Verse:Irta/Judeo-Mandarin

Verse:Irta/Judeo-Mandarin/Wordlist

Ăn Yidiș/Ăn Yidiș

Ăn Yidiș/Translations

Ăn Yidiș/Proto-Ăn Yidiș

Ăn Yidiș/Learăgüsiș

Irta/Judeo-Mandarin
Judeo-Gaelic
אן ייִדיש ăn Yidiș/אן אידיש ăn Idiș
Pronunciation	[ən '(j)ɪdɪʃ]
Created by	IlL
Setting	Verse:Irta
Native speakers	13 million (2021)
Language family	Indo-European Celtic Goidelic Old Irish Middle Irish Irta/Judeo-Mandarin

In the Irta timeline, Ăn Yidiș (natively אן ייִדיש ăn Yidiș /ən 'jɪtɪʃ/ [ən 'jɪdɪʃ] or אן אידיש ăn Idiș, historically א קֿאָלק׳ תּאק נא יידיהּ ă Gholģ (tăg nă Yidith) /ə 'ɣoltʃ (thək nə jitih)/ '(Judeo-)Gaelic'; in-universe Hebrew: יידיש yidiš; in-universe Standard Irish: Gaelainn na nGiúdach or an Ghiodais) is a Goidelic language which is the main vernacular of most major Jewish communities in Europe, Britain, Canada, and the US, in-universe called "Tsarfati (= our France) Jews" (nă Țărfósith). With over 13 million speakers, ~70% of whom live in North America, it is the most spoken Celtic language in Irta. Ăn Yidiș is a possible answer to "What if Yiddish were Goidelic?" and is called "Yiddish" in in-universe English.

Among Ăn Yidiș speakers, Hebrew and English are common second languages (religious Jews learn Hebrew).

Traditional scholarly consensus holds that Ăn Yidiș evolved from a 10th century Middle Irish dialect that was spoken in Western France. However, according to some, there was no single Proto-Ăn Yidiș; Jewish speakers of Middle Irish originally spoke two separate Irish dialects, which Standard Ăn Yidiș is effectively a koine of. On top of the inherited Gaelic vocabulary, Ăn Yidiș mainly borrows words from Hebrew and Talmudic Aramaic, but also from Azalic, Galoyseg, and Hivantish.

Its aesthetic is "Scottish Gaelic but less Icelandic and more Romanian, Polish, and Windermere."

Todo

Segol should be ea in some very old Hebrew loans (mealăch 'king', from */mE:lEx/)

object pronouns should be prefixes:

• găm-, găd-, ...
• neym-, neyd-, ...

Change conjunctive șe/și to e/i

Accusative marking based on animacy rather than definiteness?

Make "of" t(h)ăģ/t(h)ăg, tagum, tagăd, ... (from *a tá ag 'that is at', cf. Hebrew shel 'that is to')

should be a bit more of a post-Talmud Jewish Aramaic relex

Old genitive functions as definite accusative (articles ăn+L (same rules as feminine nom sg article), nă h-, năn/năm) but ăģ still used for possession? (retaining gender makes more sense that way)

• Hebrew zero ending nouns get -ă
• don't worry about Hebrew feminine nouns in f sg gen bc it's clear they are gen sg (e.g. Bhă mi ă leyn nă Tură)

řth is pronounced ș, should they have a spelling reform?

change relative of the auxiliary תּאָ to to א ה- ă h-?

What should the Ăn Yidiș dreidel letters be and what Hebrew mnemonic phrase should they use?

me, tü -> mi, ti

avoid "șua"

vn ending -adh should become -ăg? (-achadh > -ăch)

șe ăr sgoth șin: 'that's why'

h should be he or he mappiq in native words

Qamatz should reduce in unstressed syllables even in native vocab

Bey af șu ney doł șechăd = This too shall pass.

nă Fyoghăn h-Orsi = the Great Old Ones

Chalk up șu X = this is X (like Gàidhlig seo X) to Hebrew influence

To nă ŗołtăn in oț = The stars are right (in place)

chet in Heb loans = χ (Ăn Yidiș Hebrew should have final /h/ pronounced)

Geresh is ׳

Rafe is ֿ

Gàidhlig -chadh VNs correspond to ĂnY -ch

Final aspirated stops realized as gemination (cf. Estonian): אָז oz [odz~ots] 'then' vs אָץ oț [ots:] 'place'

Update Hebrew script examples

Add ņ in the same places where Gàidhlig has slender nn; e.g. madiņ ~ madainn 'morning'

Hebrew m-, s-, ș- words should be masculine? Or just get rid of gender, șe/și/șin, make mutation lexical like Eevo? (Modern Secular ĂnY) A minimal set: fer [fɛɻ] 'man', fear [feːɻ~feəɻ] 'grass', fier [fiəɻ] 'to bend', fir [fɪɻ] 'very', fuar [fʊəɻ] 'cold'

șu/șin/șud can be used by themselves as pronouns: טע שין De șin? (< *ciod é sin) 'What's that?'

In "X is-the Y" type sentences cu 'who' and de 'what' can be used by itself: Cu tüsă? 'Who are you? (Identify yourself.)' (expecting an answer that is a definite noun) but to make other iș-sentences into questions you have to use deș: Deș efșăr lum ă zhean bichlál? 'What can I even do?'

sr' > șr (dial. stŗ or ștŗ)

Oy vey <- Nithish wė <- *wai?

Should have less vowel reduction in both native and Hebrew vocab? facłuŗ instead of facłăŗ, șvü'us for Shavuot instead of șvües

Should have a Scottish Gaelic bias in vocab

How to say "daloy"

Fix (later) Hebrew loans

ü from Old Irish ú and other sources

Sound laws (IFDY Ăn Yidiș):

• ŗeł > ŗoł
• eal > 'ăł
  • בּייאל'אך byăłăch 'path'
• ann eann ionn onn unn > on jon ien oan uan (same for -ll and -rr)
• ainn einn inn oinn uinn > eyn eyn in in in
• aidh eidh idh oidh uidh > ay ey i ăy i
• yü > yi (Yüd- is still used in some dialects)

ק ט used for native g d

Semantic drifts

T' ănd iesg byu ă snov inș ănd ișģă = The living fish swims in the water

Compounds later than Proto-Ăn Yidiș are head-initial

și c̦ertüs, și c̦ertüs ă t' orăt o-toaŗ 'Justice, justice you must pursue' (צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף)

History

Main article: Ăn Yidiș/Proto-Ăn Yidiș

Main article: Ăn Yidiș/Literature

Expulsion of Tsarfati Jews from Gaelic-speaking Catholic Brittany? (like expulsion of Jews from Spain)

Names

Nicknames may be formed with the -in, -lăn, or the double diminutive -(i)non. For example, Yacăv 'Jacob' may become Yancin, Yałcin, Yaclăn, or Yacnon.

Given names (non-Biblical)

Male

• אַרתּ, אַרתּין Art, Artin 'bear', דובארתּ Doavart
• שיענאך Șienăch (Sheenakh) 'fox' (also a surname)
• ףיען Fien (Finn)
• ףיעך Fiech 'raven'

Vestigial genitive forms of names are still found in surnames, e.g. מאכּ שיעניח mac Șienith

Female

• כּלין Calin (Colleen) 'little bride'; Colleen is mainly a Jewish name in Apple PIE US
• ניעב Niev (Niav, Neeve)
• שירה Șiră (Shira)

Unisex

• אַשלין Așlin (Ashlin, Ashleen): 'vision, calling'

Surnames

Elements that were oroginally patronymics:

• Gaelic: for men: מאַכּ/ניכּ חיים mac Chaym "son of Chaym".
  • The counterpart for unmarried women is nic Chaym; a wife of a mac Chaym takes the surname מען מאַכּ חיים men mac Chaym.
  • u (m) and ni +lenition (f) are not productive; typically names of pre-Ăn Yidiș Gaelic clans such as u Căyv (~ Ó Caoimh, O'Keeffe)
• Semitic: בּן/בּר/בּת חיים, חיימי ben (m)/bar (m)/bas (f) Chaim, Chaimi
• Azalic: חיימסאָן Chaimson, Chaimdotăr

Common surnames:

• Cuhăn
• Leyvi, mac Leyvi

Famous people

• סקאָט מאַק אהרון Scott McAharon (Sgod mac Ahárăn) - quantum physicist and computer scientist
• Emil Artin

Phonology of IFAY Ăn Yidiș

The following describes the (somewhat artificial) standard, often called אן כּאיזאן ăn Căyzăn [əŋ 'kʰəjtsən~əŋ 'kʰəjdzən] 'the standard', originally codified by the Ăn Yidiș Research Institute (אנט אינסטיתּוֹט ףיסיףטאך תּאק׳ אן יידיש ănd Insditud Fisifdăch tăģ ăn Yidiș; abbreviated to איףאַי/IFAY /i'faj/).

Consonants

The consonantal phonology of Ăn Yidiș is fairly conservative and has the same number of consonants in most dialects (except for some dialects like Ballmer Ăn Yidiș which merges l and ł into dark L and merges ŗ with y into something like Spanish y). Some differences from Irish and Scottish Gaelic are:

• depalatalization of slender labials
• some Slavic-like and Polish-like sound changes, like slender c > č, etc.
• loss of the fortis-lenis distinction in resonants

Standard Ăn Yidiș consonants

		Labial	Dental/Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
			plain	affr.
Nasal		m m	n n̪		ņ ɲ	[ŋ]
Stop /Affricate	tenuis/lenis	b p	d t̪	z t̪s̪	ģ tʃ	g k
	aspirated/fortis	p pʰ	t t̪ʰ	ț t̪s̪ʰ	c̦ tʃʰ	c kʰ
Fricative	voiceless	f, ph f		s s̪	ș, c̦h ʃ	ch χ	h, th, sh, țh h
	voiced	v, bh v			r̦ ʒ	gh, dh ɣ
Approximant	central	ł w	r r~ɻ		y, zh, ģh j
	lateral		l l

Notes

• Aspirated stops are as strongly aspirated as in Mandarin. Unaspirated stops can only be voiced after vowels; voicing initial unaspirated stops sounds non-native.
• r is most commonly an alveolar or retroflex approximant (more like Hiberno-English r than American r). The sequences /rn rl rth rt= rtsh rts rs/ are realized as retroflex [N Th T= TSh TS S], even across word boundaries: נאַך אפֿשר לעט nach efșăr led [naχ efʃə ɭet] 'can't you?' It may also be a flap or trill.
• In most modern accents ŗ /ʒ/ is postalveolar and merges with ș when devoiced. It is pronounced as Czech ř (devoiced after voiceless fricatives and aspirated stops) in conservative dialects and merges with ș or y in some dialects.
• Stop + fricative clusters are distinct from affricates: some minimal pairs are דר׳עבאר dŗevăr 'sister' and ג׳עבאר ģevăr 'winter'; תּר׳י tŗi '3' and כּ׳י c̦i 'at her'.
• t d s are dental and may be slightly velarized. In some dialects t may be a fricative /θ/.
• /h/ is always pronounced clearly. It is usually [h~ɦ], but is [ħ̞] (weak [ħ]) before or after /a/ and [c̦] before /i/. Word-finally it is always [ħ̞].
• /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 complete by proto-Ăn Yidiș times). Most dialects also lost vowel length.

Standard Ăn Yidiș vowels

	Front		Central	Back
	unrounded	rounded
Close	i /ɪ/	ü /y/		u /u~ʊ/
Mid	e /e/		ă /ə/	o /o/
Open			a /a/

In addition, there are the following diphthongs: ea oa ie ua üe ay ey ăy oy uy üy /eə oə iə uə yə aj ej əj oj uj yj/

• /e o/ are mid [e̞ o̞].

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 Irta/Judeo-Mandarin, 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

Like Scottish Gaelic but mostly syllable-timed. Questions do not differ from declaratives in intonation. In exclamations the intonation is more exaggerated than normal.

Cualand Ăn Yidiș is tonal.

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.

• Lenitions:
  • b /b/ > bh /v/
  • d /d/ > dh /ɣ/
  • f /f/ > fh /0/
  • g /g/ > gh /ɣ/
  • c /k/ > ch /χ/
  • c̦ /tʃ/ > c̦h /ʃ/
  • m /m/ > mh /v/
  • p /p/ > ph /f/
  • s /s/ > sh /h/
  • t /t/ > th /h/
  • ț /ts/ > țh /h/
  • ģ /dʒ/ > ģh /j/

Dialects

Ăn Yidiș dialects differ in accent, grammar and vocabulary. One major grammatical difference by dialect is in case marking:

• in some dialects such as the Southeastern (Bohemian) Ăn Yidiș, the genitive inherited from Old Irish marks definite direct objects (like in Scottish Gaelic)
• in the Italian dialect the genitive marks animate direct objects (cf. Slavic animate masculine vs inanimate masculine nouns)
• Northern Ăn Yidiș has had no case, gender or animacy since the late 18th century at the latest

The Ăn Căyzăn 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 Czechia but nudged a bit closer to Irish and Mishnaic Hebrew grammar (read: close to our Scottish Gaelic but simplified a little)
• orthographically it's diaphonemic to the extent possible, i.e. Proto-Ăn Yidiș vowels are respected unless it would cause the writing to be un-phonemic according to the Ăn Căyzăn accent.
• vocabulary-wise, it's a koinéized mixture of different dialects, with the addition of some hypothetical cognates of Irish words.

The Ăn Căyzăn 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 Căyzăn closely, but most speakers speak another variety and read the formal written language in their native accent. Ăn Căyzăn is also used when speakers of different Ăn Yidiș dialects speak with each other or when you don't know what The most common spoken dialects today are Ballmer and Bohemian dialects (mainly spoken in Haredi communities) and Modern Ăn Căyzon (spoken by secular Ăn Yidiș speakers).

The inherited Gaelic vocabulary of Ăn Yidiș has historically been extremely dialectally uniform, because Ăn Yidiș arose from a founder event and spread rapidly over a wide area. Historically, Ăn Yidiș dialects mainly differed in accent, syntax, function words, and vocabulary (what Semitic and other loanwords are used).

Bohemian Hasidic Ăn Yidiș (Southeastern)

Ănt Yădăș

• NZ-ish chain vowel shift:
  1. /ɪ/ > /ə/ > /a/ > /e/ > /ei/ > /ai/
  2. ie, üe, ua > /i y u/; ea, oa > /iə uə/
     • often transcribed "ii üü uu ie ua"

In Modern Bohemian Ăn Yidiș, mutations and gender have been lost; mutation of nouns is lexical and is based on the form following the definite article in Ăn Căyzăn. Hebrew words usually use non-mutated forms.

• dășģă 'water' < ănd ișģă
• cheylăg 'woman' < ă' chalăg
• tch(y)ănă 'tkhine, a form of non-liturgical prayer' < ăn tchină

However, declension is preserved, as follows:

• sg. indef. cheylăg, eyd, cnav, mățvă
• nom. sg. def. ănt cheylăg/ănt eyd/ănt cnav/ănt mățvă (marked nom!)
• acc. sg. def. ă cheylăģă/ăn eydă/ă cnavă/ă mătsvă
• pl. indef. cheylăgăn/eydim/cnavăn/mătsvăs
• nom. pl. def. nă cheylăgăn/nă h-eydim/nă cnavăn/nă mătsvăs
• acc. pl. def. năn cheylăgăn/năn eydim/năn cnavăn/năm mătsvăs

Baltic Ăn Yidiș (Northeastern)

called "'n Iđiș" or Nithish

A (historically non-Hasidic) Haredi dialect spoken in the Baltic. Kinda Our-Yiddish gibby. Today mainly spoken in our Israel

• /ə/-/o/ merger
• Căyzăn /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
• No /xt/ > /ft/
• Proto-Ăn Yidiș unstressed אָ becomes /u/ in most envs
  • קאַבוֹל gavul 'to receive' (Căyzăn קאַבאל gavăl)
  • מתּנה mátunu > mátinu 'gift' (Căyzăn mátănă)
  • כּלה calu 'bride, daughter IL' and כּאַלא cală (< MIr caile) 'girl, lass' are still separate words in this lect

Italian Ăn Yidiș

Conservative phonology, not spoken very much today

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.

ç ģ remain palatal stops in some of these dialects, or they become retroflex stops. ř ł retain their Proto-Ăn Yidiș values.

Ballmer (Baltimore) Ăn Yidiș

Ăn Yidiș/Ballmer

Cualand Ăn Yidiș

Windermere influenced subdialect of Ballmer Ăn Yidiș, e o ea oa are pronounced as in Windermere, r is uvular

also some Mainland Southeast Asian features such as serial verbs

Orthography

Ăn Yidiș is written in an adapted Hebrew alphabet. To the extent possible, the standardized orthography is diaphonemic, i.e. each orthographic phoneme represents a Proto-Ăn Yidiș phoneme which is realized differently in each dialect.

Consonants

Assume no initial lenition. The consonants are spelled as follows in non-Hebrew, non-Aramaic words:

zero b v gh z ģ th d y c ch l ł m n ņ s p f ț c̦ r ŗ ș t /0 p v k ɣ ts tʃ h t j kʰ χ l w m n s pʰ f tsʰ tʃʰ k r ʒ ʃ tʰ/ = א בּ ב ג ז ז׳ ח ט י(י) כ/ך כ/ך ל ל׳ מ נ/ן נ׳/ן׳ ס פּ ף צ/ץ צ׳/ץ׳ ק ר ר׳ ש תּ

ג and ד in Hebrew and Aramaic loans (when not lenited) are unaspirated /k/ and /t/. ח in Hebrew loans represents /χ/.

Rafe is used for initial lenition: בֿ גֿ זֿ׳ דֿ זֿ טֿ כֿ מֿ סֿ פֿ ףֿ צֿ צֿ׳ קֿ תֿ for bh gh ģh dh zh dh ch mh sh ph fh țh c̦h gh th /v ɣ j ɣ j h x v h f 0 h ʃ x h/

/j/ between two vowels is written יי.

ŗ is pronounced /ʃ/ after voiceless fricatives and aspirated stops: כּר'עי e.g. cŗey /kʰʃej/ 'earth, soil'.

Vowels

On the null initial, vowels are spelled as follows (in non-Hebrew, non-Aramaic words):

אַ אְ ע עא אי אי איע אָ אָא אוֹ אוֹא אוּ אוּע a ă e ea i i ie o oa u ua ü üe /a ə e eə i ɪ iə ɔ oə u uə y yə/

(For non-null initials the appropriate consonants are used replacing the null-initial aleph if necessary.)

Hebrew words are spelled similarly to (Modern) Hebrew, with the following additional rules:

• "Gomăț godon" /o/ 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, many native words which are coincidentally similar to Hebrew words are spelled as if they were derived from Hebrew:

• כּלה'ק 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)

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). The same convention is used when Ăn Yidiș speakers write in Hebrew.

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

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.

תּאָ מי א ל'אַסאך א כֿאנ'אל' חנוּכּה תּאק׳ אנאףט

To mi ă łasăch ă chăņăł Chanică tăģ ănăfd.

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, -thă (manifesting as aspiration of the final plosive of the stem), -tă or -dă:

תּאָ נא הילא כּאנ'אל'ן ל'אַסטא אן-עת-שוֹ.

To nă hilă căņăłn łasdă ănéșu.

All the candles are now lighted.

The auxiliary בּי bi

The auxiliary בּי bi is used with predicates that are verbs, existentials, adjectives and adjuncts. בּי bi is the imperative and the infinitive form of the auxiliary.

Ăn Yidiș 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 preposition marks perfectivity:

• to ș' ă(g) = present (to becomes t' before a vowel)
• to șe ney = past perfective
• vă ș' ă(g) = past imperfective
• vă șe ney = pluperfect
• bey ș' ă(g) = future imperfective
• bey șe ney = future perfective
• răv ș' ă(g) = jussive impfv. ('may he.../let him...')
• răv șe ney = jussive pfv.
• ă(g) = imperative impfv.
• ney = imperative pfv.

• to ș' ăg ith = he eats; he is eating
  • vel șe... = does he...?
  • chan el șe... = he does not...
  • nach el șe... = doesn't he...?/that he does not
  • gu vel șe... = COMP
  • ă to șe... = REL
  • mo to șe... = if (אָז oz 'then' can be used for the apodosis; אזי azi is more elevated)
  • măr el șe... = if not
  • afílu mo to/măr el = even if
• to șe ney ith = he ate/has eaten
• bey ș' ăg ith = he will eat
  • ă bey șe... = will he...?
  • cha bhey șe... = he will not...
  • nach bhey șe... = won't he...?
  • ă beys șe... = REL he will...
• vă ș' ăg ith = he was eating/he would eat
  • ă răv șe... = was he...?/would he?
  • cha răv șe... = he was not.../he would not...
  • nach răv șe... = was he not...?/would he not...?
• ith! = Eat! (2sg)
• ithăv! = Eat! (2pl)
• no h-ith(ăv)! = Don't eat!

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:

כאַן ע אך ףיעך אחד א תּ' אָן, אַן ע.

Chan e ăch fiech echăd ă t' ołn, an e?
/χan e əχ fiəχ 'ehəd ə thown, 'an e/
NEG.COP anything_but raven one 3SG.M, Q 3SG.M
It's just one raven, isn't it?

(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 șesăn șișă șņi șivșă șiedsăn
• present interrogative: ă mișă, ăn tusă, ăn e, ăn i, ăn șņi, ăn ivșă, ăn ied
• present negative: chamșă, chadsă, chan e, chan i, cha șņi, chavșă, chan ied
  • also used for "no" (for a copula sentence)
• present neg. interrogative: nach + 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 + past aff.
  • also used for "no" (for a copula sentence)
• past neg. interrogative: nach + past aff.
• future uses bey ș' + relative present copula

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:

כֿאַנעל שי נעי איח כּעראכּאן-שינט, כּי שע וועגאַן א בֿ' אינצי

Chanel și ney ith 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 (כּאָפּוֹלאַ רוּשכּ׳א copula rüșçă), deriving from an omitted iš without a following pronoun, mainly for fixed expressions like

• efșăr lă X 'X can'
• tel lă X 'X likes'

Bare-copula questions are answered in the following way:

Say the question is אן אפֿשר לא יואל שעין׳ Ăn efșăr lă Yual șeyņ? 'Can Yual (Yoel) sing?'. Then the 'yes' and 'no' answers are:

• אפֿשר Efșăr. 'Yes (he can).'
• כֿאַן אפֿשר Chan efșăr. 'No (he can't).'

The tag questions work as follows:

• כֿאַן אפֿשר לא יואל שעין׳, אן אפֿשר Chan efșăr lă Yual șeyņ, ăn efșăr? 'Yual can't sing, can he?'
• אפֿשר לא יואל שעין׳, נאַך אפֿשר Efșăr lă Yual șeyņ, nach efșăr? 'Yual can sing, can't he?'

Forms of the naked copula:

• pres. interr. אן ăn (אם ăm before labials), pres. neg. כֿאַ cha°, pres. neg. interr. נאַך nach
• relative present aff. אש ăș, rel. pres. neg. א נאַך ă nach
• complementizer pres. aff. קוֹ gu, pres. neg. קוֹ נאַך gu nach
• interrogative טעש deș: טעש תּעל לעט Deș tel led? = What do you like? טעש אפֿשר לוֹם Deș efșăr lum? = What can I do?
• past/conditional/subjunctive בּא bă, interr. אם בּא ăm bă, neg. כֿאַ בּא cha bă, neg. interr. נאַך בּא nach bă
• rel. past aff. א בּא ă bă, rel. past neg. א נאַך בּא ă nach bă
• comp. past aff. קוֹ בּא gu bă, comp. past neg. קוֹ נאַך בּא gu nach bă

Nouns

Like Irish and Hebrew, An Yidiș has masculine and feminine genders. Hebrew words (usually) have the same gender as in Hebrew. Declension is highly simplified compared to Irish:

• The nominative is used the most often, including as prepositional objects.
• The old genitive is only used to mark definite objects of verbs, similarly to Hebrew et, and almost never possessors. The genitive is no longer productive in head-initial compounds.
• The vocative survives only for Zie 'God': ă Zhey (gum/giņi)! /əˈjej/, or the fixed expression (oy) mă-Zhey! 'oh my God'. To call family members, forms such as mă-mhoŗ! 'my mother!' are used.

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'.

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-bŗethă (m) 'birthday' (ła 'day' is masculine)
• călă-fherthiņă (f) 'rainforest' (călă 'forest' is feminine).

Native plurals are more regular, marked with mostly -ăn, or less commonly

• umlaut, final palatalization: fer > fiŗ
• -ăch > -ith

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 singular definite article); as an exception, משפּחה mișpóchă 'family' is feminine.

Article

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 ףיעך ăm fiech 'the raven'
  • אם ווֹנעטאר׳ ăm vunedăŗ 'the (romantic) admirer'
  • אם מצווה ăm mițvă 'the (religious) commandment'
• 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׳אַ ă ła 'the day'
  • א רוח ă rüech 'the spirit'
  • א ר׳אָל׳תּא ă ŗołtă 'the star'
• otherwise אן ăn:
  • אן כּוֹן ăn cun 'the dog'
  • אן קאבאר ăn găvăr 'the goat'
  • אן כּ׳אָנארט ăn çonărd 'the leader'
  • אן ק׳אָל׳ ăn ģoł 'the game'
  • אן תּלמיד ăn talmid 'the pupil'
  • 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׳ ăn săyăł 'the world'
  • אן שמן ăn șemăn 'the oil'

Feminine nouns when not accusative and masculine nouns when accusative:

• Nouns beginning with a lenitable consonant (except s, ș, 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 מֿען ă mhen = the woman/wife, א ףֿר'עקארץ ă fhŗegărț = the answer
  • אן ăn otherwise: אן קֿ'על'אך ăn ģhełăch = the moon, אן אות ăn oas = the letter (character)
• Words beginning in s ș d z t ț don't lenite: אן סוכּה ăn sücă = the sukkah (hut built during Sukkot)

Note: Historical feminine nouns beginning with s-/ș- (except s(stop)-/ș(stop)-) have all become t-/ț- words (except pluralia tantum and s-/d- words) following case loss in Proto-Ăn Yidiș: אן תּאַבין׳ ăn Taviņ 'Halloween' (from an tSamhain). Newer words such as Hebrew loans are not subject to this.

Plural 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), 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
• נא סוכּות năn sücăs
• נא ניסים năn nisim

This can be summarized by the following table:

Definite articles

State/case	Masculine sg.	Feminine sg.	Plural
Non-accusative	(*)	(**)	nă (h-)
Accusative	(**)	nă (h-)	năn (năm before b p m f v)

(*) See above on masculine non-accusative definite articles

(**) 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 nouns including most Hebrew loans use -ă or zero for the genitive singular (the plural has to be memorized):

אים im (m.) 'butter'
State/case	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	אים im	אימאן imăn
Definite	אנט אים ănd im	נא ה-אימאן nă h-imăn
Definite acc.	אן אימא ăn imă	נאן אימאן năn imăn

cnov (f.) 'bone'
State/case	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	cnov	cnovăn
Definite	ă chnov	nă cnovăn
Definite acc.	nă cnovă	năn cnovăn

עד eyd (m.) 'witness'
State/case	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	עד eyd	עדים eydim
Definite	אנט עד ănd eyd	נא ה-עדים nă h-eydim
Definite acc.	אן עידא ăn eydă	נאן עדים năn eydim

mișpochă (f.) 'family'
State/case	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	mișpochă	mișpochăs
Definite	ă mhișpochă	nă mișpochăs
Definite acc.	nă mișpochă	năm mișpochăs

More irregular nouns often get -(palatalization) or -(palatalization)+-ă in the definite accusative:

mac (m.) 'son'
State/case	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	mac	mic̦
Definite	ăm mac	nă mic̦
Definite acc.	ă mhic̦	năm mac

lyor (m.) 'book'
State/case	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	lyor	lyorăn
Definite	ă lyor	nă lyorăn
Definite acc.	ă lyoŗ	năn lyorăn

calăg (f.) 'woman'
State/case	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	calăg	calăgăn
Definite	ă chalăg	nă calăgăn
Definite acc.	nă calăģă	năn calăgăn

sg gen/pl nom with palatalization and vowel change: mak 'son' // əm mak // ə viķ // miķ // nə miķ // nəm mak (בן // הבן // את הבן // בנים // הבנים // את הבנים)

sg gen with palatalization only: levər 'book' // əl levər // əl levəř // levəř // nə levəř // nən levər

Native 2nd declension: avəl 'apple tree' // ən avəl // nə h-avłə // avłənə/əxə // nə h-avłənə/əxə // nən avłənə/əxə

broad/slender neutralized native masculine paradigm: knauv 'bone' (cnov in Standard; cnowv or cnav in dialects) // ən knauv // ə xnauvə // knauvənə/-əxə // nə knauvənə/-əxə // nən knauvən/-əx (the -ə sg. gen. ending was carried over to endingless Hebrew loans and to other native nouns)

Endingless Hebrew paradigm: éd 'witness' // ənt éd (> אן ה-עד in dialectal Ăn Yidiș) // ən éd, ən édə // édím // nə hédím // nən édím

Native feminines: kalůg 'little bride' // ə xalůg // nə kalůģə // kalůgənə // nə kalůgənə // nən kalůgən

Hebrew feminines: mićvå 'mitzvah' // ə vićvå // nə mićvå // mićvůs // nə mićvůs // nəm mićvůs

Feminine s- words became t- words: saviň (samhain) became taviň

Middle Irish -amh/-amhan nouns either

• if feminine, the -amh is deleted and the plural is -ță (tał, talță 'earth')
• if masculine, they change to -un, -unăn nouns (bŗethun, bŗethunăn 'judge')
  • Western dialects bŗethun, bŗethună
  • Ballmer Ăn Yidiș: bŗeythín, bŗeythínim (the Balămuriș cognate of Irish -ín has a different plural: -in, -inăn)
  • Nidiș-Yidiș: bŗithăv/-u, bŗithun

tał (f.) 'earth'
State/case	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	tał	talță
Definite	ăn tał	nă talță
Def. acc.	nă tałun	năn talță

bŗethun (m.) 'judge'
State/case	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	bŗethun	bŗethunăn
Definite	ăm bŗethun	nă bŗethunăn
Definite acc.	ă bhŗethună	năm bŗethunăn

Adjectives

As in Irish, predicate adjectives are unmarked.

Adjectives always have -ă in the plural, except

• the plural of -ăch is -ith: the plural of יידאך Yidăch 'Jew(ish)' is יידיח Yidith;
• the plural of -i adjectives is unchanged (unlike -i nouns which always pluralize as -im, even native nouns);
• the plural of ołiņ 'lovely' is ołă.

Forms:

• pred: תּאָ מע בּעק To me beg. = I am short.
• m.sg.: ףער בּעק fer beg = a short man; אן ףער בּעק ăn fer beg = the short man
• f.sg.: דר'עבאר בֿעק dŗevăr bheg = a short sister; אן דר'עבאר בֿעק ăn dŗevăr bheg = the short sister
• pl.: ףיר' ח-אָרדא fiŗ h-ordă = tall men; נא ףיר' ח-אָרדא nă fiŗ h-ordă = the tall men

Comparatives are formed by adding ניס nis 'more' and אס ăs 'most' before the comparative form of the adjective.

מוֹר - ניס-מוֹא - אס-מוֹא mur - nis-mua - ăs-mua = big - bigger - biggest (no tense change unlike in Irish)

Ină (which lenites) for predicate adjectives is used after longer noun phrases:

תּאָ אן סטוֹא תּאַק׳ א כרינא מֿאָראַל'תּא אינא ףֿאַטא.

To ăn sdua tăģ ă chrină mhoráłtă ină fhadă.

The arc of the moral universe is long.

Gu (with h-prothesis) is used to form adverbs from adjectives: gu math 'well' from math 'good'. It's also used in front of predicative adjectives to indicate that the adjective is a current, often temporary state, e.g.

• gu math 'well, in good health'
• To și gu teth '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-ףיאָר א חכמה נא כּלי-מלחמה

Năs-fyor ă chochmă nă cley-milchomă.

'Wisdom is better than weapons of war.' (טוֹבָה חָכְמָה מִכְּלֵי קְרָב)

Pronouns

Ăn Yidiș pronouns have three forms (not counting emphatic forms):

• subject/topic pronouns: מי הוֹ ע אי שנ׳י שיב איעט mi thu e i șņi șiv ied (3sg epicene is most commonly șied); thăr 'impersonal pronoun' (rebracketing)
  • follows a finite form of the auxiliary bi: Vă mi ă cadăl. 'I was sleeping.'
  • In insults: חזיר הוֹ Chazir 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 e. 'He's the chief rabbi of our town.'
  • Șesăn ăm pŗivrav e. = '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)- verb objects, inalienable possession
  • To șņi găn-ith băméșăch ăm Purim. 'We eat them during Purim.'
  • To mi ă canțiņ ři d-ař. 'I was speaking with your father.'
• suffixed pronouns, on prepositions

Șiv is used as a polite 2nd person pronoun (the same way as Yiddish ir; e.g. șiv is used for speaking to a rabbi).

All of these forms have emphatic counterparts: mișă, t(h)usă, (ș)esăn , (ș)ișă, șņi, (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?' To emphasize șņi 'we' you have to use feyn after it (șņi itself comes from the emphatic form *siňə, cf. Irish and Scottish Gaelic sinne).

Emphatic suffixes for prepositions with pronominal suffixes: -să -să -șăn -șă feyn -șă -săn: e.g. for ăģ 'of, at' we have gumsă, gădsă, ģesăn, c̦ișă, giņi feyn, givșă, cusăn

Another common way to emphasize a pronoun is to use feyn after it (e.g. מישא ףעין mișă feyn 'I myself', אן קיום ףעין ק׳ע ăn giyăm feyn ģe '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׳ -aŗ 'father' and ־מאָר׳ -moŗ 'mother' cannot occur as indefinite nouns and obligatorily take possessive prefix forms.

Double-marking possessives, e.g. בֿ' אהרן א-דֿר׳אָר תּאק׳ 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 Learăgüsiș for other nouns.

• mă-dhŗor /məɣˈʒor/ 'my brother'; m-aŗ /maʒ/ 'my father'
• dă-dhŗor /təɣˈʒor/ 'thy brother'; d-aŗ /taʒ/ 'thy father'
• ă-dhŗor /əɣˈʒor/ 'his brother'; aŗ /aʒ/ 'his father'
• ă-dŗor /ətˈʒor/ 'her brother'; ă-h-aŗ /əˈhaʒ/ 'her father'
• or-dŗor /ortˈʒor/ 'our brother'; orn-aŗ /oɾˈnaʒ/ 'our father'
• văr-dŗor /vərtˈʒor/ 'your brother'; vărn-aŗ /vəɾˈnaʒ/ 'your father'
• ă-dŗor /ətˈʒor/ 'their brother'; ăn-aŗ /əˈnaʒ/ 'their father'

List of inalienable nouns

Family:

• אַר׳ aŗ = father (obligatorily possessed)
• מאָר׳ moŗ = mother (obligatorily possessed)
• טר׳אָר dŗor = brother
• טר׳עבר dŗevăr = sister
• mac = son
• inin = daughter
• cłan = (one's) children

Body parts:

• סוּל sül = eye
• סראָאן sroan = nose
• בּעל' beł = mouth
• כּל'וֹאס cłuas = ear
• ל'אָב łov = hand
• כּאס căs = leg
• תּראָי troy = foot
• כּ׳אָן c̦on = head

Prepositions

• ăģ/ăg 'at': gum, găd, ģe, c̦i, giņi, giv, cu
  • ăģ becomes ăg before a coronal.
• tăģ/tăg 'of': tam, tad, taģ, tey, taņi, tav, toł
  • with similar conditioning to ăģ/ăg
• dă°, d' 'to, for': dum, did, do, di, diņi, div, du (d- is deleted after a coronal obstruent)
• ză°, z' 'off' (corresponding to ăr 'on'): zum, zid, ze, zi, ziņi, ziv, zu
• u h- 'from' (corresp. to ăģ 'at'): uam, uad, ua, uathi, uaņi, uav, uathu
• in 'in': inum, inăd, ołn (spelled אָן), inți, iniņi, iniv, intu
  • in has the allomorphs in, ind, im, i with the same rules as the definite article ăn; cf. Scottish Gaelic ann an 'in (before a noun without an article)', from *ann in 'in him, in': im mițvă, ind ișģă, i chalăg ...
• ăr° 'on': ărum, ărăd, eŗ, eŗthi, ăriņi, ăriv, orthu
• ăs 'out of' (corresponding to in 'in'): asum, asăd, as, ași, asiņi, asiv, asu
• ru° 'before, in front of': ruam, ruad, rev, rempi, ruņi, ruv, rompu
• ŗi(n) 'with': ŗum, ŗed, ŗeș, ŗey, ŗiņi, ŗiv, ŗu
• lă h- 'with, by, for': lum, led, leș, ley, liņi, liv, lu
• țimpum 'around' suppletes: umum, umăd, em, empi, umiņi, umiv, umpu
• fă° 'under, among': fum, fud, fi, fithi, fuņi, fuv, fithu
• In some dialects, izăr 'between': edrum, edrăd, iziŗ, izărthi, edriņi, edriv, izărthu. 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, izărthu are literary.
  • the syntax for "between X and Y" in these dialects may be izăr X is izăr Y or izăr X lă Y, influenced by Hebrew beyn X uveyn Y/beyn X le Y

Combinations

in 'in', ŗi 'with' and lă 'with' before a definite article becomes inș, ŗinș, leș (from rebracketing of Proto-Celtic *in sind-, like in Scottish Gaelic anns an/na):

• אינש אן צעך inș ăn țech 'in the house'
• To șied ă fiŗăch inș ă bhelă șo ŗinș nă dină elă 'They live in this town with the other people'

u 'from' + ăn/ăm/ă -> un-/um-/u ă-

izăr 'between' + ăn -> izărn

Syntax

Prepositions stick to every noun in a noun phrase, as in Hebrew and Irish:

To mi ney făyņ nă fŗegărțăn u mămhóŗ is u mădhŗór.

'I got the answers from my mother and brother.'

Pseudo-prepositions

Pseudo-prepositions don't take pronominal suffixes, unlike true prepositions; they take either the disjunctive pronoun or a form of tăģ instead. For example, 'for me' is son tam. They also never mutate the following word.

• izăr 'between' (+ disj.)
• son 'for, for the sake of' (+ form of tăģ)
• ăr sgoth 'because of' (+ form of tăģ)
• ătoŗ (+ disj.) (flowery or dialectal) 'towards' (< ag tóir 'pursuing')

Some dialects such as the Nithish-influenced dialect do inflect pseudo-prepositions as if they were true prepositions: ătoŗm, ătoŗăd, ...

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 c̦ethăr, ă cuģ, ă șie (some dialects ă șey or ă șeyș), ă șefd, ă h-ăfd, ă năy, ă zeș

11, 12, ... = ă h-eyn zeg, ă du zeg, ă tŗi zeg...

20, 30, 40, ... = fișăd, tŗișăd, deyșăd, cuģăd, șeyșăd, șefdăd, ăfdăd, năyăd

21, 22, ... = fișăd să h-eyn, fișăd să du, ...

100, 200, ... = meyă, du mheyă, tŗi mheyă, ... (çead is only used in fixed expressions)

1000 = milă

attributives: 2-6 lenites

Counting humans: yochid, duyș, tŗür, c̦ehrăr, cuģăr, șeyșăr, șefdăr, ăfdăr, năynăr, zeșăr

ordinals: tăsi, elă, tŗiăv, c̦ehrăv, 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].

מאר יידי, תּאָ שני אק עבודה ז-ע אחד.

Măr Yidi, to șni ăg ăvudă Z-e echăv.

As Jews, we worship only one G-d.

שי א מֿענין אחד אי, א בּיי קראָ קוֹם עשי ר'וֹב.

Și ă mhenin echăv i, ă bey 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 ăr nă Yidi iensăch ăn Tură ă h-ilă ła.

Jews have to study the Torah every day.

Translating "be"

• "X is a NOUN": שי לשון כֿעלתּאך א תּ אינש אן ייִדיש Și loșăn Cheltăch ă t' inș ăn 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 מֿענין אק׳ משה Mișă ă mhenin ăģ Mușă = I am Mușă's (Moses') wife
• "3p is the NOUN": שי א מֿענין אק׳ משה אי Și ă mhenin ăģ Mușă i = She is Mușă's wife
  • שי א מֿענין אק׳ משה אי רבקה Și _ă mhenin ăģ Mușă_ i _Rivgă_ (or Și _Rivgă_ i _ă mhenin 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 ieři bi ină chovir did 'I want to be your friend' (ină doesn't inflect for the subject unlike in Scottish Gaelic)

Infinitive phrases

Infinitive phrases usually correspond to German zu-infinitives, and are also used with some modals. They're of the form ă + VN + direct object + oblique objects, where ă lenites the VN unlike the imperfective marker ă(g).

Pronominal direct objects use the disjunctive pronouns instead of possessed VNs.

Examples:

• ă thorț mátănă (NB: does not follow Irish!) = to give a gift (ein Geschenk zu geben)
• ă thorț dum e/i/ied = to give him/her/them to me

Relative clauses

• When the head is the subject: ă to (present), ăv (imperfect)
• When the head is NOT the subject: ă vel (present), ă răv (imperfect)

Vocabulary

• Proto-Ăn Yidiș:
  • traces of Pre-Irish Romance and Azalic
  • Words inherited from MIr
  • Hebrew and Aramaic
• Galoyseg
• Thurish
• 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 Apple PIE Eastern Europe are more colloquial or relate to everyday objects.

Ăn Yidiș is more chill about borrowing "loazit" vocabulary than Irish

Derivation

• ־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
• -ăch, -ith: forms adjectives or "Gentilic nouns"
• -i, -im: agentives, adjectives
• -in (m): diminutive
• -ăg (f): diminutive
• -ăn, -ónim (m): instrumental; diminutive; agentive (Hebrew influence)
  • אַמאטאן, אַמאטאָנים amădăn, amădónim 'fool' (~ Irish amadán)
• -ăl (m): verbal noun
• -il: adjective
• -ăfd/-fd (f): abstract noun
• -łon (f): place
• -וּת -üs, plural -וּתאן -üsăn (f): nominalizer (also replaced native *-us), spelled וּס in native words
  • צניעוּת țni'üs 'modesty' < צנוּע țonüe 'modest'
  • תּאישאכוּס tăyșăchüs '(tribal) chiefdom; Irish premiership'
• -lăn is a diminutive for animates (analyzed from culen 'puppy', cun 'dog')
• Pairs of s-/d- antonyms (PCel *esu-/*dus-), for example sărăchă 'bright' and dărăchă 'dark'. Some non-Irish examples are:
  1. סמאָאס smoas (pl) 'tears of joy', דמעות dmoas 'tears (from Hebrew)'
  2. שמחה simchă (f) 'party, celebration (from Hebrew 'joy')', טימכא dimchă (f) 'mourning, tragedy'
  3. טאשק׳על' Dășģeł (m) (obsolete, pejorative) 'Christianity', from MIr soiscéul 'Gospel'
• -ol: older verbalizer
• (something from Nithish): most productive verbalizer
• Greek y is borrowed as ü
• Classical os/us adjectives are borrowed with -ăch: מיסאָקוּנאך misógünăch (misogynos) 'misogynistic'.
• -ig: agentive, borrowed from Nithish

Phrasebook

• Șolăm = Hello, goodbye
• Șolăm ăléychăm = Hello
• Ăléychăm șolăm = Hello (in response to șolăm aléychăm)
• Słon = (informal) Bye
• Byonăfd led/liv = Thank you (lit. blessing with you)
• Șe dă-bhethă/văr-bethă = No problem (reply to Byonăfd led/liv)
• Folță = Welcome
• C̦ead milă folță = A hundred thousand welcomes
• De ănd enim ărăd? = What is your name?
• Dovid șe ănd enim ărum = My name is David
• Vel ăn Ozăliș găd/giv? = Do you speak English?
• T' ăn Yidiș gum = I speak Ăn Yidiș
• Chan el ăn Yidiș gum = I can't speak Ăn Yidiș
• Chan el m' ă ticșinț = I don't understand
• Ă canțin nis melă, ŗi dă-thel/văr-tel = Please speak more slowly
• Ga mă-leșģeł = Excuse me
• To m' ăg ieŗi canțin inș ăn Yidiș, ăch chan efșăr lum. = I want to speak Ăn Yidiș, but I cannot.
• Blien mhath bhyoniță /bliən vah vjonitsə/ = Happy new year (Rosh Hashanah greeting)
• [holiday] gorzăch = 'Happy [holiday]' (used for most holidays, Jewish or secular): e.g. Pesăh gorzăch 'Happy Passover'
• To gro gum ărăd = I love you
  • Vel gro găd ărum? = Do you love me?

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 שוֹ כֿאַי blien șu chay 'last year'
  • אן אהּ-בּליען 'next year'
• חודש choadăș 'month'
• ל׳אַ ła 'day'
  • אנ׳וֹג ăņúgh 'today'
  • אנ׳עי ăņéy 'yesterday'
  • אמאָר׳אך ămóŗăch 'tomorrow'
• שעה șo 'hour'
• מיניט minid 'minute'
• סאכּוֹן săcún 'second'

Civil months

Civil months just use the Latin names:

• יאַנוֹר׳ Yanuŗ
• ףעבּוֹר׳ Febuŗ
• מאַרץ Marț
• אַפּריל Apríl
• מאַי May
  • Poetic: בּיאָל׳תּין׳ Byołtiņ
• יוֹן Yun
  • Poetic: מעהּ Meth
• יוֹל Yul
• אָקוֹסט Ogúsd
  • Poetic: ל׳וּנאסטאל׳ Łünăsdăł
• סעבּתּעמבּאר׳ Sebtémbăŗ
• אָקתּאָבּאר׳ Ogtóbăŗ
• נאָוועמבּאר׳ Novémbăŗ
  • Poetic: תּאַבין׳ Taviņ
• טעכּ׳עמבּאר׳ Dec̦émbăŗ

Jewish months

E.g. T' ă Chanică ă tăsăch im 25 (fișăd 's ă cuģ) Cislimh. 'Hanukkah begins on the 25th of Kislev.'

• Nisăn: Nissan
• Ier: Iyar
• Simhăn: Sivan
• Tamiz: Tammuz
• Ov: Av
• Elil: Elul
• Tișri: Tishrei
• (Măr)cheșmhăn: (Mar)cheshvan
• Cislimh: Kislev
• Deyvis: Tevet
• Șvod: Shvat
• Adăr: Adar

Days of the week

Note: in Irta/Judeo-Mandarin 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): מאַזין סוֹל mazin Sul
  • Sunday afternoon (before sunset): ףעסקאר סוֹל fesgăr Sul
  • Sunday evening (after sunset): ערב ל'ואַן erăv Łuan (!)
  • Sunday night: עישא ל'וֹאן eyșă Łuan (!)
• Monday: זי־ל'וֹאן zi-Łuan
• Tuesday: זי־מאָרץ zi-Morț
• Wednesday: זי־כּ׳עאדין zi-C̦eadin
• Thursday: זי־זעאראדין zi-Zearădin
• Friday: זי־רוֹ־שבּת zi-Ru-Șabăs
• Saturday: זי־שבּת zi-Șabăs

Telling the time

• To și tŗi șo. = It's 3:00.
• To și du șo zeag = It's 12:00.

Colors

• ק׳אָל' ģoł = white
• קוֹב, קוֹבא guv, guvă, also שחוֹר, שחוֹרים șochur, șăchurim = black
• זעראק zerăg = red
• בּוֹי buy = yellow
• אוֹאנא uană = green
• גּל'אַס głas = gray
• גּאָראם gărăm = blue
• בּאַנאש banăș = violet; purple
• דוֹן doan = brown

Sample texts

Quotes

כֿאַן על ףיס קוֹם אך קוֹ נאַך על ףיס קוֹם כּל.

Chan el fis gum ăch gu nach el fis 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.)

Murél mișă son tamșă feyn, cu ă to son tamșă? Ăch murél me ăch son tamșă feyn, de mișă? Is murăș 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 "ףעראם נא חיות")

To nă h-ilă chayăs căvíenăn, ăch to ciz nă chayăs năs-căvíenănă. (ăs "Ferăm 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 commonly used Ăn Yidiș translation of the Tanakh. The "Scottish Gaelic" text here is the Ăn Yidiș cognatized back into Scottish Gaelic.

	Ăn Yidiș	Romanization	IPA	Scottish Gaelic cognates	English (from the Ăn Yidiș)
1:1	נוֹאר׳ תּאָ זיע נעי תּאסאך א כֿרוֹהאך נא נעבֿא איס נא תּאַל׳וֹן —	Nuaŗ to Zie ney tăsăch ă chruthăch nă nevă is nă tałun —	[nuəʒ tʰo 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	בֿ־אן תּאַל׳ קאַן ףֿעראמאָל איס ףאָל׳, איס בֿא טאכאטוּס א כּוֹטאך אן תּהוֹם, איס בֿ־אן שבּיראט אק זיע א סנאָב אשק׳יען נא ה־אישק׳אן —	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 snámh 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	תּאָ זיע נעי ראָ: «רעב סאָל׳אס נעי בּי אָן!» איס תּאָ סאָל׳אס נעי בּי אָן.	to Zie ney ro: «Răv sołăs ney bi ołn!» Is to sołăs ney 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	תּאָ זיע נעי ףעך׳ אן סאָל׳אש, קוֹ בֿעל שע מאַהּ; איס תּאָ זיע נעי זעל׳אך איזארן סאָל׳אס איס אן טאכאטוּס.	To Zie ney fec̦ ăn sołăș, gu vel șe math; is to Zie ney 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	תּאָ זיע נעי תּאַקאר׳ טען סאָל׳אס ל׳אַ, איס אן טאכאטוּס תּאָ שע נעי תּאַקאר׳ טאָ איישא. איס בֿ־ערב אָן איס בֿא מֿאַטין׳ אָן, ל׳אַ אחד.	To Zie ney tagăŗ den sołăs ła, is ăn dăchădis to șe ney tagăŗ do eyșă. Is v' erăv ołn is vă mhadiņ ołn, ła echăv.	[tʰo tsiə nej ˈtʰakəʒ den ˈsowəs wa, ɪs ən ˈtəχətys tʰo ʃe nej ˈtʰakəʒ do ˈejʃə. 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 dho 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.

Ma Nishtana (from the Haggadah)

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"

Fully vocalized Ăn Yidiș

קִינָה קאַן צֿ׳אָל׳ (לאְ ה-עֶדְנָה סעֶיינתּ ווינסאְנתּ מילעֶיי)

כֿאַניל מעֶ נִכְֿנָע לעֶש אְן נעִילָה אְק׳ כּראְיין אְ ףאַר׳אְףטאְן קֿראָ סזעֶך טאְ נאְ קְבָֿרוֹת.

תּאָ שעֶ מאְר שוֹ איס בּעֶיי שעֶ מאְר שוֹ, מאְר בֿאְ שעֶ מאְר שוֹ, אוֹ זְמָנִים רוֹ כֿיבֿנאְ;

תּאָ שיעט אין אְ ףאַל׳אב איסצעֶך טאְן שאול, נאְ סאְיאְן ה־עֶקני איס ה־אל׳אְ. ר׳י כְּתָֿרוֹת

אְק ליליאְן איס אְק ל׳אַבֿרישאְן אְ תּא שיעט אְ ףאַל׳אְב; אַך כֿאַניל מעֶ נִכְֿנָע.

Transliteration

Gină gan c̦hoł (lă hEdnă Seynt Vinsănt Miley)

Chanel me nichnă leș ăn nilă năn crăyn ă fařăfdăn ghro szech dă nă gvorăs.
To șe măr șu is bey șe măr șu, măr vă șe măr șu, u zmanim ru chivnă;
To șied ă fałăv isțech dăn șoal, nă săyăn h-egni is h-ołă. Ŗi csorăs*
Tăg liliăn is tăg łavrișăn ă to șied ă fałăv; ăch chanel me nichnă.

* Poetic license; the usual plural of cesăr 'crown' is csorim.

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 sages. With crowns
Of lilies and of laurel they leave; but I am not surrendered.

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.

Poetry

Anapests are the most common feet, rhymes work like in Gàidhlig