Judeo-Gaelic

Judeo-Gaelic/Wordlist

Ăn Yidiș or Judeo-Gaelic (natively: אן ייִדיש ăn Yidiș /ən 'jidiʃ/, א גֿאָלג' נאה יידי ă Gholģ nă Yidi /ɣoldʒ nə 'jidi/ or א מֿאם-לשון ă mham-loșăn; in in-universe Hebrew גלית gelis or יידיש yidiš) is the sole surviving (Hyper-)Goidelic language in Verse:Apple PIE. It is a possible answer to "What if Yiddish were Goidelic?" and is called "Yiddish" in in-universe English. With over 13 million speakers, it is the main vernacular of European Jews, in-universe called "Gaelic Jews" (năh Yidi Geli) or "Ashkenazi Jews". On top of the inherited Gaelic vocabulary, it mainly borrows words from Hebrew and Talmudic Aramaic, but also from Greek, Persian, Brythonic, and Galoyseg. It is the Jewish language with the largest number of speakers in Apple PIE, the second being (revived) Hebrew. Hebrew (read with the Gaelic Hebrew pronunciation) and English are common second languages among Judeo-Gaelic speakers, Hebrew is used as a literary language and a lingua franca for communicating with other Jews.

Its aesthetic is "Scottish Gaelic but more Romanian and Windermere."

Todo

Fix (later) Hebrew loans

ü from Old Irish ú and other sources

High register vocab should be from Celtic or from Hebrew/Aramaic depending on literary period. (cf. our Yiddish)

• Heb/Aramaic words were higher register in older periods because religion
• The Judeo-Gaelic Enlightenment (JG אן השכלה געל'אך ăn Hăscolă Ghełăch, Heb. ההשכלה הגלית haHascolo haGelis) sees Judeo-Gaelic speakers discovering an older Gentile Goidelic literary tradition and seeking out older Goidelic and Primitive Irish sources for new Ăn Yidiș words. (Gentile Goidelic varieties were already extinct by this time.) This was cocomitant with efforts to secularize Hebrew (à la our Haskalah).
• Some later writers criticize the new Gaelic loans as not being authentically Ăn Yidiș. Some use coinages from newly revived Hebrew, further enriching Ăn Yidiș vocabulary

Names

Nicknames may be formed with the diminutive -in. For example, Yacăv 'Jacob' may become Yancin, Yałcin or Yacin.

Given names (non-Hebrew)

Male

• ארט, ארטין Art, Artin 'bear', Dovart
• שינאך Șînăch: 'fox' (also a surname)

Female

• כּלין Calin (Colleen) 'little bride'?

Unisex

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

Surnames

Patronymics:

• Gaelic: מאַק/ניק חיים mac (m)/nic (f) Chaim; a wife of a mac Chaim takes the surname מען מאַק חיים men mac Chaim.
  • Oh (m) and Ni +lenition (f) are not productive; typically names of pre-Ăn Yidiș Gaelic clans such as Oh Coiv (~ Ó Caoimh)
• Semitic: בּן/בּר/בּת חיים, חיימי ben (m)/bar (m)/bas (f) Chaim, Chaimi
• Azalic: חיימסאָן Chaimson, Chaimdotăr

Famous people

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

Todo

• Interrogatives: Cad ă to o żean agăt? 'What are you doing?'
• Cleft construction: Yș żean leșắnăs ă tom ă żean anéș = It is making languages that I'm doing now.

Phonology

• Consonants: b c ch c̦ d f g gh ģ h l ł m n p r ŗ s ș t th ț w j z /b k χ tʃ d f g ɣ dʒ h l w m n p r ʒ s ʃ h ts~tɕ v j z/
  • Final h is silent unless before a vowel. th is pronounced even when final.
  • ŗ is /ʃ/ after voiceless consonants: סקר'יב scŗiv /skʃiv/ 'to write'.
  • Stop + fricative != affricate: a minimal pair is דר'עבאר dŗevăr 'sister' and ג'עבאר ģevăr 'winter'
  • Voiceless stops are aspirated unless after a fricative.
  • t d n are dental and may be slightly velarized. In some dialects t may be a fricative /θ/.
• ț z c̦ ġ l ŗ arise from Old Irish slender t d c g l r. ł arises from Old Irish non-slender l. The Hebrew-script orthography points to the fact that /ʒ/ and /w/ were once pronounced as Czech ř and dark l, respectively.
• 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/
  • ġ /dʒ/ > ġh /j/
• Vowels: a e i o u ü ay ey oy ea oa ie ua ă î /a e i o u ü ai ei oi eə oə iə uə ə ɨ/, vowel reduction to /ə/ common. /eə oə/ are [ei ou] dialectally.
• Stress is transcribed if not initial
• OIr oí > ey
• short i > y (some other sources pls)
• short o > ă

Allophonic vowel length

A form of the Scottish vowel length rule

Orthography

Ăn Yidiș is written in an adapted Hebrew alphabet.

Consonants

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

א בּ ב גּ ג ג' ד ה הּ ז ט י(י) כ ל ל' מ נ ס פּ ף צ צ' ק ר ר' ש תּ = zero b v g gh d h th z y c l ł m n s p f ț c̦ r ŗ ș t /0 b v g ɣ dʒ h h z j k l w m n s p f ts tʃ r ʒ ʃ t/.

ק and ט in Hebrew and Aramaic loans (when not lenited) are /g/ and /d/.

Rafe is used for initial lenition: בֿ גֿ גֿ' דֿ זֿ טֿ כֿ מֿ סֿ פֿ ףֿ צֿ צֿ' קֿ תֿ for bh gh jh dh dzh th ch mh sh ph fh țh c̦h ch 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 stops: סקר'יב e.g. sgŗiv /skʃiv/ 'write! (sg.)'

Vowels

Vowels are spelled as follows (in non-Hebrew, non-Aramaic words):

אַ אְ ע עא יי י י יא אָ אָע או֔ או֔א אוּ יַי יָי = /a ə e eə ei i ɨ iə ɔ oə u uə y ai oi/

יִ is used for /i/ after י /j/.

Hebrew words are spelled similarly to (Modern) Hebrew, with the following 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 present. Note that ת = /s/ in Hebrew and Aramaic loans.

The hyphen used looks like this: מא־מֿאַדרא mă-mhadră 'my dog'.

Other notes

By folk etymology, many native words which are coincidentally similar to Hebrew words are spelled as if they were derived from Hebrew:

• כּלאגּ calăg (f) 'girl' "←" כּלה cală (f) 'bride' + -ăg diminutive suffix
• אףאך afach 'however' "←" אף af 'even' + אך ach 'but'

Grammar

Verbs

Only the verbal noun and the imperative survive:

טאָם אַ ל'אַסעג נרות חנוכּה.

Tom ă łasăgh nearăs hanucă.

/tom ə 'wasəɣ 'neirəs 'hanukə/

be.PRES 1SG PRES to_light.VN candle-PL Hanukkah

I'm lighting Hanukkah candles. (or I light Hanukkah candles)

נאָהּ סקר'יבו דאָ אות אַר זי שבת!

Noh scŗivu do oas ăr żi șabăs!

PROH write-IMP.PL two character on_day Shabbat

Don't write two letters on Shabbat!

Verbs from Hebrew are usually borrowed in the deverbal noun form.

Tenses

The tenses are (pres, past/conditional, fut) x (imperfective, perfective). The auxiliary controls the tense and the preposition controls the aspect:

• to ș' ă(g) = present
• to șe ney = past perfective
• vă ș' ă(g) = past imperfective
• vă șe ney = pluperfect
• bei ș' ă(g) = future imperfective
• bei șe ney = future perfective
• rev ș' ă(g) = jussive impfv. ('may he.../let him...')
• rev șe ney = jussive pfv.

• to șe ag yth = he eats; he is eating
  • vîl șe... = does he...?
  • chal șe... = he does not...
  • nachîl șe... = doesn't he...?/that he does not
  • gu vîl șe... = COMP he...
  • ă to șe... = REL he...
• to șe nej yth = he ate/has eaten
• bej șe ag yth = he will eat
  • bej șe... = will he...?
  • cha bhea șe... = he will not...
  • nach bhea șe... = won't he...?
  • ă vi șe... = REL he will...
• vă șe ag yth = he was eating/he would eat
  • răv șe... = was he...?/would he?
  • cha răv șe... = he was not.../he would not...
  • nach răv șe... = was he not...?/would he not...?
• îth! = Eat! (2sg)
• îthü! = Eat! (2pl) (from a dialectal reflex of *ithebh)
• noh îth(ü)! = Don't eat!

For stative verbs in imperfective tenses, î mă-, î dă-, înă-, etc. + VN is used:

• to m' î mă-chadăl = I sleep
• to m' î mă-thi = I sit
• to m' î mă-șesăv = I stand
• to m' î mă-li = I lie (somewhere)
• to m' î mă-fhiŗăch = I live (I dwell)

Nouns

Like Irish and Hebrew, An Yidiș has masculine and feminine genders. Hebrew words (usually) have the same gender as in Hebrew. There is no grammatical case.

Plurals are more regular, marked with mostly -ăn, or less commonly umlaut of a o u to e e i.

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.

Masculine nouns: Nouns beginning with a vowel take ănt, before a labial ăm, before a trill ă, otherwise ăn

• אנט אישצשע ănt yșc̦ă = the water
• אם בּיא ăm bia = the food
• אן ל'אַהּ ăn łath = the day
• אן צעך ăn țech = the house
• אן נס ăn nes = the miracle
• א ר'יעל'טא ă ŗełtă = the star

Feminine nouns: Nouns beginning with a lenitable consonant (except s, t and ț) lenite and take ă;

• א גּֿעל'אך ă ġhełăch = the moon
• א מֿען ă mhen = the woman/wife
• אן אות ăn oas = the letter (character)
• אנ סוכּה ăn sycă = the booth

Plural nouns take năh- /nə(h)/ (the h is only pronounced before a vowel)

• נאה טיש năh tyș = the houses
• נאה ל'אַהאן năh łathăn = the days
• נאה מנאָ năh mno = the women/wives
• נאה אותיות năh usjăs = the letters
• נאה סוכּות năh sycăs = the booths
• נאה ניסים năh nisim = the miracles

Nouns may take a preposed vocative particle ă which lenites.

Adjectives

Adjectives always have -ă in the plural, except that the plural of -ăch is -i: the plural of ייִדאך Yidăch 'Jew(ish)' is ייִדי Yidi.

• pred: טאָם בּעגּ Tom beg. = I am short.
• m.sg.: ףער בּעגּ fer beg = a short man; אם ףער בּעג ăm fer beg = the short man
• f.sg.: דר'עבאר בֿעגּ dŗevăr bheg = a short sister; אן דר'עבאר בֿעגּ ăn dŗevăr bheg = the short sister
• pl.: ףערן אָרדא ferăn ordă = tall men; נאה ףערן אָרדא năh ferăn ordă = the tall men

Comparatives are formed by adding ניס nis 'more' and עס es 'most' before the adjective The only adjective with a separate comparative form is מאָאר moar, with comparative and superlative using מאָא moa.

מאָאר - ניס מאָא - עס מאָא moar - nis moa - es moa = big - bigger - biggest

Pronouns

conj. pronouns: מע טו שע שי שין שיב שיד me tü șe și șîn șîv șîd

disj. pronouns: מע טו ע אי שין שיב איד me tü e i șîn șîv îd

emphatic prons: מישא, טוסא, שעשאן, שישא, שיניא, שיבשא, שיסאן mișă, tüsă, șeșăn, șișă, șînyă, șîvșă, șîsăn

emphatic suffixes: -șă -să -șăn -șă -yă -șă -săn

Possessive prefixes:

• מאָ־בּֿראָהער mă-bhrohăŗ /mə vrohəɹ/ 'my brother'; מ־אַהער m-ahăŗ /mahəɹ/ 'my father'
• דאָ־בּֿראָהער dă-bhrohăŗ /də vrohəɹ/ 'thy brother'; ד־אַהער d-ahăŗ /dahəɹ/ 'thy father'
• אַ־בּֿראָהער a-bhrohăŗ /ə vrohəɹ/ 'his brother'; אַ־אַהער a-ahăŗ /a ahəɹ/ 'his father'
• אַהּ־בּראָהער ah-brohăŗ /ə brohəɹ/ 'her brother'; אַהּ־אַהער ah-ahăŗ /əh ahəɹ/ 'her father'
• אָר־בּראָהער or-brohăŗ /oɾ brohəɹ/ 'our brother'; אָרן־אַהער orn-ahăŗ /oɾn ahəɹ/ 'our father'
• באַר־בּראָהער văr-brohăŗ /vəɾ brohəɹ/ 'your brother'; באַרן־אַהער vărn-ahăŗ /vəɾn aheɹ/ 'your father'
• אַ־בּראָהער a-brohăŗ /ə brohəɹ/ 'their brother'; אַן־אַהער an-ahăŗ /ən ahəɹ/ 'their father'

m- and d- are used before a vowel, a /j/ or when a lenited f results in an initial vowel or /j/: ףיאל fyol /fjol/ 'meat'; מ־ףֿיאל m-fhyol /mjol/ 'my meat'.

A possessive prefix must be used before every noun: 'my mother and my father' is מאָ־מֿאָהער איס מ־אַהער mă-mhohăŗ îs m-ahăŗ, not *mă-mohăŗ îs ahăŗ.

Younger Judeo-Gaelic speakers, influenced by Revived Hebrew, prefer the ăn levăr agom construction for most nouns except family members (Revived Hebrew usually uses ha-sefer șeli instead of sifri).

The possessive prefixes are commonly used in double-marking possessive constructions such as Vă Ăharăn a-bhrohăŗ ag Mușă. 'Aaron was Moses' brother' (lit. his brother of Moses).

Prepositions

• ag 'at': agom, agăt, eģ, ec̦i, agăn, agăv, acu
• de 'to, for': dom, dît, de, di, din, div, du (d- is deleted after a coronal obstruent)
• że 'off, away from': żom, żyt, że, żi, żin, żiv, żu
• ouh 'from': uom, uat, ua, uay, uan, uav, uahu
• î(n) 'in': înom, înăt, on, înți, înăn, înăv, întu [în is used before a vowel]
• ăr 'on': orom, orăt, eŗ, eŗi, orăn, orăv, oru
• ăs 'from': asom, asăt, as, ași, asăn, asăv, asu
• ru 'before, in front of': rum, rut, rev, rempi, run, ruv, rompu
• ŗy(n) 'with': ŗum, ŗet, ŗeș, ŗei, ŗin, ŗiv, ŗu
• um 'around': umom, umăt, em, empi, umăn, umăv, umpu
• fi 'under, among': fum, fut, fi, fithi, fun, fuv, fithu

Combinations

y(n), ŗy(n) before a definite article becomes yns, ŗyns:

• אינס אן צעך yns ăn țech 'in the house'
• To șyd ynă-fiŗăch yns ă bhelă șo ŗyns năh dynă elă 'They live in this town with the other people'

y + possessive a(n)-: yna(n)-

y + possessive or-: ynăr-

oh + ăn-/ăm-/ă- : oan-/oam-/oan-

Syntax

Prepositions stick to every noun in a noun phrase: טאָם ניי פאָל נאַהּ ףרעגּערצן אוֹ מאָ־מֿאָהער איס אוֹ מאָ־בּראָהער Tom nej fol năh fŗegărțăn oh mă-mhohăŗ ys oh mă-bhrohăŗ 'I got the answers from my mother and brother'

Numerals

Numerals are always followed by the singular form.

0 = אפס efăs, אַה אפס ah efăs (number zero)

counting numbers: אַה אוין, אַה דו, אַה טר'י, אַה צ'עהער, אַה קוג', אַה שיי, אַה שעפֿט, אַה אָפֿט, אַה נוי, אַה זעש ah eyn, ah du, ah tŗi, ah c̦ehăr, ah cuģ, ah șey, ah șeft, ah ăft, ah ney, ah deș

11, 12, ... = eyn zeg, du zeg, tŗi zeg...

20, 30, 40, ... = fișăd, tŗișăd, deyșăd, cuģăd, șescăd, șeftăd, ăftăd, neyăd

21, 22, ... = fișăd îs eyn, fișăd îs du, ...

100, 200, ... = c̦ead, du c̦head, tŗi c̦head, ...

1000 = milă

attributives: for 1 mutation follows gender; 2-6 lenites

Counting humans: (fer/men), bert, tŗür, c̦ehrăr, cuģăr, șeșăr, șeftăr, ăftăr, neynăr, zeșăr

ordinals: tăsi, elă, tŗiăv, c̦ehrăv, cuģăv,... or just ăh N

Syntax

An Yidiș syntax is similar to Irish or Scottish Gaelic syntax but somewhat simplified:

To Yidi înă-firăch î sach țirăn.

Jews live in many countries.

In transitive sentences, the direct object immediately follows the verbal noun:

To ar năh Yidi ag fołîm ăn Tură coch łath.

Jews have to study the Torah every day.

Noun phrase

Ăn Yidiș lost the genitive case except in fossilized expressions. Possession is indicated by the construction ăn X ag Y (lit. the X at Y) when Y is a noun. For example, אַן קאַט אַגּ מאָ־מֿאַק ăn cat ag mă-mhac = my son's cat. Concatenation exists but is more derivational, analogous to compounding in English.

Predicate nouns

• "PRON is a NOUN": איש מען מע Yș men me = I'm a woman
• "X is a NOUN": איש מען אי רבקה Yș men i Ryvcă = Ryvcă (Rebekah) is a woman
• "1p/2p is the NOUN": איש מישע אַ מֿען אַגּ משה Yș mișă ă mhen ag Mușă = I am Mușă's (Moses') wife
• "3p is the NOUN": שי אַ מֿען אגּ משה אי ș i ă mhen ag Mușă i = She is Mușă's wife
  • שי אַ מֿען אַג משה אי רבקה Și ă mhen ag Mușă i Ryvcă (or și Ryvcă i ă mhen ag Mușă) = Ryvcă is Mușă's wife
• For topics or focused predicatives: איש מונצאָרית אַ טאָ אי רבקה Yș munțăŗis ă to i Ryvcă 'Ryvcă is a (female) teacher (not some other job)'
• Pred. adjectives or adjuncts use the verb בּי bi:
  • טאָ רבקה אָרד To Ryvcă ord 'Ryvcă is tall'
  • טאָ רבקה אינס אַן חדר קאַדעל To Ryvcă yns ăn chedăr cadăl 'Rivcă is in the bedroom'

Infinitive phrases

Infinitive phrases usually correspond to German zu-infinitives, and are also used with some modals. They're of the form a + VN + direct object + oblique objects, where de lenites the VN.

If there is a pronominal direct, a + possessive pronoun (for the pronominal object) + VN must be used, with contractions and mutations occurring as necessary.

Examples:

• ă thavărț matonă (NB: does not follow Irish!) = to give a gift (ein Geschenk zu geben)
• o-thavărț om = to give it (masc.) to me
• o-tavărț om = to give it (fem.)/them to me

Relative clauses

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

Vocabulary

Derivation

• ־ית -is, pl. ־יות -ijăs or ־יתאן -isăn 'feminine occupational suffix'
• -in: diminutive
• -ăg: augmentative
• -on: instrumental; agentive (Hebrew influence)
• -ol: verbal noun
• -ül: adjective
• -ăft: abstract noun
• -łon: place

Phrasebook

• שלום șolăm = Hello, goodbye
• שלום עליכם șolăm aléachăm = Hello
• עליכם שלום Aléachăm șolăm = Hello (in response to șolăm aléachăm)
• סל'אָן Słon = (informal) Bye
• בּיאָנאפֿט אַגּאט/אַגּאב Byonăft agăt/agăv = Thank you (lit. may you have blessing)
• ףאָלצא רוט/רוב Folță rut/ruv = Welcome
• צ'עאד מילא ףאָלצא c̦ead milă folță = A hundred thousand welcomes
• קאַרד ע אנט ענים ר'עט? Card e ănt enim ŗet? = What is your name?
• דוד שע אנט ענים ר'יאָם Dovid șe ănt enim ŗum = My name is David
• ביל אַן אַזליש אַגּאט/אַגּאב? Vîl ăn Azăliș agăt/agăv? = Do you speak English?
• כאַל אן יידיש אַגּאָם Chal ăn Yidiș agom = I can't speak Ăn Yidiș
• כאַלים א טיקשינץ Chalim ă ticșinț = I don't understand
• ל'אַבער' ניס מעלא, ר'י דא־טֿעל = Łavăŗ nis melă, ŗy dă-thel = Please speak more slowly
  • ל'אַבר'ו ניס מעלא, ר'י באר־טעל Łavŗu nis melă, ŗy văr-tel = above, 2pl
• טאָ איאַר'י אַגּאָם א ל'אַבער' אס יידיש, אך כאַל קומאס דאָם. To ieŗi agom ă łavăŗ ăs Yidiș, ach chal cumăs dom. = I want to speak Ăn Yidiș, but I cannot.
• בּליאן מֿאַהּ בֿיאָניצא Blien mhath bhjoniță /bliən vah vjonitsə/ = Happy new year

Dates and time

Days of the week

Note: in Judeo-Gaelic a day is considered to begin at sunset or nightfall, as according to Jewish law.

• Sunday: זי־סוֹל zi-soal
  • Sunday morning: מאַזין סוֹל mazin soal
  • Sunday afternoon (before sunset): ףעסקאר סוֹל fescăr soal
  • Sunday evening (after sunset): ערב ל'ואַן erev łuan (!)
  • Sunday night: עאשא ל'ואַן eașă łuan (!)
• Monday: זי־ל'ואַן zi-łuan
• Tuesday: זי־מאָרץ zi-morț
• Wednesday: זי־צ'עאדין zi-c̦eadin
• Thursday: זי־זעאראדין zi-zearădin
• Friday: זי־רו־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

• ףין fin = white
• דוב duv = black
• זעראגּ żerăg = red
• בּוייע bujă = yellow
• גּל'אַס głas = green
• גּאָרעם gărăm = blue
• בּאַנעש banăș = violet; purple
• דוֹן doan = brown

Sample texts

From the Kaddish

Refăs ă noyvü îs ă moărăv ă-enim moar

Magnified and hallowed be His great name

Îns ăn dăvăn ă to șe ney ă-chrîthü ziŗ ă-thel,

In the world which He created according to His will,

Îs rev șe ney bunü ă-ŗift,

And may He establish/build His kingdom,

Î văr-bethă, î văr-łathăn, îs îns ă bhethă ăg țech Yisroal îlă,

Within your lives, within your days and within the lives of all of Israel,

Gu h-ethģăr îs gu łuath! Abŗü, Omean.

Quickly and soon! Say, Amen.

From "Dirge Without Music"

קינה ג'אן צֿ'אָל'

Cină ġăn c̦hoł

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.