.
 
A majority of native masculine nouns and most loans use ''-ă'' for the definite accusative singular. Native feminines tend to use palatalization + ''ă'' for the definite accusative singular. The plural has to be memorized, but ''-ăn'' is the most common non-Semitic plural.
===== Default native masculine =====
{| class="wikitable " style=" text-align: center;"
! colspan="3" | כּאָש ''coș'' (m.) 'cheese'
|-
! style="width: 90px;" | State/case
! style="width: 100px;" | Singular
!  style="width: 100px;" | Plural
|-
! Indefinite
| כּאָש <br/>''coș'' || כּאָשאן <br/>''coșăn''
|-
! Definite
| אן כּאָש <br/>''ăn coș'' || נא כּאָשאן <br/>''nă coșăn''
|-
! Definite acc.
| א כ&#1471;אָשא <br/>''ă choșă'' || נאן כּאָשאן <br/>''năn coșăn''
|}
===== Default native feminine =====
{| class="wikitable " style=" text-align: center;"
! colspan="3" | כּנאָב ''cnov'' (f.) 'bone'
|-
! style="width: 90px;" | State/case
! style="width: 100px;" | Singular
!  style="width: 100px;" | Plural
|-
! Indefinite
| כּנאָב<br/> ''cnov'' || כּנאָבאן<br/>''cnovăn''
|-
! Definite
| א כ&#1471;נאָב<br/>''ă chnov'' || נא כּנאָבאן<br/>''nă cnovăn''
|-
! Definite acc.
| נא כּנאָבא<br/>''nă cnovă'' || נאן כּנאָבאן<br/>''năn cnovăn''
|}
{| class="wikitable " style=" text-align: center;"
! colspan="3" | כּלהאק ''calăg'' (f.) 'woman'
|-
! style="width: 90px;" | State/case
! style="width: 100px;" | Singular
!  style="width: 100px;" | Plural
|-
! Indefinite
| כּלהאק<br/>''calăg'' || כּלהאקאן<br/>''calăgăn''
|-
! Definite
| א כ&#1471;להאק<br/>''ă chalăg'' || נא כּלהאקאן<br/>''nă calăgăn''
|-
! Definite acc.
| נא כּלהיצשא<br/>''nă caliģă'' || נאן כּלהאקאן<br/>''năn calăgăn''
|}
 
===== Hebrew loan declension =====
{| class="wikitable " style=" text-align: center;"
! colspan="3" | עד ''eyd'' (m.) 'witness'
|-
! style="width: 90px;" | State/case
! style="width: 100px;" | Singular
!  style="width: 100px;" | Plural
|-
! Indefinite
| עד <br/>''eyd'' || עדים <br/>''eydim''
|-
! Definite
| אנט עד <br/>''ănd eyd'' || נא ה-עדים <br/>''nă h-eydim''
|-
! Definite acc.
| אן עדא <br/>''ăn eydă'' || נאן עדים <br/>''năn eydim''
|}
 
 
{| class="wikitable " style=" text-align: center;"
! colspan="3" | משפּחה ''mișpóchă'' (f.) 'family' (the ''p'' is aspirated!)
|-
! style="width: 90px;" | State/case
! style="width: 100px;" | Singular
!  style="width: 100px;" | Plural
|-
! Indefinite
| משפּחה<br/>''mișpóchă'' || משפּחות<br/>''mișpóchăs''
|-
! Definite
| א מ&#1471;שפּחה <br/> ''ă mhișpóchă'' || נא משפּחות<br/>''nă mișpóchăs''
|-
! Definite acc.
| נא משפּחה <br/>''nă mișpóchă'' || נאם משפּחות<br/>''năm mișpóchăs''
|}
===== 1st declension masculines =====
These nouns often get -(palatalization) in the definite accusative:
 
{| class="wikitable " style=" text-align: center;"
! colspan="3" | מאַכּ ''mac'' (m.) 'son'
|-
! style="width: 90px;" | State/case
! style="width: 100px;" | Singular
!  style="width: 100px;" | Plural
|-
! Indefinite
| מאַכּ<br/>''mac'' || מיצש<br/>''mic̦''
|-
! Definite
| אם מאַכּ<br/>''ăm mac'' || נא מיצש<br/>''nă mic̦''
|-
! Definite acc.
| א מ&#1471;יצש<br/>''ă mhic̦'' || נאם מיצש<br/>''năm mic̦''
|}
 
 
{| class="wikitable " style=" text-align: center;"
! colspan="3" | ליאָר ''lyor'' (m.) 'book'
|-
! style="width: 90px;" | State/case
! style="width: 100px;" | Singular
!  style="width: 100px;" | Plural
|-
! Indefinite
| ליאָר<br/> ''lyor'' || ליאָראן<br/>''lyorăn''
|-
! Definite
| א ליאָר<br/> ''ă lyor'' || נא ליאָראן<br/> ''nă lyorăn''
|-
! Definite acc.
| א ליאָר&#1523;<br/> ''ă lyoŗ'' || נאן ליאָראן<br/>''năn lyorăn''
|}
 
===== ''*-amh''-stems =====
Middle Irish -amh/-amhan nouns either
* if feminine, the -amh is deleted and the plural is -țăn (''tał, talțăn'' 'earth')
* if masculine, they change to ''-un, -unăn'' nouns in the default masculine declension (''bŗehun, bŗehunăn'' 'judge' from OIr ''brithem'')
** Western dialects ''bŗehun, bŗehună''
** Ballmer Ăn Yidiș: ''bŗeyhín, bŗeyhínăn'' (the Bamăriș cognate of Irish ''-ín'' has a different plural: ''-in, -iniņ'')
** Nidiș-Yidiș: ''bŗihăv/-u, bŗihun''
 
{| class="wikitable " style=" text-align: center;"
! colspan="3" | תּאַל&#1523; ''tał'' (f.) 'earth'
|-
! style="width: 90px;" | State/case
! style="width: 100px;" | Singular
!  style="width: 100px;" | Plural
|-
! Indefinite
| תּאַל&#1523; <br/>''tał'' || תּאַלצאן<br/>''talțăn''
|-
! Definite
| אן תּאַל&#1523; <br/>''ăn tał'' || נא תּאלצאן<br/>''nă talțăn''
|-
! Def. acc.
| נא תּאַל&#1523;וֹן <br/>''nă tałun'' || נאן תּאַלצאן<br/>''năn talțăn''
|}
 
 
{| class="wikitable " style=" text-align: center;"
! colspan="3" | ''bŗehun'' (m.) 'judge'
|-
! style="width: 90px;" | State/case
! style="width: 100px;" | Singular
!  style="width: 100px;" | Plural
|-
! Indefinite
| ''bŗehun'' || ''bŗehunăn''
|-
! Definite
| ''ăm bŗehun'' || ''nă bŗehunăn''
|-
! Definite acc.
| ''ă bhŗehună'' || ''năm bŗehunăn''
|}
 
===Adjectives===
As in Irish, predicate adjectives are unmarked. The standard language has definite accusative adjective forms.
 
Adjectives always have ''-ă'' in the plural, except
* adjectives ending in ''ie ua üe'' form their plurals with ''-hă''
* the plural of ''-ăch'' is unchanged (unlike the case with ''-ăch'' nouns).
* the plural of adjectives with unstressed ''-i'' is unchanged (unlike nouns with unstressed ''-i'' which always pluralize as ''-im'', even native nouns);
* the plural of ''ołiņ'' 'lovely' is ''olă'', same as the feminine definite accusative singular ~ the comparative.
 
Not counting the plural, most Ăn Yidiș adjectives have two principal parts:
# The lemma form is the predicative form. The masculine nominative singular is identical to the predicative, and the plural is usually formed from the base form.
# The feminine definite accusative singular is usually formed with ''-ă'' or palatalization + ''-ă'' for adjectives whose stems end in consonants, and -yă for stems ending in a stressed vowel (לוֹא ''lua'' 'fast' → לוֹאיא ''luayă''). In most cases, the comparative is formally identical to it. Adjectives of Hebrew and Aramaic origin don't palatalize: מיאוס ''mies'' 'bad' -> מיאוסא ''miesă'', ''misă''
# Irregular adjectives may have a comparative distinct from the feminine definite accusative singular: for example ''beg'' 'small' with feminine def. acc. sg. ''biģă'' and comparative ''łü''.
 
The mutation of attributive adjectives is summarized in the following table:
{| class="wikitable " style=" text-align: center;"
|+ Adjective mutation
|-
! style="width: 90px;" | Case
! style="width: 100px;" | Masculine sg.
! style="width: 100px;" | Feminine sg.
!  style="width: 100px;" | Plural
|-
! Non-(definite accusative)
| no mutation || lenition ||
h-prothesis
|-
! Definite accusative
| lenition || h-prothesis || no mutation
|}
''Ină'' (which lenites) for predicate adjectives is used after longer noun phrases:
 
: {{Heb|תּאָ אן סטוֹא תּאזש א כֿרינ׳א מ&#1471;אָראַל'תּא אינא פ&#1471;אַטא.}}
: '''''To ăn sdua tăģ ă chriņă mhoráłtă ină fhadă.'''''
:''The arc of the moral universe is long.''
 
''Gu'' (with h-prothesis) is used to form adverbs from adjectives: ''gu mah'' 'well' from ''mah'' 'good'. It's also used in front of predicative adjectives to indicate that the adjective is a current, often temporary state, e.g.
* ''gu mah'' 'well, in good health'
* ''T'i gu teh'' 'It's hot'
 
Using adjectives before subjects used with a naked copula is flowery and can be used to evoke either Biblical Hebrew or older Irish.
 
: נאס-פיאָר א חכמה נא כּלי-מלחמה
: '''''Năs-fyor ă chochmă nă cley-milchomă.'''''
: ''Better is wisdom than weapons of war.'' (טוֹבָה חָכְמָה מִכְּלֵי קְרָב)
==== Comparison ====
''chu ADJ ŗi NOUN'' is used for 'as ADJ as NOUN'.
 
Comparatives are formed by adding נאס ''năs'' 'more' and אס ''ăs'' 'most' before the comparative form of the adjective, which is identical to the feminine definite accusative singular in most cases: פוֹאר, נאס-פוֹארא, אס-פוֹארא  ''fuar, năs-fuară, ăs-fuară'' 'cold, colder, coldest'. The word נא ''nă'' is used for 'than'.
 
There is no tense change for comparatives, unlike in Irish where ''níos mó'' 'bigger' changes to ''ní ba mó'' in the past tense.
 
* מוֹר - נאס-מוֹא - אס-מוֹא ''mur - năs-mua - ăs-mua'' = big - bigger - biggest
* ''beg - năs-łü'' 'small'
* ''mah - năs-fyor'' 'good'
 
===Pronouns===
Ăn Yidiș pronouns have three forms  (not counting emphatic forms):
* subject/topic pronouns: מי הוֹ ע אי שנ&#1523;י איב איעט ''mi hu e i șņi iv ied''; האר ''hăr'' 'impersonal pronoun'
** These pronouns follow a finite form of the auxiliary ''bi'': ''Bhă '''mi''' ă cadăl.'' 'I was sleeping.'
** In modern Ăn Yidiș, the 3sg gender neutral pronoun is most commonly ''ied'' or ''e''. In older or traditionalist settings, ''e'' is preferred for a grammatically singular non-specific referent (e.g. ''ņech săm bih'' 'everyone').
** ''Șņi'' is coincidentally the same as the expected reflex of Old Irish ''sní'', but it's actually from Middle Irish ''sinne'' 'we (emphatic)'.
** In insults, the 2nd person pronoun follows the noun: חזיר הוֹ ''Chazăr '''thu'''!'' 'You pig!'
* copular pronouns (the forms used as copulas; cleft constructions use the emphatic forms); see the section on the copula
** '''''Șe''' ăm pŗivrav tăģ ăm bală giņi.'' 'He's the chief rabbi of our town.'
** '''''Șeșăn''' ăm pŗivrav.'' = 'It's him who's the chief rabbi.'
* prefixed pronouns: מא-, טא-, א-, א(ה)-, אָר(ן)-, בֿאר(ן)-, א(ן)- ''mă°, dă°, ă°, ă(h)-, or(n)-, văr(n)-, ă(n)-'' inalienable possession
* Direct object pronouns are also prefixed (they were historically possessive pronouns, like inalienable pronouns), but they fuse with the words ''ă(g)'', ''ņey'' and the infinitive marker ''ă'':
** ''ă(g)'' 'imperfective marker' suppletes: ''năm°, năd°, n(ă)°, nă h-, năr(n), nur(n), năn/năm/năņ''
*** năm-ith / năm-chur, năd-ith / năd-chur, n-ith / nă-chur, nă-h-ith / nă-cur, nărn-ith / năr-cur,, nurn-ith / nur-cur, năn-ith /năn-cur
*** Forms with emphatic object pronouns: usually ''năm-ghărtăch mișă, năd-ghărtăch thusă, nă-ghărtăch eșăn, nă-gărtăch ișă, năr-gărtăch șņin, nur-gărtăch ivșă, năn-gărtăch iedsăn''. The emphatic pronouns tend to immediately follow the verbal noun, unlike independent direct object pronouns in Irish and Scottish Gaelic which come at the end of a clause.
*** Poetic emphatic forms: ''năm-ghărtăch-să, năd-ghărtăch-să, nă-ghărtăch-șăn, nă-gărtăch-șă, năr-gărtăch-ņín, nur-gărtăch-șă, năn-gărtăch-săn''
** ''ņey'' 'perfect marker' also suppletes: ''răm°, răd°, r(ă)°, ră h-, răr(n), rur(n), răn/răm/răņ''
** ''ă°'' 'infinitive marker': ''ăm°, ăd°, o°, o h-, or(n), ă văr(n), on/om/oņ''
** ''To șņi năn ith băméșăch ăm Purim.'' 'We eat them during Purim.' (etym. "we are in their eating")
* suffixed pronouns, on prepositions
 
''Iv'' is used as a polite 2nd person pronoun (the same way as Yiddish ''ir''; e.g. ''iv'' is used for speaking to a rabbi). ''Hu'' is used when speaking to nonhumans (including God).
 
All of these forms have emphatic counterparts: mișă, t(h)usă, (ș)eșăn, (ș)ișă, șņeyn/șņin (from *sinne fhéin), (ș)ivșă, (ș)iedsăn. These are essentially the "default" independent forms. These are used to address someone: ''Tusă!''/''Ivșă!'' 'You!'. Expressions for 'only', 'except' and 'also' also require emphatic pronouns: אן אף תּוֹסא, בּרוֹתּוֹס ''Ăn af tusă, Brutus?'' 'Et tu, Brute?'
 
Emphatic suffixes for prepositions with pronominal suffixes: -să -să -șăn -șă -ín -șă -săn: e.g. for ''ăģ'' 'of, at' we have ''gumsă, gădsă, ģeșăn, c&#x326;ișă, giņín, givșă, cusăn''. In poetry, ''°NOUN-șăn'', ''(h-)NOUN-șă'', ''NOUN-săn'' may be used for 'his, her, their' (with or without a preceding ''ă'' sg. or ''ăn/ăm/ăņ'' pl.).
 
Another common way to emphasize a pronoun is to use ''feyn'' after it (e.g. מישא ףעין ''mișă feyn'' 'I myself', אן קיום ףעין תּעק׳ ''ăn giyăm feyn teģ'' 'his very existence').
==== Possessive pronouns ====
For possession, the ''ă lyor tam'' construction is standard for most nouns except family members and body parts where possessive prefixes are used (cf. Modern Hebrew also usually uses הספר שלי ''ha-sefer šeli'' instead of ספרי ''sifri''). Nouns that take possessive prefixes cannot take a definite article and must take a possessive prefix when definite. In addition, ־אַר ''-ar'' 'father' and ־מאָר ''-mor'' 'mother' cannot occur as indefinite nouns and obligatorily take possessive prefix forms.
 
Double-marking possessives, e.g. בֿ' אהרן א-דֿר׳אָר תּאזש משה ''V' Ăharăn '''ă-dhŗor tăģ Mușă'''.'' 'Aaron was Moses' brother' (lit. his brother of Moses) are used for nouns where possessive suffixes are still used. Possessive prefixes are considered ''[[{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Filichdiș|Filichdiș]]'' for other nouns.
* ''mă-dhŗor '' /məʁˈʒor/ 'my brother'; ''m-ar'' /mar/ 'my father'
* ''dă-dhŗor '' /təʁˈʒor/ 'thy brother'; ''d-ar'' /tar/ 'thy father'
* ''ă-dhŗor'' /əʁˈʒor/ 'his brother'; ''ar'' /ar/ 'his father'
* ''ă-dŗor'' /ətˈʒor/ 'her brother'; ''ă-h-ar'' /əˈhar/ 'her father'
* ''orn-dŗor'' /orntˈʒor/ 'our brother'; ''orn-ar'' /oɾˈnar/ 'our father'
* ''vărn-dŗor'' /vərntˈʒor/ 'your brother'; ''vărn-ar'' /vəɾˈnar/ 'your father'
* ''ăn-dŗor'' /əntˈʒor/ 'their brother'; ''ăn-ar'' /əˈnar/ 'their father'
 
==== List of inalienable nouns ====
Family:
* אַר ''ar'' = father (obligatorily possessed)
* מאָר ''mor'' = mother (obligatorily possessed)
* טר׳אָר ''dŗor'' = brother
* טר׳עבאר ''dŗevăr'' = sister
* ''mac'' = son
* ''inin'' = daughter
* ''cłan'' = (one's) children
Body parts:
* תּוּל ''tül'' = eye
* תּראָאן ''troan'' = nose
* בּעל' ''beł'' = mouth
* כּל'וֹאס ''cłuas'' = ear
* ל'אָב ''łov'' = hand
* כּאס ''căs'' = leg
* תּראָי ''troy'' = foot
* כּ׳אָן ''c&#x326;on'' = head
 
=== Interrogatives ===
Interrogatives require cleft constructions.
* ''de, deș'' 'what'
* ''çe, cu'' 'who'
* ''den NOUN'' 'what NOUN, which' (inflects and causes mutation like the definite article)
* ''cvéad'' 'how many'
* ''cmar'' (+ o, vă) 'how'
* ''cărson'' (+ o, vă) 'why'
* ''coță'' (+ vel, răv) 'where'
* ''cayņ'' (+ o, vă) 'when'
 
===Prepositions===
Unlike Irish, Ăn Yidiș has lost relative pronoun-inflected forms of prepositions (all oblique relative clauses use the resumptive pronoun strategy as in Hebrew). 3rd person feminine singular forms end in ''-i'' like in Irish ('in her' is Ăn Yidiș ''inți'', Scottish Gaelic ''innte'', Irish ''inti'') but 3rd person plural forms end in schwa like in Scottish Gaelic ('in them' is Ăn Yidiș ''intă'', Scottish Gaelic ''annta'', Irish ''iontu'').
*''ăģ/ăg'' 'at': ''gum, găd, ģe, c&#x326;i, giņi, giv, că''
** ''ăģ'' becomes ''ăg'' before a coronal.
** emphatic forms: ''gumsă, gădsă, ģeșăn, c&#x326;ișă, giņín, givsă, cusăn''
*''tăģ/tăg'' 'of': ''tam, tad, teģ, tec&#x326;i, teņi, tav, tacă''
** emphatic forms: ''tamsă, tadsă, teģsăn, tec&#x326;ișă, teņín, tavsă, tacăsăn''
** the ''tăģ/tag'' alternation is similar to that of ''ăģ/ăg''
** comes from ''*atá a(i)g'' 'that is at'; cf. Hebrew ''šel'' 'of' from ''še-llă-'' 'that is to'
*''dă°, d' '' 'to, for': ''dum, did, do, di(hi), diņi, div, du(hă)'' (d- is deleted after a coronal obstruent)
*''ză°, z''' 'off' (corresponding to ''ăr'' 'on'): ''zum, zid, ze, zi(hi), ziņi, ziv, zu(hă)''
*''u h-'' 'from' (corresp. to ''ăģ'' 'at'): ''uam, uad, ua, oyhi, uaņi, uav, uahă''
*''in'' 'in': ''unum, unăd, ołn (spelled אָן), inți, uniņi, univ, untă''
** ''in'' has the allomorphs ''in, ind, im, i'' with the same rules as the definite article ''ăn'': ''im mițvă, ind ișģă, i chalăg ...''
*''ăr°'' 'on': ''ărum, ărăd, eŗ, eŗhi, ăriņi, ăriv, orhă''
** emphatic 3ms form is ''ersăn''
*''ăs'' 'out of' (corresponding to ''in'' 'in'): ''asum, asăd, as, ași, asiņi, asiv, asă''
*''ru°'' 'before, in front of': ''ruam, ruad, rev, rempi, ruņi, ruv, rompă''
*''ŗi(n)'' 'with': ''ŗum, ŗed, ŗeș, ŗehi, ŗiņi, ŗiv, ŗehă''
*''lă h-'' 'with, by, for': ''lum, led, leș, lehi, liņi, liv, lohă''
** some contamination from Semitic l- should happen
*''țimpum'' 'around' suppletes: ''umum, umăd, em, empi, umiņi, umiv, umpă''
*''fă°'' 'under, among': ''fum, fud, fey, fihi, fuņi, fuv, fuhă''
*In some dialects such as Ballmer Hasidic Ăn Yidiș, ''izăr'' 'between': ''edrum, edrăd, iziŗ, iziŗhi, edriņi, edriv, izărhă''. In the standard language, izăr is most often a pseudo-preposition (i.e. a preposition that can't take pronominal suffixes); the plural forms ''edriņi, edriv, izărhă'' are literary.
====Combinations====
''in'' 'in', ''ŗi'' 'with' and ''lă'' 'with' before a definite article become ''s-, ŗiș, leș'':
 
*סאן צעך ''săn țech'' 'in the house'
*''To șied ă fiŗăch inș ă bhelă șo ŗiș nă dină elă'' 'They live in this town with the other people'
 
''u'' 'from' + ''ăn/ăm/ă'' -> ''un-/um-/u ă-''
 
''ăr'' 'on', ''izăr'' 'between' + ''ăn'' -> ''ărn'', ''izărn''
 
====Syntax====
Prepositions stick to every noun in a noun phrase, as in Hebrew and Irish:
:''To mi ņey gavăl nă fŗegărțăn '''u''' mămhór is '''u''' mădhŗór.''
:'I got the answers from my mother and brother.'
 
==== Compound prepositions ====
Compound prepositions don't take pronominal suffixes, unlike simple prepositions; they take either the disjunctive pronoun or a form of ''tăģ'' instead. For example, 'for me' is ''sün tam'' (cf. Scottish Gaelic ''air mo shon''). They also never mutate the following word.
 
* izăr 'between' (+ disj.)
* sün 'for, for the sake of' (+ form of ''tăģ'')
* ăr sgoh 'because of' (+ form of ''tăģ'')
* ătoŗ (+ disj.) (''flowery or dialectal'') 'towards' (< ag tóir 'pursuing')
Some dialects such as the Baltic dialect do inflect pseudo-prepositions as if they were true prepositions: ''ătoŗm, ătoŗăd, ...''
 
===Adverbs===
====Directionals====
same as Irish directionals
 
===Numerals===
Numerals are always followed by the singular form.
 
0 = ''efăs'', ''ă h-efăs'' (number zero)
 
counting numbers: ă h-eyn, ă du, ă tŗi, ă c&#x326;ehăr, ă cuģ, ă șie (some dialects ''ă șey'' or ''ă șeyș''), ă șef, ă h-ăf, ă ney, ă zeș
 
11, 12, ... = ă h-eyn zeag, ă du zeag, ă tŗi zeag...
 
20, 30, 40, ... = fișăd, tŗișăd, deyșăd, cuģăd, șeyșăd, șefăd, ăfăd, neyăd
 
21, 22, ... = fișăd să h-eyn, fișăd să du, ...
 
100, 200, ... = meyă, du mheyă, tŗi mheyă, ... (c&#x326;ead is only used in fixed expressions)
 
1000 = mil, elăf
 
attributives: 2-6 lenites
 
Counting humans: yochid, du-iș, tŗür, c&#x326;ehrăr, cuģăr, șeyșăr, șefăr, ăfăr, năynăr, zeșăr
 
ordinals: ''tăsi, elă, tŗiăv, c&#x326;ehrăv, cuģăv, șeyșăv, ...'' or just ''ăh N''
 
There is no true attributive form for "one"; usually the singular form is used in isolation. The Hebrew numeral אחד ''echăv'' (regardless of gender) may be used after the noun means "just one X" when X is indefinite and "the (one and) only X" when X is definite. The ''v'' reflects an earlier Hebrew reading tradition where lenited ד was [v].
: {{Heb|מאר יידי, בּי שנ&#1523;י אק עבודה ז-ע אחד.}}
: '''''Măr Yidi, bi șņi ăg ăvúdă Z-e echăv.'''''
: ''As Jews, we worship only one G-d.''
 
: {{Heb|שישא א כ&#1468;להאק אחד אי, א בֿיס קראָ קוֹם עשי ר'וֹב.}}
: '''''Șișă ă chalăg echăv i, ă bhis gro gum eși ŗuv.'''''
: ''She's the only woman who I'll ever love.''
 
The predicative form which isn't very common ("is one", "is two" etc.) is the same as the attributive form, except unmarked.
 
==Syntax==
Ăn Yidiș syntax is auxiliary-subject-verb-object and head initial.
 
In transitive sentences, the direct object (if it's a noun) immediately follows the verbal noun:
:'''''To nă Yidi feymăch iensăch nă Tură ă h-ilă ła.'''''
:''Jews have to study the Torah every day.''
===Noun phrase===
The demonstratives, when pronominal, are שאַ, שין, שוֹט ''șa, șin, șud'' corresponding to the Irish demonstratives ''seo, sin, siúd''. Adnominal demonstratives may use
* the native Gaelic syntax: אן עיהא שאַ ''ăn eyhă șa'' 'this night'
* the Hebrew syntax:
** אן עיהא אן שאַ ''ăn eyhă ăn șa''
** עיהא שאַ ''eyhă șa''
* the Arabic syntax (imported via Medieval Hebrew): שאַ אן עיהא ''șa ăn eyhă''
** This more commonly means 'this is the night'.
The first two syntaxes are roughly equally common and the last two are flowery and poetic.
 
===Translating "be"===
*"X is a NOUN": שי לשון כ&#1471;עלתּאך אָ סאן ייִדיש ''Și loșăn Cheltăch o săn Yidiș'' = Ăn Yidiș is a Celtic language (lit. It's a Celtic language that is in Ăn Yidiș)
*"1p/2p is the NOUN": מישא א מֿענשיל אצש משה ''Mișă ă mhenșil ăģ Mușă'' = I am Mușă's (Moses') wife
*"3p is the NOUN": שי א מֿענשיל אצש משה אי ''Și ă mhenșil ăģ Mușă i'' = She is Mușă's wife
**שי א מֿענשיל אצש משה אי רבקה ''Și _ă mhenșil ăģ Mușă_ i _Rivgă_'' (or ''Și _Rivgă_ i _ă mhenșil ăģ Mușă_'') = Rivgă is Mușă's wife
*Predicate adjectives or adjuncts use the verb בּי ''bi'':
**תּאָ רבקה אָרט ''To Rivgă ord'' 'Rivgă is tall'
**תּאָ רבקה אינש אן חדר-קאַדאל ''To Rivgă inș ăn chedăr-cadăl'' 'Rivgă is in the bedroom'
*to become or serve as X is ''bi ină+lenition X'': ''To mi ăg ieŗi bi ină chovir did'' 'I want to be your friend' (ină doesn't inflect for the subject unlike in Scottish Gaelic)
 
===Infinitive phrases===
The verbal noun preceded by ''ă'' (where ''ă'' lenites the VN unlike the imperfective marker ''ă(g)'') is the default for verbs that are arguments of other verbs, like the German ''zu''-infinitive. For example they have to be used with
* ''efșăr lum'' 'I can'
* ''tel lum'' 'I like'
* ''fyor lum'' 'I prefer'
* ''fuah/mies lum'' 'I hate' (''mies lum'' is stronger)
* ''tosăch'' 'to begin'
* ''zerăch/cřichnăch'' 'to finish'
* ''to mi feymăch'' 'I have to'
* ''cdey'' 'in order to' (some word like ''cdey'' is mandatory to introduce purpose clauses)
 
Such verb phrases are of the form ''ă'' + VN + nominal direct object, or pronominal direct object form of ă + VN. For example: ''ă thorț mátănă dum'' 'to give me a gift' (NB: Irish would say ''bronntanas a thabhairt dom'').
 
For example: ''Fyor lum ă chanțiņ Yidiș nă Ozăliș.'' 'I prefer speaking Ăn Yidiș to English.'
 
=== Indirect speech ===
Tense in indirect speech doesn't change to match the clause it's embedded in, like in German and unlike in English.
 
To quote questions in indirect speech, Ăn Yidiș directly carries over the interrogative auxiliary complex and doesn't use a special conjunction like English ''if'' or German ''ob'' (it just changes pronouns as necessary): ''To mi ņey faynăch do, vel fis ģe.'' 'I asked him if he knew.' (lit. "I asked him, does he know") This is also mandatory in Irtan Modern Hebrew: שאלתי אותו, האם הוא יודע/היודע הוא (whereas our Hebrew can use אם instead of האם).
 
==Vocabulary==
Ăn Yidiș vocabulary has the following lexical layers:
* Proto-Ăn Yidiș:
** traces of Pre-Irish Romance and Azalic
** Words inherited from MIr
** Hebrew and Aramaic loans based on the Old Tsarfati reading
* Hebrew and Aramaic words borrowed based on the modern Tsarfati reading
* Galoyseg
* Riphean and Hivantish (esp. words for clothing)
* Thurish (much less compared to Hivantish)
* "Loazit" (international Latin/Greek/English vocab)
* Borrowings or cognatizations from Irish
Formal or literary writing uses more Celtic and Semitic words; words from other Indo-European languages spoken in Irta Eastern Europe are more colloquial or relate to everyday objects.
 
Religious terminology tends to avoid Middle Irish terms in favor of Hebrew/Aramaic terms, because Middle Irish religious terms were associated with Catholicism. For example:
* 'sin' is חטא ''cheyd'' (m) instead of ''**pecădh''.
* The word ''zef'' (*deacht 'deity') shifted to meaning 'god, esp. non-monotheistic or Gentile'
* Newer religious terms (as well as Catholic terms) prefer direct Latin or Greek loans: for example, the word for 'religion' is itself ''relígyo'' rather than ''**cŗezăv'' (Irish ''creideamh'', literally 'belief', potentially problematic because Judaism is traditionally not as focused on faith as such to the same extent as Christianity). ''Transubsdanțyațyo'' is a typical borrowed Catholic terminology.
Modern Ăn Yidiș is more willing to borrow international vocabulary than Irish.
===Derivation===
* ''-ădăr'' occupations
*־ית ''-is'', pl. ־יות ''-iyăs'' or ־יתאן ''-isăn'' 'feminine occupational suffix'; today considered optional or dated for most occupations
** not added to nouns in ''-ăch''; you'd use constructions like כּלהק ייִדאך ''calăg Yidăch''
*''-nă, -năn'' 'feminine suffix' (Hivantish ''-nir'' < -nih2)
** חברנא ''chovărnă'' 'girlfriend' from חבר ''chovăr'' '(boy)friend'
*''-ăch'', ''-ih'': forms adjectives or "Gentilic nouns"
* ''-ăch'' (VN), ''-ih'': verber (~ Irish -aigh, Scottish Gaelic -aich verbs)
** ''mișpădăch, mișpadih'' = to judge
** ''yarșăch, yarșih'' = to inherit
*''-i'': agentives, adjectives; often suffixed to VNs for '-ive'
** ''cruthăchi'' = creative
*''-in'' (m): diminutive
*''-ăg'' (f): diminutive
*''-ăn'', ''-ónim'' (m): instrumental; diminutive; agentive (Hebrew influence)
** אַמאטאן, אַמאטאָנים ''amădăn, amădónim'' 'fool' (~ Irish ''amadán'')
*''-il'': adjective (~ Irish ''-úil'')
*''-ăfd/-fd'' (f): abstract noun
*''-łon'' (f): place
*-וּת ''-is'', plural -וּתאן ''-isăn'' (f): nominalizer (also replaced native ''*-us''), spelled יס in native words
** צניעוּת ''țni'is'' 'modesty' < צנוּע ''țonüe'' 'modest'
** תּאישאכיס ''tăyșăchis'' '(tribal) chiefdom; Irish premiership'
* ''-lăn'' is a diminutive for animates (analyzed from culen 'puppy', cun 'dog')
* Pairs of ''s-''/''d-'' antonyms (PCel *su-/*dus-), for example ''sărăchă'' 'bright' and ''dărăchă'' 'dark'. Some non-Irish examples are:
*# שׂכל ''seychăl'' (m) 'good sense, common sense; intelligence; tact', טעיכאלאך ''deychălăch'' 'stupid, lacking common sense' (influenced by native *saoi 'sage' and *daoi 'dullard', which are no longer used in Ăn Yidiș)
*# סמאָאס ''smoas'' (pl) 'tears of joy', דמעות ''dmoas'' 'tears (from Hebrew)'
*# שמחה ''simchă'' (f) 'good news, celebration (from Hebrew 'joy')', טימכא ''dimchă'' (f) 'mourning, tragedy'
*# טאשזשעל&#1523; ''Dășģeł'' (m) (obsolete, pejorative) 'Christianity', from MIr ''soiscéul'' 'Gospel'
* ''-ol'': older verbalizer
* (something from Hivantish) + -ăch, -ih: most productive verbalizer
* Greek y is borrowed as ü
* Classical os/us adjectives are borrowed with -ăch: מיסאָקוּנאך ''misógünăch'' (misogynos) 'misogynistic'.
* ''-iser'': agentive, borrowed from Hivantish
* ''gü-°'': pseudo, borrowed from Old Irish ''gú-''
* ''-ísmis, -ísmișă'': (f) -ism
* words from Latin use close to Latin suffixes, e.g. ''declináțyo, declinațyónes'' 'declension'
 
==Phrasebook==
*''Șolăm'' = Hello, goodbye
*''Șolăm-ăléychăm'' = Hello
*''Ăléychăm-șolăm'' = Hello (in response to ''șolăm-aléychăm'')
*''Byonăf led/liv'' = Thank you (lit. blessing with you)
** ''Murăn tudă'' = Thank you very much
** ''Mil tudă'' = A thousand thanks
** ''Răvóvă tudă'' = (effusive) Ten thousand thanks; Irtan Hebrew actually says ''revava toda'' instead of ''toda raba''
*''Șe dă-bhehă/văr-behă'' = No problem (reply to ''Byonăf led/liv'')
* ''De tă doł?'' / ''De tă nă-chłințiņ?'' 'What's up?'
* ''Borich-hăbó'' (to sg) / ''Brüchim-hăbóim'' (to pl) = Welcome
** ''Brüchim-hănimțóim'' = reply to 'Welcome' (lit. blessed are those who are here)
*''Dend enim o ărăd?'' = What is your name?
*''Șe Dovid ănd enim ărum'' = My name is David
*''Vel ăn Ozăliș găd/giv?'' = Do you speak English?
** ''To/Chnel'' 'Yes/No (to a question beginning with ''vel'')'
*** Words corresponding to 'yes' and 'no' do exist (הן ''heyn'' and לאו ''lov'') but are not used in everyday speech.
*''T' ăn Yidiș gum'' = I speak Ăn Yidiș
*''Chnel ăn Yidiș gum'' = I can't speak Ăn Yidiș
*''Chnel mi ă ticșinț'' = I don't understand
*''Ă canțin nis melă, ŗi dă-thel/văr-tel'' = Please speak more slowly
*''Ga/Gav mă-leșģeł'' = Excuse me (''gav'' is the plural form)
*''To m' ăg ieŗi canțin Yidiș, ăch chnefșăr lum.'' = I want to speak Ăn Yidiș, but I cannot.
*''Blien mhah bhyoniță'' /bliən vah vjonitsə/ = Happy new year (Rosh Hashanah greeting)
*''[holiday] mah/gorzăch'' = 'Happy [holiday]' (used for most holidays, Jewish or secular): e.g. ''Pesăch mah'' 'Happy Passover'; ''Yundăv mah'' = Happy holidays
* ''Bă thel lum...'' 'I would like'
** ''Ăm bă thel led/liv'' = 'Would you like...'
*** ''Bă thel/Chă bă thel'' = 'Yes/No'
* ''Ăn efșăr lum'' / (more politely) ''Ăn șofăr dum...'' 'May I...'
** ''Efșăr/Șofăr'' 'Yes'; ''Chnefșăr/Chă șofăr'' 'No'
*''To gro gum ărăd'' = I love you
** ''Vel gro găd ărum?'' = Do you love me?
* ''Chnel is'' 'dunno' (colloquial for ''chnel is gum'')
===Dates and time===
* בּליען ''blien'' 'year'
** אם בּליען ''ăm blien'' 'this year' (This is from the old accusative; "the year" would be ''ă bhlien''.)
** בּליען שא-כ&#1471;אַי ''blien șă-chay'' 'last year'
** אן אה&#1468;-בּליען 'next year'
* חודש ''choadăș'' 'month'
* ל&#1523;אַ ''ła'' 'day'
** אנ&#1523;וֹג ''ăņu&#x0301;gh'' 'today'
** אנ&#1523;עי ''ăņéy'' 'yesterday'
** אמאָראך ''ămórăch'' 'tomorrow'
* שעה ''șo'' 'hour'
* מיניט ''minid'' 'minute'
* סאכּוֹן ''săcún'' 'second'
 
* ''T'i șo'' = It's 1:00
* ''T'i XX minid ņey șo'' = It's 1:XX
* ''... leh ņey șo'' = 1:30
* ''... du șo'' = 2:00
* ''șo zeag'' = 11:00
* ''du șo zeag'' = 12:00
* ''ăr ă mhadiņ'' = in the morning
* ''ăr ăm fesgăr'' = in the afternoon
* ''ărn erăv'' = in the evening
* ''ărn eyșă'' = at night
====Civil months====
Civil months just use the Latin names:
* יאַנוֹר Yanur
* פעבּוֹר Febur
** Poetic: אימל&#1523;אכ Imłăc
* מאַרץ Marț
* אַפּריל Apríl or Ápril
** Poetic: זשיב&#1468;לין&#1523; Ģibliņ
* מאַי May
** Poetic: בּיאָל&#1523;תּין&#1523; Byołtiņ
* יוֹן Yun
** Poetic: מעהאב Mehăv
* יוֹל Yul
** Poetic: יוֹכאר Yuchăr
* אָקוֹסט Ogúsd
** Poetic: ל&#1523;וּנאסטאל&#1523;  Łünăsdăł
* סעבּתּעמבּאר&#1523;  Sebtémbăr
** Poetic: סוֹלת&#1468;ין&#1523; Sultiņ
* אָקתּאָבּאר  Ogtóbăr
** Poetic: טאָבאר Dovăr
* נאָוועמבּאר Novémbăr
** Poetic: תּאַבין&#1523; Taviņ
* טעצשעמבּאר Dec&#x326;émbăr
** Poetic: טו&#1468;בל&#1523;אף Düvłăf
 
====Jewish months====
E.g. ''T' ă Chanică ă tăsăch im 25 (fișăd 's ă cuģ) Cisliv.'' 'Hanukkah begins on the 25th of Kislev.'
* Nisăn: Nissan
* Ier: Iyar
* Sivăn: Sivan
* Tamiz: Tammuz
* Ov: Av
* Elil: Elul
* Tișri: Tishrei
* (Măr)cheșvăn: (Mar)cheshvan
* Cisliv: Kislev
* Deyvis: Tevet
* Șvod: Shvat
* Adăr: Adar
 
====Days of the week====
Note: in {{PAGENAME}} a day is considered to begin at sunset or nightfall, as according to Jewish law.
*Sunday: זי־סוֹל ''zi-Sul''
**Sunday morning (around and after sunrise): מאַטין&#1523; סוֹל ''madiņ Sul''
**Sunday afternoon (before sunset): ףעסקאר סוֹל ''fesgăr Sul''
**Sunday evening (after sunset): ערב לואַן ''erăv Luan'' (!)
**Sunday night: עיהא לוֹאן ''eyhă Luan'' (!)
*Monday: זי־לוֹאן ''zi-Luan''
*Tuesday: זי־מאָרץ ''zi-Morț''
*Wednesday: זי־כּ׳עאדין ''zi-C&#x326;eadin''
*Thursday: זי־זעאראדין ''zi-Zearădin''
*Friday: זי־רוֹ־שבּת ''zi-Ru-Șabăs''
*Saturday: זי־שבּת ''zi-Șabăs''
 
====Telling the time====
*''T'i tŗi șo.'' = It's 3:00.
*''T'i du șo zeag'' = It's 12:00.
 
===Colors===
*ק׳אָל' ''ģoł'' = white
*קוֹב, קוֹבא ''guv, guvă'', also שחוֹר, שחוֹרים ''șochăr, șăchurim'' = black
*זעראק ''zerăg'' = red
*בּוֹי ''buy'' = yellow
*אוֹאנא ''uană'' = green
*קל'אַס ''głas'' = gray
*קאראם ''gărăm'' = blue
*בּאַנאש ''banăș'' = violet; purple
*טאָאן ''doan'' = brown
 
==Sample texts==
=== Quotes ===
 
:{{Heb|כֿנעל איס קוֹם אך קוֹ נאך על איס קוֹם כּל.}}
:''Chnel is gum ăch gu năch el is gum col.''
:NEG.COP knowledge at-1SG except COMP NEG.COMP.COP knowledge at-1SG nothing
: I only know that I know nothing.
 
(The word for 'nothing' actually comes from the same source as Scottish Gaelic ''càil'', but is spelled like the Hebrew word כל (Tsarfati Hebrew pronunciation ''col'') "every, all" which is used for "any" in negative sentences in Hebrew as well.)
 
: ''Mă năch mișă son tamșă feyn, cu a son tamșă? Ăch mă năch el me ăch son tamșă feyn, de mișă? Is mă năch ołn ăneșu, cin?''
: If I am not for me, who is for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?
 
: תּאָ נא ה-אילא חיות כּאב-איענאן, אך תּא כּיז נא חיות נאס-כּאב-איענאנא. (אס "אן תּוֹאה&#1468; תּאזש נא חיות")
: ''To nă h-ilă chayăs căv-íenăn, ăch to ciz nă chayăs năs-căv-íenănă.'' (''ăs "Ăn Tuah tăģ nă Chayăs"'')
: All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. (from ''Animal Farm'')
 
=== Genesis 1:1-5 ===
The following is from the Yăhuaș translation, the most well-known Ăn Yidiș translation of the Tanakh. It's viewed as a literary work but doesn't have official religious status. The "Scottish Gaelic" text here is the Ăn Yidiș cognatized back into Scottish Gaelic.
{| class="wikitable" style=""
! !! style="width: 250px;" | Ăn Yidiș !! style="width: 250px;" | Romanization !! style="width: 250px;" | IPA !! style="width: 250px;" | Scottish Gaelic cognates !! style="width: 250px;" | English (from the Ăn Yidiș)
|-
! 1:1
|| {{rtl|{{Heb|נוֹאר אָ זיע נ&#1523;עי תּאסאך א כ&#1471;רוֹהאך נא נ&#1523;עבֿא איס נא תּאַל׳וֹן —}}}}
||''Nuar o Zie ņey tăsăch ă chruhăch nă ņevă is nă tałun —''
|| [nuər o tsiə nej ˈtʰəsəχ ˈkʰrʊhəχ nə nevə ɪs nə tʰa(w)un]
||''**Nuair a tha Dia an dèidh toiseach a' chruthachadh na nèimh agus na talmhainn —''
||''When God began creating the heaven and the earth —''
|-
! 1:2
|| {{rtl|{{Heb|בֿ־אן תּאַל׳ קאַן פֿעראמאָל איס פאָל׳, איס בֿא טאכאטוּס א כּוֹטאך אן תּהוֹם, איס בֿ־אן שבּיראט אק זיע א סנאָב אשזשיען נא ה־אישזשאן —}}}}
||''v' ăn tał gan fherămăl is foł, is vă dăchădis ă cudăch ăn tăhum, is v' ăn șbirăd tăg Zie ă snov ășģien nă h-ișģăn —''
|| [v‿ən tʰaw gan ˈerəmol ɪs ˈfow, ɪs və ˈtəχədys ə ˈkʰudəχ ən ˈtʰəhum, ɪs v‿ən ˈʃpɪrəd ək tsiə ə snov əʃˈtʃiən nə ˈhɪʃtʃən]
||''**bha an talamh gan fhoirmeil agus folamh, agus bha dorchadas ag còmhdach an תהום, agus bha an spiorad a th' aig Dia ag snàmh os cionn na huisgeachan —''
||''the earth was unformed (lit. without forming) and empty, and darkness was covering the deep, and the spirit of God was floating above the waters —''
|-
! 1:3
|| {{rtl|{{Heb|תּאָ זיע נ&#1523;עי ראָ: «ראב סאָל׳אס נ&#1523;עי בּי אָן!» איס תּאָ סאָל׳אס נ&#1523;עי בּי אָן.}}}}
|| ''to Zie ņey ro: «Răv sołăs ņey bi ołn!» Is to sołăs ņey bi ołn.''
|| [tʰo tsiə nej ro, rev ˈsowəs nej bi own, ɪs to ˈsowəs nej bi own]
|| ''**tha Dia an dèidh ràdh: "Gu robh solas an dèidh bi ann!" Agus tha solas an dèidh bi ann.''
|| ''God said: "Let there come to be light!" And there came to be light.''
|-
! 1:4
|| {{rtl|{{Heb|תּאָ זיע נ&#1523;עי פעצש אן סאָל׳אש, קוֹ וועל ע מאַהּ; איס תּאָ זיע נ&#1523;עי זעל׳אך איזארן סאָל׳אס איס אן טאכאטוס.}}}}
|| ''To Zie ņey fec̦ ăn sołăș, gu vel e mah; is to Zie ņey zełăch izărn sołăs is ăn dăchădis.''
|| [tʰo tsiə nej fetʃʰ ən ˈsowəs kʊ vel ʃe mah; ɪs tʰo tsiə nej ˈtsewəχ ˈɪdzərn ˈsowəs ɪs ən ˈtəχədys]
|| ''**Tha Dia an dèidh faic an tsolais, gu bheil e maith; agus tha Dia an dèidh dealachadh idir an tsolais agus an dorchadais.''
|| ''God saw the light, that it is good; and God separated the light and the darkness.''
|-
! 1:5
|| {{rtl|{{Heb|תּאָ זיע נ&#1523;עי תּאַקאר טען סאָל׳אס ל׳אַ, איס אן טאכאטוס תּ-ע נ&#1523;עי תּאַקאר טאָ עיהא. איס בֿ־ערב אָן איס בֿא מֿאַטין&#1523; אָן, ל׳אַ אחד.}}}}
|| ''To Zie ņey tagăr den sołăs ła, is ăn dăchădis t'e ņey tagăr do eyhă. Is v' erăv ołn is vă mhadiņ ołn, ła echăv.''
|| [tʰo tsiə nej ˈtʰakər den ˈsowəs wa, ɪs ən ˈtəχətys tʰo ʃe nej ˈtʰakər do ˈejhə. ɪs v‿ˈerəv own ɪs və ˈvadɪɲ own, wa ˈehəd]
||''**Tha Dia an dèidh tagairt dhon tsolas latha, agus an dorchadas tha e an dèidh tagairt dha oidhche. Agus bha ערב ann agus bha mhadainn ann, latha אחד.''
||''God called the light day, and the darkness, He called it night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.</center>
|}
 
===Ma Nishtana (from the Haggadah)===
:'''''De o ņey achărăch ărn eyhă șa ună hilă eyhănăn elă?'''''
:''What has changed on this night from all other nights?''
:''That we don't dip vegetables even once on all other nights, but we do so twice tonight.''
:''That we eat both chomăț (leavened bread) and mață on all other nights; but we eat only mață tonight.''
:''That we eat all kinds of vegetables on all other nights; but tonight, it's bitter herbs that we eat.''
:''That we eat while some of us sit and some of us recline on all other nights, but all of us recline tonight.''
 
===From "Dirge Without Music"===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
Fully vocalized Ăn Yidiș
 
{{rtl|{{Heb|קִינָה קאַן צשוֹל׳ (לאְ ה-עֶדְנָה סעֶיינתּ ווינסאְנתּ מילעֶיי)}}}}
 
 
{{rtl|{{Heb|כֿנעל מי נִכְֿנָע לעֶש אְן קל&#1523;אַסאג אְזש כּרעין אְ תחוּשה קֿראָ סזעֶך טאְ נא קְבָֿרוֹת.}}}}
{{rtl|{{Heb|תּ-עֶ מאְר שאַ איס בּי עֶ מאְר שאַ, אָר בֿ-עֶ מאְר שאַ, אוֹ זְמָנִים רוֹ כֿיבֿנאְ;}}}}
{{rtl|{{Heb|תּ-איעט אין אְ ףאַל׳אב איסצעֶך טאְן שאול, נאְ שכלים ה־עֶקני ה-אלאְ. ר׳י כְּתָֿרוֹת}}}}
{{rtl|{{Heb|אְק ליליאְן איס אְק ל׳אַבֿרישאְן אָ ה-איעט אְ פאַל׳אְב; אַך כֿנעל מי נִכְֿנָע.}}}}
{{col-break}}
{{col-break}}
<poem>
Transliteration
 
'''''Gină gan c&#x326;uł''''' (''lă hEdnă Seynt Vinsănt Miley'')
 
''Chnel mi nichnă leș ăn głasăgh năn creyn ă tchüșă ghro szech dă nă gvorăs.''
''T'e măr șa is bi e măr șa, or v'e măr șa, u zmanim ru chivnă;''
''T'ied ă fałăv isțech dăn șoal, nă skholim h-egni h-olă. Ŗi csorăs*''
''Tăg liliăn is tăg łavrișăn o h-ied ă fałăv; ăch chnel mi nichnă.''
</poem>
{{ast}} Poetic license; the usual plural of ''cesăr'' 'crown' is ''csorim''.
{{col-break}}
<poem>
Retranslation
 
'''A Dirge Without Music''' (by Edna St. Vincent Millay)
 
I am not surrendered to the locking away of hearts feeling love into the graves.
It is like this, and it will be like this, for it was like this, from times before memory:
Into Sheol they leave, the wise and beautiful intellects. With crowns
Of lilies and of laurel they leave; but I am not surrendered.
</poem>
{{col-break}}
<poem>
Original
 
'''Dirge Without Music''' (by Edna St. Vincent Millay)
 
I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.
</poem>
{{col-end}}
 
=== The Round Table ===
 
== Poetry ==
Anapests are the most common feet, rhymes work like in Modern Irish
 
=== A folk song ===
 
== Trivia ==
Writing Ăn Yidiș "etymologically" in Old Irish Latin orthography, called אן ק&#1471;וּ-ק&#1471;אָידעליש ''ăn Ghü-Ghóydeliș'' 'fake Old Irish', is sometimes used in secular Ăn Yidiș-speaking communities for comedic or aesthetic purposes. It sometimes appears in tandem with ''[[Ăn Yidiș/Filichdiș|Filichdiș]]'', a register of Ăn Yidiș with artificial archaisms. The etymology might be wrong even for native words.
 
''Ăn Ghü-Ghóydeliș'' began as a joke in a heavily Old Irish-inspired conlang used in [[Verse:Aoife|Aoife Ní Fhlaithbheartaigh]]'s games set in Méich Bhaonnáiqh, then attained memetic status among Ăn Yidiș-speaking Zoomers. It is especially indispensable in the streaming community and Discord; it's a whole register or 'language' of slang terms, like our Twitch slang. Some words commonly spelled in Ghü-Ghóydeliș are now well known in Internet Ăn Yidiș.
 
It follows some well known Old Irish conventions like using ⁊ for ''is'' 'and' and ''in'' for the definite article. It uses dots for lenition when actual Old Irish manuscripts would not mark the lenition.
 
Some Hebrew loans in Ăn Yidiș in this orthography:
* ''seáilemm a·léchaimm'' שלום-עליכם ''șolăm ăléychăm'' (pretonic syllables are separated by an interpunct)
* ''cdoí''/''cdaí'' כּדי ''cdey'' 'in order to'
* ''tachless'' תּכלית ''tachlis'' 'main point; at the end of the day'
* ''mo·nórae'' מנוֹרה ''mănúră'' 'menorah' (final schwa usually becomes ''ae'' or ''e'')
* ''náer''/''nóer'' נר ''neyr'' 'candle'
* ''toíd&#775;er'' etc. תּיאור ''teyăr'' 'to describe'
* Sivan (''Suim&#775;(e)án''), Cheshvan (''Chaeism&#775;(e)án'') and Kislev (''Cuisslim&#775;'') are spelled with Old Irish lenited m, because the v comes from Akkadian m
Faux Old Irish Hebrew read as Old Irish is a common joke among classicists in Irta. There is also religious-literature-style satire of the ''Gü-Ghoydeliș'' phenomenon which contains many streaming/Discord culture references and which quotes fake Hebrew texts which are really in Old Irish transliterated into, or interpreted as, Hebrew.
 
[[Category:Indo-European languages]]
[[Category:Celtic languages]]
[[Category:Goidelic languages]]
[[Category:Jewish languages]]

Latest revision as of 07:20, 5 January 2023

Judeo-Mandarin is a descendant of Old Mandarin, spoken by most Chinese Jews in Irta.

Note: As a Gentile Korean speaker I believe I'm somewhat more qualified to sketch this than to sketch a hypothetical Judeo-Celtic language. I'll just sketch the sound changes here, without venturing into creating the Jewish-specific vocabulary.

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