Verse:Irta/Hebrew

The history of Rabbinic Judaism in Irta is much like in our own world. The Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, the Mishnah, the Talmud and the Zohar are identical to ours. (Basically everything about Hasidism stays the same except with Izeweg rather than Yiddish.)

However, many accents of Irta Hebrew, except Tiberian Hebrew which is identical to our timeline's Tiberian Hebrew, preserve phonological distinctions that our Hebrew lost by Post-Exilic Hebrew times.

There is also a large group of people who call themselves "lost-tribe Israelites" (analogous to Samaritans) who live in Africa and preserve Palestinian-Hebrew like vowel points, but pronounced with aspirated stops for voiced fricatives.

Crackfic Irta Modern Hebrew

Used as a Jewish lingua franca rather than as a vernacular

Should be mutually intelligible with our Modern Hebrew speakers, though it may sound a bit flowery.

The standard variety today is Sephardi Hebrew with an Ăn Yidiș-influenced accent and grammar. Formal Hebrew is less of an Ăn Yidiș relex, and recent spoken Hebrew's more of an English relex.

• Consonants: /ʔ b v g ɣ d ð h w z ħ tˁ j k x l m n s ʕ p f sˁ q r ʃ t θ/ = [(ʔ) p= v k= ɣ t⁼ t⁼ h w ts⁼ χ t⁼ j kʰ χ l m n s ʁ pʰ f tsʰ kʰ r~ɻ ʃ tʰ s]
• Vowels: /i e ɛ a QG QQ o u (shva na) ḤP ḤS ḤQ/ = [i e(j) e a a u o u Ø~ə a e o]
• /r/ is alveolar and is often an approximant.
• Undageshed tav is [s] as in Ăn Yidiș Hebrew.
• Irta Modern Hebrew doesn't have the /-ah/ > /-ha/ metathesis like our Israeli Hebrew.

Grammatically, it is SVO like our Israeli Hebrew, but sometimes prefers Ăn Yidiș syntax, e.g.

• much more willing to use איני, אינך, ...for negation in present tense (אין הוא, אין היא in 3rd person); in our IH these forms are formal/written (bc Gaelic negation comes before subject pronouns). לא אני... Lo ăni is a focus construction 'It's not me that...', and אין אני eyn ăni in non 3rd person are solemn.
• Irish/Ăn Yidiș calques in some common expressions
  • The following are used instead of בבקשה bevakasha:
    • עם רצונך im retzonxa (lit. 'with your will', a calque of lă dă-thel) 'please'
    • זה חייך ze xayéxa (lit. 'it's your life', like șe dă-bhethă) 'you're welcome'
    • זה לך ze lăxa (lit. 'this is to you', like șa did) 'here you go'
  • רצון איתי ratzon iti 'I like' (tel lum), עדיף איתי ȝadif iti 'I prefer' (fyor lum), ăni xofec bă- 'I want'
    • More formally ani rotze be- = 'I like, I am pleased with'
  • haya racon iti 'I'd like'
  • אפשר איתי efšar iti 'I can' (efșăr lum)
• Question particles (ha2im, ha- in more formal contexts) are usually retained. Questions don't have a different intonation from declarative sentences; they both have falling intonation. Question marks are not usually used.
• It also prefers some coincidentally Gaelic-sounding words, e.g. אַךְ ach 'but' and שָׂשׂ sas 'happy' (sounding like Judeo-Gaelic ach 'but' and sostă 'satisfied') instead of the synonyms אֲבָל aval and שָׂמֵחַ sameax. כה ko is as common as כל כך kul káx for 'so (ADJ)'.
• Tenses are similar to our Modern Hebrew tenses but the haya okhel construction is more cpmmon.
  • היה הוא אוכל = Past imperfective/progressive/conditional (corresponds to V'e ăg îth)
  • הוא אוכל = Present
  • הוא אכל = Past perfective
  • הוא יאכל = Future
• Loazit -cya '-tion' is borrowed directly from Latin -tiō, via Ăn Yidiș/Tsarfati Hebrew -țyo
• Prepositions can be weird, esp 3al and 3im (mapped to Irish ar and le)

Yevani Hebrew

Same as our timeline's Sephardi Hebrew

Tsarfati Hebrew

/2 b v g γ d δ h w z H T j k x l m n s 3 p f S q r š t θ/ = [(none)~2 p= v g x t= δ~z h w δ~z h t= j kh x l m n s (none)~2 ph f ts= k= r š th s]

TibH /i e E a O o u ŠN HP HS HQ/ = [i ej~aj e a o u y a a e o]

L dagesh > Welsh ll. Some pronounce sin as ll.

Chinese Hebrew

Modern Tsarfati Hebrew (עברית צרפתית ivrís țarfosís; "Tsarf-osis" is a common pun) has been influenced by Ăn Yidiș (Judeo-Gaelic), but it's a result of a restandardization to Tiberian niqqud; some Hebrew loans in Ăn Yidiș keep relics of an older, non-Tiberian based reading. It is similar to our Ashkenazi Hebrew, except

• Tiberian /e(:) ɔ(:) o(:) u(:)/ are pronounced as Ăn Yidiș ey o u ü (/ej o u y/ in Standard Ăn Yidiș)
• Shva na3 is ă /ə/ in careful pronunciation (dropped whenever possible in Hebrew loans in Ăn Yidiș, however)
• undageshed gimel is pronounced like Ăn Yidiș gh
• /r/ is an alveolar flap/trill or a retroflex approximant like Hiberno-English R
• dageshed bet, dageshed gimel, and dalet (whether dageshed or not) are pronounced as unaspirated /p t k/
• kuf and tet are unaspirated /k/ and /t/
• /p t k/ are aspirated
• The most conservative Tsarfati readings keep geminate nun, lamedh and resh distinct from their non-geminated counterparts, pronouncing these as reflexes of Old Irish broad /N/, slender /L/ and broad /R/.

Due to convergent evolution, Irtan Chinese/SEA Hebrew is identical to Tsarfati Hebrew pronounced in the Standard Ăn Yidiș accent, except

• Resh is always Mandarin r
• Final /h/ is silent as in our Israeli Hebrew

Old Tsarfati Hebrew (Crackfic Irta)

Old Tsarfati Hebrew was used during Proto-Ăn Yidiș times and is the source of early Hebrew loans in Ăn Yidiș (before the pronunciation was re-standardized according to Tiberian niqqud, resulting in what is today called Tsarfati Hebrew).

It has the following sound changes from PSem:

• emphatics and alveolar /r/ are kept
• ś/s þ š > Basque z, Basque s, š (written as shin left dot, shin middle dot, shin right dot)
• z ð > voiced Basque z, voiced Basque s (the latter becomes Tamil zh or retroflex L in some readings)
• ś' þ' s' > /ts, c, c/ (but ejectives)
• Ayn and ghayn are still merged, as well as ħ and x.
• Qamatz is always /O/ as in Tiberian.

Old Tsarfati Hebrew also distinguished

• cholam from Proto-Semitic *u = o /o/
• cholam from Proto-Semitic *ā and *aw = ů /u/ (/uə/ in some other reading traditions)
• Proto-Semitic *ū = u /ü/ (/u/ in some other reading traditions)

A minimal pair between the two holams: חוֹל ħul 'sand' (*ħāl; ~ Aramaic ħālā) and חוֹל ħoal '(something) secular' (*ħull; ~ חילל 'he desecrated')

Hyper-Israeli

This reading tradition is used by a sect of Karaite Jews.

Like our Israeli Hebrew, but:

• Hyper-Israeli reflects Hyper-TibH o (and qamatz qatan) as /ʌ̹/, Hyper-TibH ů as /u̠/, and Hyper-TibH u as /u̟/. (These vowels resemble Seoul Korean eo, o, and u respectively.)
• PSem *H is reflected as a uvular fricative (merging with lenited kaf) and PSem *x is voiceless sje.
• Non-prevocalic V + ayin sequences are reflected as nasal vowels or nasal vowel offglides: ארבע /aʁbɑ̃/ '4'.
• Proto-Semitic ð became ž, as in זימר žimer 'he overpowered', as opposed to זימר zimer 'he sang'.

Camalanàbha Hebrew

Lost Tribe Hebrew

• /k x g ɣ/ = [k kʰ g gʰ] k kh g gh
• /ts z/ [tʃ dʒʰ] č ǰh (*S/*Z *ð)
• /tś ź/ [ts dzʰ] c jh (*D *z)
• /t θ d ð n/ = [t tʰ d dʰ n] t th d dh n
• /p f b v m/ = [p pʰ b bʰ m] p ph b bh m
• /j r l w/ = [j r l w~v] y r l v
• /s *þ ś ʃ h ħ X ʔ ʕ G/ [s ʃ s ʃ h qʰ ʔ q] s š s š h h qh ' ' q

tet -> voiceless unaspirated, tav -> aspirated with no lenition, dalet series -> voiced, aspiration corresponds to lenition

Voiced plosives without dagesh are aspirated. Dagesh forte is always realized as gemination.

Roughly: /i e ɛ a QG QQ o u ă ɛ̯ ɔ̯/ = [i e ə ə a o o u ə ə/e o] i e a a ā o o u a a/e o

[bəreʃitʰ bara ʔelohim ʔətʰ həʃʃaməjim ʋəʔətʰ haʔarəts]

[ʋəhaʔarəts hajətʰa tʰohu ʋabʰohu ʋəqʰo(ʃ)ekʰ qəl pʰəne tʰəhom ʋəruqʰ ʔelohim mərəqʰəpʰətʰ qəl pʰəne həmmajim]

Final /h/ is pronounced with an echo vowel: e.g. למינה /ləmi'naha/ 'according to its kind', אלוה /ə'loho/ 'God'.

ǰhimmer 'to overpower', jhimmer 'to play music'

Comparison

Dror Yikra

Dror Yikra is a medieval Shabbat piyyut, in our timeline one of the earliest piyyutim to use an Arabic-derived meter.

Disclaimer: Piyyutim are thick with biblical allusions so they're a bitch to translate. I'm sure I made mistakes.

[X] denotes "something that has the same reflex as X in our Tiberian Hebrew."

Hebrew (Tiberian)

דְּרוֹר יִקְרָא לְבֵן עִם בַּת
וְיִנְצָרְכֶם כְּמוֹ בָבַת
נְעִים שִׁמְכֶם וְלֹא יֻשְׁבַּת
שְׁבוּ נוּחוּ בְּיוֹם שַׁבָּת

דְּרוֹשׁ נָוִי וְאוּלָמִי
וְאוֹת יֶשַׁע עֲשֵׂה עִמִּי
נְטַע שׂוֹרֵק בְּתוֹךְ כַּרְמִי
שְׁעֵה שַׁוְעַת בְּנֵי עַמִּי

דְּרוֹךְ פּוּרָה בְּתוֹךְ בָּצְרָה
וְגַם בָּבֶל אֲשֶׁר גָּבְרָה
נְתוֹץ צָרַי בְּאַף עֶבְרָה
שְׁמַע קוֹלִי בְּיוֹם אֶקְרָא

אֱלֹקים תֵּן בַּמִּדְבָּר הַר
הֲדַס שִׁטָּה בְּרוֹשׁ תִּדְהָר
וְלַמַּזְהִיר וְלַנִּזְהָר
שְׁלוֹמִים תֵּן כְּמֵי נָהָר

הֲדוֹךְ קָמַי חַי אֵל קַנָּא
בְּמוֹג לֵבָב וּבִמְגִנָּה
וְנַרְחִיב פֶּה וּנְמַלֶּאנָּה
לְשׁוֹנֵנוּ לְךָ רִנָּה

דְּעֵה חָכְמָה לְנַפְשֶׁךָ
וְהִיא כֶתֶר לְרֹאשֶׁךָ
נְצוֹר מִצְוַת קְדֹשֶׁךָ
שְׁמוֹר שַׁבָּת קָדְשֶׁךָ

Proto-Tsarfati

[dăˈru̠ːʀ jiqˈʀɔː lɐˈveːn ʕiːm baːθ]
[wĭjints̺ˁɔʀˈxɛːm kăˈmuː vɔːˈvaːθ]
[nĭˈʕiːm ʃimˈxɛːm wăˈluː jʉs̺ˈbaːθ]
[s̺ăˈvʉː nʉːˈ[ħ]ʉː bĭˈjuːm s̺aˈbːɔːθ]

[dăˈroːʃ nɔːˈwiː wʉ̆ʔʉːlɔːˈmiː]
[wŭˈʔuːθ ˈjeːʃaʕ ʕăˈs̻eː ʕiˈmːiː]
[năˈtˁaːʕ s̻uːˈʀeːq băˈθuːx kaʀˈmiː]
[[ʃ]ĕˈʕeː [ʃ]awˈʕaθ băˈneː ʕaˈmːiː]

[dăˈroːx pʉːˈʀɔː băˈθuːx bɔts̻ˁˈrɔː]
[wăˈɣaːm bɔːˈveːl ʔăˈs̺ɛːʀ gɔvɐˈʀɔː]
[năˈθoː[ts̻ˁ] [ts̻ˁ]ɔːˈʀaːj băˈʔaːf ʕɛvˈʀɔː]
[ʃăˈmaːʕ quːˈliː bĭˈjuːm ʔɛqˈʀɔː]

[ʔɛ̆luːˈhiːm teːn bamːiðˈbɔːʀ haːʀ]
[hăˈðaːs̻ ʃiˈtːˁɔ băˈʀuːs̺ tiðˈhɔːʀ]
[wălamːazˈhiːʀ wălanːizˈhɔːʀ]
[ʃăluːˈmiːm teːn kăˈmeː nɔːˈhɔːʀ]

[hăˈðoːx qɔːˈmaːj ħaːj ʔeːl qaˈnːɔː]
[băˈmoːɣ leːˈvɔːv ʔʉvimɣiˈnːɔː]
[wănaʀˈħiːv pɛː ʔʉnmaˈlːɛnːɔː]
[lăʃuːˈneːnʉː lăˈxɔː ʀiˈnːɔː]

[dĕˈʕeː ħɔxˈmɔː lănafˈʃɛːxɔː]
[wĭˈhiː ˈxɛːθɛʀ lăruːˈʃɛːxɔː]
[năˈts̺ˁoːr mits̻ˁˈwaːθ qăðoːˈʃɛːxɔː]
[ʃăˈmoːr s̺aˈbːaːθ qɔðˈʃɛːxɔː]

Tsarfati

[dăˈrur jigˈro ləˈveən ʔim bas]
[vəjintsorˈxem kəˈmu voˈvas]
[nəˈʔim ʃimˈxem wəˈlu jʉʃˈbas]
[ʃəˈvʉ nʉˈ[h]ʉ bəˈjum ʃaˈbos]

[dəˈroəʃ noˈvi vəʔʉloˈmi]
[vəˈʔus ˈjeəʃa ʔaˈseə ʔiˈmi]
[nəˈda suˈreəg bəˈsux karˈmi]
[ʃəˈʔeə ʃawˈʔas bəˈneə ʔaˈmi]

[dəˈroəx pʉˈro bəˈsux botsˈro]
[vəˈɣam boˈveəl ʔaˈʃɛr govˈro]
[nəˈsoəts tsoˈraj bəˈʔaf ʔevˈro]
[ʃəˈma guˈli bəˈjum ʔegˈro]

[ʔeluˈhim teən bamidˈbor har]
[haˈdas ʃiˈdo bəˈrus tidˈhor]
[vəlamazˈhir vəlanizˈhor]
[ʃəluˈmim teən kəˈmeə noˈhor]

[haˈdoəx goˈmaj xaj ʔeəl gaˈno]
[bəˈmoəɣ leəˈvov ʔʉvimɣiˈno]
[vənarˈhiːv pe ʔʉnmaˈleno]
[ləʃuˈneənʉ ləˈxo riˈno]

[dəˈʔeə xoxˈmo lənafˈʃexo]
[vəˈhi ˈxeser ləruˈʃexo]
[nəˈtsoər mitsˈvas gadoəˈʃexo]
[ʃəˈmoər ʃaˈbas godˈʃexo]

English (What Inthar got from an Israeli site explaining piyyutim)

[God] will proclaim freedom for his sons and daughters
And guard you [all] as the apple of his eye
Pleasant is your name and will never cease [to be so];
Sit and rest on the Sabbath day.

[God], remember my abode and my hall [Temple]
And show me a sign of salvation.
Plant a choice vine in my vineyard [give us a messiah/king in Jerusalem],
Attend to the cries of my people.

Tread [upon my foes] as on a winepress in Botsra [Edom],
And Babylon which overpowered [us].
Crush my oppressors in your wrath,
Hear my voice when I call.

O God, give us a mountain amidst the desert,
Myrtles, acacias, cypresses and [unknown tree species];
To those who admonish [others to keep the Sabbath] and to those who heed
Grant peace like a flowing river.

Pulverize my aggressors [as in a mortar], O Jealous God [who is jealous for his people],
Make their hearts melt with terror and distress them,
And with open mouths we shall fill
Our tongues with songs of gladness to you.

Know what is wise for your soul,
And [wisdom] shall be a crown for your head.
Guard your Holy One's commandment,
Keep your holy Sabbath.

Yedid Nefesh

Yedid Nefesh ("Friend of the Soul") is a 16th-century Shabbat piyyut originally from the Sephardi tradition. In our timeline Ashkenazi Jews sing a slightly different version; I use the Ashkenazi version here to illustrate the difference between various accents of Tsarfati Hebrew.

Hebrew (Tiberian)
יְדִיד נֶפֶשׁ אַב הָרַחְמָן
מְשׁוֹךְ עַבְדְּךָ אֶל רְצוֹנֶךָ
יָרוּץ עַבְדְּךָ כְּמוֹ אַיָּל
יִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה אֶל מוּל הֲדָרֶךָ
יֶעֱרַב לוֹ יְדִידוּתֶךָ
מִנֹּפֶת צוּף וְכָל טָעַם

Standard Ăn Yidiș accent
[jəd̥ɪd̥ ne̞fe̞ʃ o̞v ho̞ɾäχmo̞n]
[məʃʊχ ävdəχo̞ e̞lɭ ɻətsˑʰʊne̞χo̞]
[jo̞ɻy̠tsˑʰ ävdəχo̞ kʰəmu (ʔ)äjo̞l]
[jɪʃtʰäχäve̞ ʔe̞l my̠l häd̥o̞ɻe̞χo̞]
[je̞ʔe̞ɻäv lʊ jəd̥ɪd̥y̠se̞χo̞]
[mɪnʊfe̞s tsʰy̠f vəχo̞l t⁼o̞(ʔ)äm]

Ballmer
[jɛ̈ðɪð neɪfeɪʃ uv huraχmun]
[mɛ̈ʃoʊχ ävdɛ̈χu eɪəɫ rɛ̈tsʰoʊneɪχu]
[juritsʰ ävdɛ̈χu kʰɛ̈moʊ äjuɫ]
[jɪʃtʰäχäveɪ eɪəɫ mɪɫ häðureɪχu]
[je̞jɛräv ɫoʊ jəðɪðɪseɪχu]
[mɪnoʊfe̞ɪs tsʰɪf vɛ̈χuɫ t⁼uʔäm]

English
O friend of the soul, merciful father!
Please draw me, Your servant, towards Your pleasure.
Your servant runs like a deer
And falls before Your splendor.
More pleasant to him is Your companionship
Than honey, nectar, or any taste.