Verse:Irta/Modern Hebrew

Irta Modern Hebrew is used as a Jewish vernacular in Irta America's West Coast, Canada and Jewish communities in the Levant (the State of Israel isn't a thing in Irta). It's a product of the Tsarfati Haskalah.

Should be mutually intelligible with our Modern Hebrew speakers, though it may sound a bit flowery. In Cualand it's called "French Hebrew" (or עברית צרפתית ivrith tsårfåsith which may also refer to the traditional Tsarfati reading of Hebrew) and is sometimes made fun of.

The standard variety today is an artificial compromise accent between Irta Yevani Hebrew and Tsarfati Hebrew, with an Ăn Yidiș-influenced accent and grammar; it does not merge patach and qamatz gadol unlike Irta Yevani Hebrew. Formal Hebrew is less of an Ăn Yidiș relex, and recent spoken Hebrew's more of an English relex and is becoming closer to Cualand Hebrew or our Israeli Hebrew.

Phonology

• 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) b~p⁼ v g~k⁼ ɣ~ʁ d̪~t̪⁼~ð d̪~t̪⁼~ð h v z̪ x~χ t̪ʰ~θ j kʰ x~χ l m n s̪ (ʔ) pʰ f t̪s̪ʰ kʰ ɻ~ɹˠ ʃ t̪ʰ~θ t̪ʰ~θ]
• Vowels: /i e ɛ a QG QQ o u (shva na) ḤP ḤS ḤQ/ = [i e̞ e̞ æ~a ɑ~ɒ~ʌ o o u Ø~e̞ æ e̞ o̞]
  • Unstressed qamatz gadol is [ʌ̹] (similar to Seoul Korean /ʌ/): גדול /gɒˈdol/ [k⁼ʌ̹ˈðol] 'big'.
• /r/ is alveolar or retroflex and usually an approximant. Some speakers may pronounce it as [ɾ] or [r]. Tiberian Hebrew [ʀ] is used in solemn speech.
• tav~tet /t̪ʰ/ and dalet /d̪/ have postvocalic allophones [θ] and [ð] (which don't correspond to lack of dagesh); this feature arose via hypercorrection and because some of the founder population's Ăn Yidiș dialects had the same feature.
  • Really snobby prescriptivists would insist that leniting dageshed tav, tet or dageshed dalet is incorrect, but basically no one would actually succeed at the "correct" pronunciation; they'd at best fail to lenite (which is like our Israeli Hebrew).
• Since Ăn Yidiș has final /h/, Irta Modern Hebrew pronounces he mappiq (final /h/) and doesn't have the /-Vɑh/ > /-Vhɑ/ metathesis like our Israeli Hebrew.
  • הַכְצַעֲקָתָהּ /haxtsaakʰɒˈθɒh/ 'is it that bad/serious?' (expression from the Bible; lit. 'is it as its outcry')

Qamatz-patach minimal pairs

• /bɒ'kʰɒɹ/ 'cattle, beef' vs /ba'kʰɒɹ/ 'inspector, supervisor'
• /kʰɒ'θav/ 'he wrote' vs /kʰa'θɒv/ 'journalist, correspondent, reporter'
• /sɒm/ 'he put' vs /sam/ 'drug'
• /jɒ'mim/ 'days' vs /ja'mim/ 'seas'
• /ɒ'θaɹ/ = עתר '(literary) he adorned, crowned'; עתר '(law) he petitioned' vs אתר /a'θɒɹ/ 'site'
• /ɒ'ðaɹ/ = 'he tilled, he hoed' vs /a'ðɒɹ/ 'Adar'
• /pʰɒ'ɹɒs/ = 'Persia' vs /pʰɒ'ɹas/ 'he stretched out'
• /pʰɒ'ɹɒʃ/ = 'horseman; (chess) knight' vs /pʰɒ'ɹaʃ/ = 'to leave'
• nif3al past vs nif3ål present
• /kʰɒ'ɹɒ/ 'he called/read; it occurred' vs kåra /kɒ'ɹa/ 'he tore/split; he knelt'

Examples of non-traditionally lenited /d t/

• /aˈθɒ/ 'thou (m)'
• /iˈθi/ 'with me'
• /leiˈθim/ 'sometimes'
• /kaˈðuɹ/ 'ball'
• /eθ/ 'pen', homophonous with 'time' and 'accusative marker' as in our timeline
• /ʃiˈðuɹ/ 'broadcast'

Intonation

Before stressed syllables in a prosodic unit, pitch is high.

• End of declaratives: similar to Russian neutral declarative intonation
  • falling during last stressed syllable
  • low after the last stressed syllable, if any syllables come after that
• Questions and pauses
  • Starting on a focused constituent or the last stressed syllable, pitch is like Mandarin tone 3: low and possibly with creaky voice, and low-rising in isolation and list intonation.

Loanwords

• Patach is used for most instances of /a/ or /æ/ in loanwords.
• Qamatz gadol as opposed to patach is used for English LOT and THOUGHT, Irish á, Riphean ā and Korean or Anbirese eo. IE and Arabic feminine -a and -tsyå (-tion) in Latin loans are also borrowed with it, as in our timeline.
  • how justify -sis being borrowed as -zå?
• Celtic (Irish, Ăn Yidiș, Brythonic), Sinitic and Korean /kʰ tʰ/ are borrowed as כּ תּ as opposed to ק ט
  • Notably not English; aspiration in Irta English is a recent phenomenon

Transcribing foreign stops

• voiced = g, voiceless = q: English, French‚ Latin, Riphean
• voiced = g, voiceless = k: Japanese, Turkish‚ Celtic, Sinitic, Crannish
• voiced = g, unaspirated = q, aspirated = k: Arabic, Greek, Korean, Thai, Sanskrit?

Syntax

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

• much more willing to use אין for negation in the present tense; (איני, אינך in non-3rd person, אין הוא, אין היא in 3rd person); in our IH these forms are formal/written (bc Gaelic negation comes before subject pronouns). /(ze) lo æ'ni/ is a focus construction 'It's not me that...', and אין אני /en æ'ni/ in non 3rd person are solemn.
• Irish/Ăn Yidiș calques in some common expressions
  • The following are used instead of בבקשה for 'please':
    • עם רצונך /im ɹətsʰonˈxɑ/ (lit. 'with your will', a calque of lă dă-thel) or אם זה רצונך /im ze ɹətsʰonˈxɑ/ (mă șe dă-thel e) 'please'
    • זה חייך /ze xæ'jexɑ/ (lit. 'it's your life', like șe dă-bhethă) 'you're welcome'
    • הנה לך /hi'ne xæ'jexɑ/ (lit. 'this is to you', like șa did) 'here you go'
  • רצון איתי /ɹɑtsʰon i'θi/ 'I like' (tel lum), עדיף איתי /ɑ'ðif i'θi/ 'I prefer' (fyor lum). 'to want' uses לרצות, just like in our timeline.
    • More formally /æ'ni ɹo'tsʰe bə-/ = 'I like, I am pleased with', ani xofetz bă- 'I want'
    • Conversely using the verb אהב /ɑ'hæv/ is a little formal (more so than English love) and is the equivalent of German lieben. It's more common to hear חבב chavav for family, friends and lovers.
  • /hɑjɑ ɹɑ'tsʰon i'θi/ 'I'd like'
  • אפשר איתי /efʃɑɹ i'θi/ 'I can' (efșăr lum)
  • You might hear /jeʃ li [LANGUAGE]/ for 'I speak [LANGUAGE]':
    • A: /kʰæ'bel eθ tʰeɹutsʰi, him jeʃ ləxɑ ɑzɑliθ/ 'Excuse me, do you speak English?'
    • B: /jeʃ/ 'I do.'/ /en/ 'I do not.'
• Question particles (/hæim~him/, /hæ-/ in more formal contexts) are usually retained. Questions don't have a different intonation from declarative sentences. Question marks are not usually used. Yes-no questions are usually answered by repeating the verb in the affirmative/negative. Present-tense copular questions (which have no verb), e.g. /him ʃo'meɹ ɑ'xixɑ æ'θɑ/ 'Are you your brother's keeper?' can be answered in the following ways (This is also true of sentences with a present tense verb):
  • /ʃomeɹ ɑχi/ '(Yes, I am) my brother's keeper.' or lo šomėr åxi '(No, I am) not my brother's keeper.'
  • /hinə'ni/ 'Yes, I am.' or /e'neni~e'ni/ 'I am not.'
  • /hen/ 'indeed' or /lo/ 'no' (the least common)
• It also prefers some coincidentally Gaelic-sounding words, e.g. אַךְ /æx/ 'but' and שָׂשׂ /sɑs/ 'happy' (sounding like Judeo-Gaelic ach 'but' and sostă 'satisfied') instead of the synonyms אֲבָל /ævɑl/ and שָׂמֵחַ /sɑ'meæx/. כה /kʰo/ is as common as כל כך /kʰol'kʰɑx/ for 'so (ADJ)'.
• Tenses are similar to our Modern Hebrew tenses but the /hɑ'jɑ ox'el/ construction is more common.
  • היה הוא אוכל = Past imperfective/progressive/conditional (corresponds to V'e ăg ith)
  • הוא אוכל = Present
  • הוא אכל = Past perfective
  • הוא יאכל = Future
• Loazit /-tsʰjɑ/ '-tion' is borrowed directly from Latin -tiō, via Ăn Yidiș/Tsarfati Hebrew -țyo
• It's also as focus-prominent as Ăn Yidiș and Irish. Irishy cleft constructions are common.
• ani "I" is sometimes pronounced [ɪni]; this is a regionalism and is rare nowadays
• As in Goidelic, the relativizer and the complementizer are consistently distinguished (unlike in Mishnaic Hebrew); ש is always a relativizer

Names

Names in non-Hebrew Jewish languages written in the Hebrew alphabet, such as Ăn Yidiș, are usually spelled as in the original language.

Vocabulary

• /kʰæðeɹex/ = 'directly', matched to Irish díreach
• Ireland = אירין /e'ɹin/
• Irish person = איריני, איריניה, אירינים /eɹi'ni, eɹini'jɑ, eɹi'nim/
• Irish language = אירינית /eɹi'niθ/
• Hivantish = /hivæn'di, hivændi'jɑ, hivæn'dim; hivæn'diθ/

Original prescriptive accent

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 b v g ɣ d ð h v z ħ t⁼ j k⁼ x l m n s ʕ p⁼ f ts⁼ k⁼ r ʃ t⁼ θ]

Vowels: /i e ɛ a QG QQ o u (shva na) ḤP ḤS ḤQ/ = [i e ɛ æ ɑ ɔ o u œ æ ɛ ɔ]

Grammatical simplifications

Similar to those in our Israeli Hebrew; account for patach != qamatz gadol

Definite article is usually always ha

Proclitics don't lenite /d t/: /ha tʰik/ = the bag, /ha dɒɣ/ = the fish

Leniting proclitics lenite /b g pʰ/: /biɣduð/ 'in a troop' would be simplified to /be ɣduð/ but not all the way to /be gduð/

Sample

Esther

1:1

וַיְהִ֖י בִּימֵ֣י אֲחַשְׁוֵר֑וֹשׁ ה֣וּא אֲחַשְׁוֵר֗וֹשׁ הַמֹּלֵךְ֙ מֵהֹ֣דּוּ וְעַד־כּ֔וּשׁ שֶׁ֛בַע וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים וּמֵאָ֖ה מְדִינָֽה׃

[vajˈhi p⁼iˈme̞ ʔaxaʃve̞ˈɹoʃ || hu ʔaxaʃve̞ˈɹoʃ hamoˈle̞x me̞ˈhoðu ve̞ˈʔað kʰuʃ ˈʃe̞va ve̞ʔe̞sˈɹim ume̞ˈʔɒ me̞ðiˈnɒ]

1:2

בַּיָּמִ֖ים הָהֵ֑ם כְּשֶׁ֣בֶת ׀ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵר֗וֹשׁ עַ֚ל כִּסֵּ֣א מַלְכוּת֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּשׁוּשַׁ֥ן הַבִּירָֽה׃

[p⁼ajʌ̹ˈmim hʌ̹ˈhe̞m || kʰe̞ˈʃe̞ve̞θ haˈme̞le̞x ʔaxaʃve̞ˈɹoʃ ʔal kʰiˈse̞ malxuˈθo ʔaˈʃe̞ɹ p⁼e̞ʃuˈʃan habiˈɹɒ]

1:3

בִּשְׁנַ֤ת שָׁלוֹשׁ֙ לְמָלְכ֔וֹ עָשָׂ֣ה מִשְׁתֶּ֔ה לְכָל־שָׂרָ֖יו וַֽעֲבָדָ֑יו חֵ֣יל ׀ פָּרַ֣ס וּמָדַ֗י הַֽפַּרְתְּמִ֛ים וְשָׂרֵ֥י הַמְּדִינ֖וֹת לְפָנָֽיו

[p⁼iʃˈnaθ ʃʌ̹ˈloʃ le̞molˈxo ʔʌ̹ˈsɒ miʃˈt̪ʰe̞ le̞ˈxol sʌ̹ˈɹɒv vaʔavʌ̹ˈðɒv || xe̞l pʰʌ̹ˈras umʌ̹ˈðaj hapʰart̪ʰˈmim ve̞sʌ̹ˈɹe̞ hame̞ðiˈnoθ le̞fʌ̹ˈnɒv]

1:4

בְּהַרְאֹת֗וֹ אֶת־עֹ֨שֶׁר֙ כְּב֣וֹד מַלְכוּת֔וֹ וְאֶ֨ת־יְקָ֔ר תִּפְאֶ֖רֶת גְּדוּלָּת֑וֹ יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֔ים שְׁמוֹנִ֥ים וּמְאַ֖ת יֽוֹם׃

[p⁼e̞haɹoˈθo ʔe̞θ ˈoʃe̞ɹ kʰvoð malxuˈθo ve̞ˈʔe̞θ je̞ˈkʰɒɹ t̪ʰifˈʔe̞ɹe̞θ k⁼e̞ðulʌ̹ˈθo || jʌ̹ˈmim ɹaˈbim ʃmoˈnim ʔume̞ˈaθ jom]