Qwbmwdqwg

Foclòir (Lexicon)

Cèḏ-Mijòrìje (Proto-Qwbmwdqwg)

Eɯme Mijòrìje (Majorcan names)

Zèl leaṫnaċ fil Mijòrìje (This page in Majorcan) (IPA)

Majorcan
el Mijòrìje et teanga Mijòrìje teangatna
Pronunciation	[ə̟lmɪ̟jo̟r̻iːjə̟]
Created by	User:IlL
Setting	Verse:Irta
Native to	Majorca
Native speakers	1,300,000 (2022)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Central Semitic Arabic Majorcan

Majorcan is a heavily Hibernized variety of spoken historical Arabic native to the Irta timeline's Balearic Islands comprising the nation of Majorca (natively el Mijòr [ə̟lmɪ̟ˈjo̟ːɾ̻ʲ], from Latin (insula) major 'bigger island'; Irta Irish an Mīrı, matched to the Old Irish legendary figure Midir), an independent country where it's an official language alongside English. The native name for the language is el Mijòrìje or et teanga Mijòrìje, but speakers may simply call the language teangatna [ˈt̪ʰæ̃ːʔʶʌt̪ʶʰn̪ʶʌ] 'our language'.

Majorcan has 850,000 speakers in Majorca; smaller Majorcan communities can be found in Southeast Asia, the British Isles, Eastern Canada, the West Coast of North America, and Bjeheond. Its speakers almost always also speak English; Modern Standard Latin, Irish and Nyvierfusiez are also widely understood in Majorca. Majorcans are predominantly Catholic; some are Remonitionists or Muslims. Education in Majorca is conducted in Majorcan and English up to secondary school level, and higher education is taught in English.

Irish loanwords, called clèm Ȝagmìje (from ʕaǧamiyya 'foreign' → 'Irish', maqām ʕaǧam in Irta also comes from Irish music), comprise over half of Majorcan vocabulary. Besides Irish, Majorcan has borrowed from French, Nyvierfusiez and English. Some Irish vocabulary in Majorcan, called Nùa-Ȝagmìje 'neo-Ȝagmìje', are in fact coinages by Majorcans. It's the only Irtan Semitic language that evolved naturally under Celtic influence (Irta Modern Hebrew was revived by Celtic speakers). Majorcan is somewhat mutually intelligible with many Irta Neo-Arabic languages, and in its formal registers, intelligible with Irish and Ăn Yidiș.

The main motivation for Majorcan is aesthetic similarities between Irish and Arabic, including:

• vowel length, in a rough framework of 5 vowel qualities /a e i o u/
• lack (Arabic) or rarity (Irish) of /p/ in native vocabulary
• many fricative consonant phonemes
• intervocalic /h/ and clusters with /h/
• a kind of "broad/slender" distinction in consonants (emphatic/nonemphatic in Arabic, velarized/palatalized in Irish)
• vowel reduction and syncope in both Maghrebi Arabic and Irish
• weight-sensitive stress in both Munster Irish and Arabic
• suffixes such as /-a:n/, /-i:n/, /-i:/

todo

Some vowel initial masculine nouns in Irish are borrowed with t-/T-

When does ʔimālah happen?

Formalize emphasis spreading

False friends between Majorcan, Irish and Ăn Yidiș

Move to a fictional volcanic hotspot to the northwest of Spain?

History

In Irta, the Balearic Islands was ruled by Muslim Arabs since the 10th century. An Irish clan took control of the islands by the 11th century, and established a vassal state of an Irta Medieval Irish kingdom which lasted until the 17th century when the Irta English Order of ___ took over. Majorca gained independence from the Irta English in 1940.

Majorca briefly occupied Cambodia and parts of Thailand as well as parts of North America (e.g. Kansas and Oklahoma).

The Irish vocabulary in Majorcan reflects a fictional Middle Irish dialect which shows features of modern Munster Irish and our timeline's Scottish Gaelic; it was conservative in that broad dh (> Majorcan /zʶ/) was kept distinct from broad gh (> Majorcan /ʁ/). /a:/ was backed to [ɑ:] after broad consonants, explaining why Irish broad s and d were heard as /sˁ/ and /tˁ⁼/ by the Arabic speakers.

The first surviving text in Majorcan is dated to 1515.

Majorcan is an isolate within Irtan Arabic; it evolved from Proto-Majorcan, a fictional vernacular Arabic variety similar to our old Maghrebi Arabic which had the following features:

• qāf and ṭāʔ are unaspirated, sometimes voiced.
• þāʔ and ðāl are retained.
• ẓāʔ and ḍād are both [zˁ~ðˁ].
• jīm is [ɟ~g].
• has imāla after nonemphatics
  • new ā from 3ayn loss (same condition as Maltese stressed għa and agħ) causes old ā > ō after emphatics
  • The combination of imāla and Irish borrowing has resulted in two archiphonemes: Ē (Classical ā), Ā (Middle Irish á) (ē and ā respectively after nonemphatics; both become ō after emphatics after ayin loss)
    • Some analogical leveling happens, though, which collapses some occurrences to invariable /ē ā ō/
  • Ə - schwa archiphoneme, i between 2 nonemphatics
• C(+emph)C(-emph)C(+emph) root > C(+emph)C(+emph)C(+emph) root

One Englishism: mā́nduhš Gújjə xuG = 'he doesn't have a prayer for...' (This and "sad" comes from a Majorcanism in Irta English which shows up in Pacific English and a few British dialects but not in Quelftonian English)

Place names

• Doonancole (Dùn an Ċoill, Ir. 'fort of the hazel') is a major city; an inhabitant of Dùn an Ċoill is called a Dùnaì in Majorcan.

Figures

• Peadar Budigēgı (Peadar Buddigèg) is an Irta Irish politician.
• Dilen el Bejẕàvì: speculative evolution worldbuilder
  • Bejẕa is an Irta Majorcan town
• Cìara eḏ Dùnaìje: γannèje
• Caoiṁe eḏ Dùnaìje: violinist
• Fẕùlì el Aransì
• Γanè Ẕammèd: President of Majorca

Phonology

Consonants

Majorcan has an almost complete set of pairs of emphatic (leaṫaṉ ['læħ̞ən̪ʶ], Ir. 'broad') and nonemphatic (caoḻ [q̟ʰɪ:l̪ʶ], Ir. 'slender') consonants, formed from both native emphatic consonants (Classical Arabic T D S Z q became /dʶ zʶ sʶ zʶ ɢ/) and the contrast between broad (velarized) and slender (palatalized) consonants in borrowed Irish vocabulary. Irish broad and slender consonants are usually borrowed as emphatic and nonemphatic consonants, respectively. For referring to Majorcan we will use emphatic and broad, and nonemphatic and slender, as synonyms, as well as terms like "broadness spreading" and "slenderization".

Arabic /θ/ and /ð/ become Majorcan /d/ and /z/.

Consonant phonemes in Majorcan

		Labial		Dental/Alveolar		Postalveolar	Dorsal		Glottal
		plain	uvularized	plain	uvularized		prevelar	preuvular
Nasal		m	mʶ	n̪	n̪ʶ		[ŋ˖]	[ɴ̟]
Stop	aspirated	pʰ	pʶʰ	t̪ʰ	t̪ʶʰ		k̟ʰ	q̟ʰ
	unaspirated	b	bʶ	d̪	d̪ʶ		ɡ˖	ɢ̟~ʔʶ
Continuant	voiceless	f	fʶ	s̪	s̪ʶ	ʃ	x̟	χ˖	h
	voiced	v~β̞	vʶ~wʶ	z̪	z̪ʶ	ʒ	j	ʁ̟
Trill				r	rʶ
Lateral				l	l̪ʶ

Allophones or marginal phonemes include [hʶ] and [ʂʶ]; this article won't reflect these.

• [ŋ̟ ɴ̟] occur as allophones of /n̪ n̪ʶ/ before dorsal stops. For speakers that realize /ɢ/ as a glottal stop, a preceding /nʶ/ is often realized as nasalization and lengthening of the preceding vowel.
• /h/ is always pronounced clearly. It is usually [h~ɦ], but is [ħ̞] (weakly fricated [ħ]) before or after /ɑ/ or /æ/.
• "Voiceless" stops are consistently aspirated; voiced stops may be weakly voiced (as in German and Irish) or completely devoiced (as in Icelandic). Voiced stops are always devoiced after a voiceless or aspirated consonant: nectbw [ˈnɛk̟ʰtʲʰp⁼ü] 'we will write'. Voiceless stops are also slightly longer than voiced ones. Voiced geminate stops are realized as voiceless unaspirated. Geminated and word-final aspirated stops are preglottalized. Word-final geminates surface as compensatory lengthening of the preceding vowel (cf. Irish and Hebrew).
• Emphatic consonants have the feature +RTR (retracted tongue root). Emphatic unaspirated stops tend to be less voiced than their nonemphatic counterparts; /ɢ̟/ is particularly prone to devoicing.
• Preuvular consonants are halfway between velar and uvular for most speakers but are velar or uvular for some speakers; the velar realization is more common for older speakers. /ɢ̟/ in contemporary urban Majorcan is turning into [ʔʶ] (cf. Maltese and Egyptian Arabic /ʔ/ for older Arabic q), even affecting Irish loans: teanga 'language' and guiḋe 'prayer' are pronounced [ˈt̪ʰænʶʔʶʌ] and [ˈʔʶʊ̠jjə] by the majority of younger speakers. This is often attributed to immigration from other parts of Irta's Arab world bringing the glottal stop reflex of Arabic q.
• /r/ is a lamino-alveolar or dental trill or flap. It is often pronounced as Czech ř or as [ʒ] by younger speakers.
• /rʶ/ may be realized as [ɾʶ] or [ɹʷʶ], the latter sounding a lot like a General American English r.
• t d T D n N L s S are lamino-dental.
• Nonemphatic consonants (except /v h/) are allophonically palatalized in pausal position. /t d n l/ become laminal alveolar [t̻ʲ d̻ʲ n̻ʲ lʲ] when allophonically palatalized. Allophonic palatalization of nonemphatic consonants also occurs when said consonant is next to a prevelar consonant (one of /k̟ g̟ x̟ j/): e.g. ħacme [ˈħ̞æk̟ʰmʲə] 'rule'. This also affects /v/ after a prevelar, e.g. gvèr [g̟vʲe:r] 'about, concerning'.
• Emphatic consonants are less strongly uvularized and more velarized in pause, for speakers that uvularize emphatics.
• /j/ is vocalized to [ɪ] in word-initial position before a consonant.
• /v vʶ/ vocalize to [β̞ ~ẅ wʶ] when not before a vowel.

unasp stop + h > asp stop

asp stop + h > geminated asp stop

Vowels

Majorcan is usually analyzed as having 5 short monophthongs, 5 long monophthongs, and 4 diphthongs (not counting vowel + semivowel sequences) in stressed syllables. Some non-exhaustive common spellings for the vowels are given. Sometimes [æ] and [ɑ] (and their long counterparts) are analyzed as distinct phonemes, however this distinction is marginal.

Qwbmwdqwg stressed vowel phonemes

	Front		Cemtral		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i /ɪ/	ì /iː/			w, u(i), io /ü~ʊ/	ẁ, ù(i) /üː~uː/
Mid	e /ɛ/	è /eː/			(e)o(i) /ɔ/	(e)ò(i) /oː/
Open	ea, ȝa [æ]	eà(i), ȝà [ä:~æː]	/a/	/aː/	a(i) [ɑ]	à(i) [ɑː]

Opening diphthongs: /eɐ oɐ iɐ uɐ/

• feg̱g̱èȝ /fəˈʔʶeɐ/ 'mushrooms'
• g̱uħḏa /'ʔʶoɐhdʶə/ ['ʔʶoɐħ̞t̪ʶʌ] 'scarcity'
• lìaṫ /liɐh/ [liɐħ̞] 'gray'
• rùħ /rʶuɐh/ [rʶʊɐħ̞] 'self, soul'

Reduced vowels: /ə ɐ ɪ ü/

a is [æ] after nonemphatics, [ɑ] after emphatics

o is [o] after nonemphatics, [ɔ] after emphatics

i is [ɪ̟] after nonemphatics, [ɪ̈] after emphatics

u is [ü] after nonemphatics, [ʊ] after emphatics

/əj əv əvʶ/ is [ɛ̈j ə̟ẅ ɛ̈wʶ] after nonemphatics, [ɑj ɑẅ ɑwʶ] after emphatics (merging with /æj æw æwʶ/ after emphatics)

ea oa ia ua [eɐ oɐ iɐ uɐ] result from CA (stressed) i u ī ū + pharyngeal consonant; some ia ua also come from Old Irish ía úa

unstressed a (IPA phonetic transcription /ɐ/) is similar to stressed a and result from Arabic 3ayn adjacent to an unstressed vowel;

unstressed ə is [ʌ] after an emphatic and [ə̟] after a nonemphatic and before a

3i 3ī 3u 3ū > aj aj aw aw

/C[emphatic]ə/ and unstressed /C[emphatic]ɐ/ merge for younger speakers; the vowel becomes [ɑ~ʌ].

/æ/ is spelled ea or (ȝ/ħ)a; /æ:/ is spelled eà or (ȝ/ħ)à

Reduction

Orthographic long vowels (à, eà, è, ì, ò, ù, w`) odd-numbered distances away from stress shorten: ħaccèmìn 'rulers' is pronounced as if written ħaccimìn

• ì shortens to /i/
• è/eà/à shorten to /ə/ or /i/ (-> /i/ between most nonemphatic_nonemphatic)
• ù and ẁ shorten to /u/
• ò shortens to /o/

Stress

Weight-sensitive (inherited from Arabic). A V rime is one mora, VC and V: are two morae, and VCC and V:C are three.

To determine stress, drop the final mora, and assign stress to the last heavy syllable (i.e. with more than 1 mora). In Ȝagmì words, nn ll rr in unstressed syllables may attract stress: fìrinne /fɪˈrɪn:ə/ 'truth'. Irish ṁ ḃ in an originally unstressed syllable are borrowed as underlying geminate /v(ʶ)/ which also attracts stress: ofigeṁail /ɔfɪˈɟɛwʶwʶəl/ 'official'.

Minimal pairs/Things to investigate

Emphatic vs nonemphatic

Common for Irish sg vs pl

• levn (ləwn) 'color'; lòn (LəWN) 'lunch'
• n vs N: nehr 'river', nathair 'snake' (near-minimal pair); rùṉ 'secret', rùin 'secrets'
• r vs R: final CA r becomes R in verbs and r in nouns and adjectives (because of genitive -i)
  • ȝas̱r 'vespers', ȝas̱ṟ 'squeeze.VN'
• f vs F?
• m vs M?
• b vs B?
• p vs P?

Vowels

• [æ] and [ɑ] are distinctive in vowel-initial words and after /h/ (from Arabic a/Irish ea vs Irish a)
• /æ:/ vs /ɒ:/: *ā after emphatic + hamza cluster (e.g. G̱uṟɂeàn)?
• /e:/ vs /æ:/: find an example of *ā vs 3ayn colored *a
• /ɛ/ vs /æ/?

Archiphonemes

• Ē (Classical ā), Ā (Middle Irish á): ē and ā respectively after nonemphatics; both become ō after emphatics and ā after pharyngeals
  • Some analogical leveling happens, though, which collapses some occurrences to invariable /ē ā ō/
• Ə: schwa archiphoneme, i between 2 nonemphatics in a final syllable
• Classical Arabic stressed /a/ becomes:
  • If NOT next to a pharyngeal: /ɑ/ a after emphatic, /æ/ ea before emphatic but after nonemphatic, /ɛ/ e otherwise
  • IF next to a pharyngeal: /ɑ/ after emphatic, /æ/ otherwise

Emphasis spreading

Occurs for affixes that are not marked for emphasis (from originally nonemphatic consonants). A stressed onset being emphatic will result in the corresponding prefixes being emphatic and a stressed coda being emphatic will result in suffixes being emphatic.

(The VN suffix -əXəZ is an exception since it is marked for emphasis)

Intonation

As Irishy as Maltese intonation is Italian

Orthography

Latin

In Majorca, Majorcan uses a Roman orthography which adopted changes to more faithfully reflect Arabic in the spelling of native vocabulary. Like many orthographies used in Irta, Majorcan orthography is based on the principles of etymological spelling and enabling many-to-one reading, with the latter taking precedence. In Gaelic type for Majorcan, the underline diacritic is rendered as slightly slanted horizontal strokes under the letter.

Majorcans handwrite lowercase i and j without dots.

Emphatics denoted with underline

etymological a/ai/e/i for schwa in Irish loanwords

native vowels are written as palatalizing to be able to use different broadening strategies for Arabic and Irish vocab

• /æ/ is spelled ea or (ȝ/ħ)a; /æ:/ is spelled eà or (ȝ/ħ)à
• /ɑ/ is spelled a (not after pharyngeal); /ɑ:/ is spelled à

o and ò always uvularize a preceding consonant. The corresponding slender spellings are eo and eò.

Alphabet

1. Aa: à
2. Bb: bè
3. Cc: cèf
4. Dd: dèl
5. Ee: è
6. Ff: fè
7. Gg: gìm
8. Ȝȝ: ȝajn
9. Γγ: γajn
10. Hh: hè
11. Ħħ: ħà /hæ:/
12. Xx: xà
13. Ii: ì
14. Jj: jè
15. Ll: lèm
16. Mm: mìm
17. Nn: nẁn
18. Oo: ò
19. Pp: pè
20. Rr: rè
21. Ss: sìn
22. Ɯɯ: ɯìn
23. Tt: tè
24. Ww: ẁ
25. Uu: ù leaṫaṉ
26. Vv: vèv
27. Zz: zejn
28. Grave accent: fada
29. Underline: leaṫnàn
30. Lenition dot on b, c, d, f, g, m, p, s, t: sèiṁeċaḋ

Spelling native consonants

(corresponding to underlying phonemes not realization)

• bā2 = b be bi bw beà bè bì bẁ bej bev
• tā2 = t te ti tw teà tè tì tẁ tej tev
• jīm = g ge gi gw geà gè gì gẁ gej gev
• Hā2 = ħ ħa ħi ħu ħà ħì ħù ħaj ħav
• khā2 = x xa xi xu xà xì xù xaj xav
• dāl, þā2 = d de di dw dè dì dẁ dej dev
• Rā2 = (r, like khā2)
• zāy, ðāl = (z, like bā2)
• sīn = ɯ ɯe ɯi ɯw ɯè ɯì ɯẁ ɯej ɯev
• šīn = s se si sw sè sì sẁ sej sev
• Sād = (s̱, like khā2)
• Dād, Zā2 = (ẕ, like khā2)
• Tā2 = (ḏ, like khā2)
• 3ayn = ȝ ȝa ȝi ȝu ȝà ȝì ȝù ȝaj ȝav
• ghayn = (γ, like khā2)
• fā2 = (f, like bā2)
• qāf = (ǥ, like khā2)
• kāf = (c, like bā2)
• lām = (l, like bā2)
• mīm = (m, like bā2)
• nūn = (n, like bā2)
• hā2 = (h, like bā2)
• wāw = (v, like bā2)
• yā2 = (j, like bā2)

Spelling Irish loans

Similar to our pre-reform Irish orthography, with lenition dots, and grave instead of acute

Irish loans that are inflected using Semitic morphology such as broken plurals are spelled as if native.

Consonants in Irish loans generally have the same value as in "carefully-read Irish", i.e. with no vowel contractions from V[semivowel]V. The values are the closest Majorcan equivalents to the Irish consonants, with broad and slender becoming emphatic and nonemphatic, except:

• broad ḋ = /zʶ/
• nn ll rr actually are geminates. Word-finally they compensatorily lengthen the preceding vowel, just as native word-final geminates do.
• ḃ ṁ as well as slender ḋ ġ may become geminates after an unstressed vowel.

Final broad consonants require the leaṫnàn unless they have a lenition dot.

Examples:

• sgàṫàn [sʶʔʶʌˈħ̞æːnʲ] 'mirror'

Arabic

التَنقة ميورية

Sufi and Trician Majorcans use an adapted Arabic script devised by the Majorcan Sufi writer ___. The orthography uses invented letters and vowel diacritics made from Latin shapes (especially from Gaelic type) and Ogham for Majorcan consonants and vowels that don't exist in Arabic.

Final schwa is written as TM, alif or alif maqSūra (possibly with hamza) depending on the Arabic etymology. In Irish loans:

• feminine noun and plural adjective marker: TM
• In Irish plural noun markers: alif
• Irish passive participles: alif. The /h/ in the -tha/-the allomorph may be written as __ to avoid confusion with native -he (3fs suffix), a case of nonfinal TM.

3ayn is used for diphthongs ending in /ɐ/ in loanwords, e.g. كْلاب ليعهة clèb lìaṫa [k̟ʰlʲeːb lʲiɐħ̞ə] 'gray dogs'

agus̱ written ٦ُ ?

Morphology

Pronouns

• èn(e), int(i), hw`/hwve, hì/hije, aħn(e), intwm, hwm(e); impersonal mir (< mar2 'person')
  • In subject position, mir is often used as 1pl (cf. spoken Finnish)
• object pronouns: ìje, ìc, ìjwh, ìhe, ìne, ìcwm, ìhwm (ī́jə, īk, ī́juh, ī́hə, ī́nə, ī́kum, ī́hum) (from 2iyyā-, cognate to Hebrew et < *2iyyōt < *2iyy-āt-, the *-āt- is also found in the kămot- combining form for Heb kămo 'like')
  • object pronouns go to the end of a transitive clause
  • Ritcellim mir gil es̱-S̱ìn ìhe (ritkéllim mir gil əS-Sīn ī́hə) = it (f.) was spoken in China / one spoke it in China

Nouns

Noun declension classes

	unmarked	marked feminine singular	sound masculine plural	sound feminine plural	schwa plural
absolute	-	-e or -a	-ìn	-èṫ or -àṫ	-e or -a
construct	generally unchanged	-(e)t or -(a)ṯ	-ì	-èt or -àt	unchanged

"Unmarked" includes unmarked singulars, native broken plurals, and Irish plurals that do not end in -e or -a.

Some unsuffixed nouns have marked constructs:

• CavC → CuC; CevC → CwC; CajC, CejC → CiC (jevm → jwm)

Plurals directly borrowed from Irish do not have marked constructs

nisba nouns (both native and from Irish -(a)iḋ): -(a)ì -(a)ìn (-i -ī́n), f. -(a)ìje -(a)ìjèṫ (-ījə -ijḗh)

In post-independence Majorcan, eḻ-guiḋe g̱av̱v̱i (əL-Gújjə GáWWi) is more common

todo: broken plurals

article eC before sun letters (consain semsìje, KóNSin šəmšī́jə); sun letters D d Z z T t L l N n S s R r š ž

• eḏ dùile (əD-Dūlə) 'the element'
• ed dèr (əd-dēr) 'the house'
• eṯ ṯifl (əT-Tífil) 'the boy'
• et twffèħa (ət-tuffeahə) 'the apple'
• es̱ s̱ajf (əS-Sajf) 'summer'
  • before broad s̱b, s̱d, s̱g, s̱m, the definite article is eḻ: eḻ s̱maċṯ 'control, authority'
• eɯ ɯene (əs-sénə) 'the year'
• eẕ ẕuhr (əZ-Zúhər) 'noon'
• ez zeȝrùl (əz-zaRū́l) 'the hawthorn'
• eṟ Ranẕàn (əR-RəNZān) 'Lent'
• er rìġ (ər-rī) 'the king'
• eḻ luas̱ (əL-LuaS) 'the speed'
• el levz (əl-ləwz) 'the almond'
• eṉ naṫair (əN-Náhər) 'the snake'
• en nèr (ən-nēr) 'the fire'
• es sems (əš-šemš) 'the sun'
  • before sb, sd, sg, sm the definite article is el
• ež zwhneàl (əž-žuhnā́l) 'the journal'

Before moon letters (consain ǥamrìje, KóNSin Gəmrī́jə), the article is eḻ before emphatic consonants and el before nonemphatic ones (including š, ž, h null).

Gender of Irish loan nouns

The following heuristics are useful for guessing the gender of Majorcan inanimate nouns of Irish origin:

1. Singular nouns that have -a/-e in the nominative are always feminine.
   • Example: teanga 'language'
2. Certain classes such as country names are always feminine.
   • Example: eṟ Ḟrainc 'France'
3. Most Irish nouns that take -e or -a in the genitive singular become feminine and are borrowed in their genitive singular forms.
   • Example: creiċe 'booty, prey' (gen. sg. of creach)
4. Most -t and -ṯ nouns become feminine and are borrowed in their nominative singular forms, sometimes with lenition.
   • Example: s̱maċṯ 'control, authority'
5. Most other inanimate Irish nouns become masculine and are borrowed in their nominative singular forms.
   • Example: gnè 'property, feature'

Pluralization

For learned and semi-learned Irish borrowings (mainly for inanimates):

• Most first- and fifth-declension nouns essentially use their Irish plurals
• Nouns ending in -a or -e take a plural in -(a)iḋèṫ, -èṫ, or -àṫ, use the Irish genitive plural form (which is broadened and drops the -a/-e), or use a native broken plural.
• Other nouns that have an -(a)iḋe (modern -(a)í) plural in Irish pluralize in -(a)iḋèṫ
• Other nouns that have no -a or -e use an Irish strong plural: -a, -ta, -ṫa/-ṫe, or -aḋ/-eḋ.
• agentives in -(a)iḋe are borrowed as nisba -(a)ì and are pluralized accordingly: e.g. Crìs̱daì 'Christian (m.)' or Crìs̱daìje (f.), from Críostaiḋe. The plurals are Crìs̱daìn and Crìs̱daìjèṫ.

Nativized Irish loans often use broken plurals: e.g. f̱aẕḇ 'knot' (from foḋb) has plural f̱ẕùḇ or f̱ẕàḇ.

Possessive suffixes

If construct ends in...	slender C	broad C	stressed vowel	schwa
Do the following	append			change schwa to
1sg	-i	-i, -ai for broadened tāʔ marbūṭah or Irish loans	-je	-ejje, -ajje
2sg	-ic	-ac̱	-c	-èc, -aèc
3sg.m	-wh	-uh	-h	-èh, -aèh
3sg.f	-he	-ha	-he	-èhe, -aèhe
1pl	-ne	-na	-ne	-ène, -aène
2pl	-cwm	-cum̱	-cwm	-ècwm, -aècwm
3pl	-hwm	-hum̱	-hwm	-èhwm, -aèhwm

Examples on Ȝagmì nouns:

• rùṉ /rʶu:nʶ/ (m.) 'secret', rùnai /rʶu:nʶɪ/ 'my secret', rùṉha /rʶu:nʶhə/ 'her secret'
• rùin /rʶu:n/ 'secrets', rùini /rʶu:nɪ/ 'my secrets', rùinhe /rʶu:nhə/ 'her secrets'
• teanga /tʰanʶʔʶə/ 'language', teangtai /tʰanʶʔʶtʶʰɪ/ 'my language', teangtha /tʰanʶʔʶtʶʰə/ 'her language'
• guiḋe /ʔʶʊjjə/ 'prayer', guiḋti /ʔʶʊjtʰɪ/ 'my prayer', guiḋthe /ʔʊjt:ʰə/ 'her prayer'
• rìġ /ri:/ 'king', rìġje /ri:jə/ 'my king', riġhe /ri:hə/ 'her king'
• cearta /carʶtʶʰə/ 'rights', ceartajje /cərʶ'tʶʰajjə/ 'my rights', ceartaèhe /cərʶ'tʶʰe:hə/ 'her rights'

Adjectives

Adjectives became a separate morphological part of speech from nouns under Irish influence. Adjectives never agree in definiteness, like in Irish but unlike in Arabic.

Most native non-nisba adjectives have the same declension: m. sg. -0, f. sg. -a/e, pl. -a/e. Nisba adjectives decline as -ì, -ìje, -ìje (-i -ī́jə -ī́jə). All adjectives have an -a/-e plural; this comes from Arabic broken plurals taking feminine singular agreement, and spread to all plural adjectives under the influence of Irish plural -a/-e for adjectives.

Most loan adjectives have unmarked feminine singular forms. For Irish loan adjectives, the emphaticness of the plural may differ from the m.sg.: oifigeṁail /ɔfɪ'g̟ɛwʶ:əl/ (m. and f.sg), oifigemala /ɔfɪ'g̟ɛwʶlʶə/ (pl) 'official'.

Color and defect adjectives follow a different declension: eaħmir 'red' has f.sg. and pl. ħamre. Color adjectives from Irish do use the plural form as the feminine singular: celb lìaṫ /cɛlb liɐh/ 'a gray dog', moȝze liaṫa /moɐzə liɐhə/ 'a gray goat'.

Adverbs formed from adjectives use cel-/ceḻ- (moon) or ceC- (sun) followed by the masculine sg. form of the adjective. An alternative construction for adverbs, common in written language, is be treò [ADJ.m.sg] or be sliġe /bəʃliːjə/ [ADJ.f.sg], from be 'instrumental' + Irish treo 'direction'/sliġe 'way'.

In adjectives ending in non-emphatic r in the masculine form, the feminine and plural form takes emphatic R: g̱as̱ìr (GəSī́r) 'short (m.sg.)', g̱as̱ìra (GəSī́Rə) 'short (f.sg. or pl.)'.

Degree:

• veaxra 'a lot' / mejl 'very', eacder 'more', el eacder 'most'
• ftìt 'few, little, not very', eang̱as̱ 'less', el eang̱as̱ 'least'

Verbs

A Majorcan regular verb has five principal parts:

1. past 3sg.m
2. future 3sg.m
3. imperative sg
4. passive participle
5. verbal noun

As in our Neo-Arabic, the passive is formed by using verb stems that have n- or t-.

The tense system of Majorcan resembles that of Scottish Gaelic (with respect to diachronics too). Verbal nouns, inherited from Arabic, are used for Insular Celtic-style tense constructions:

• the present is formed by using fi 'in, at' + verbal noun. This has displaced the Arabic nonpast forms from the present tense, and the inherited Arabic nonpast is now used for the future and subjunctive. (A similar process occurred in Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Hebrew.)
• the perfect is formed with beȝd 'after' + verbal noun
• Modals still use the nonpast form like in Arabic: Pràinn tgìbw airtcwm! 'You really need to watch out!'

TAMs (for non-stative verbs):

• Present: èn fi cetb 'I write; I am writing', èn fi cetbwh 'I am writing it'
• Present habitual: ncẁn fi cetb 'I usually write'
• Past or conditional: ctebtin 'I wrote'
• Past or conditional imperfect: cwntin fi cetb 'I was writing'
• Future or subjunctive: nectib 'I will write; that I write'
• Recent past: èn beȝd ctib 'I have written'
• Imperative: wctib! 'write!'

TAMs for stative verbs:

• Non-past: nħebb 'I like; I will like'
• Past or conditional: ħabbejtin 'I liked'

negative mè ... s sticks to the first (focused) constituent; the unmarked construction is mè radṁaiġ hw s 'he did not admit' for pronoun subjects, but mè radṁaiġ s Sèmas̱ 'Sèmas̱ did not admit' for noun subjects. However, mè radṁaiġ s is used for answering questions.

Work out interactions between subject suffixes + object suffixes + subject pronoun clitics

Stems whose past and imperative stems fall together get the preverb ro-/re-/ri- (pronounced /rə-/ or /rʶə-/ depending on the first consonant; from Middle Irish ro, from the Old Irish perfect preverb) in the past tense, də-/Də- if the first consonant in the stem is R/r. Adding the Irish preverb ro to native verbs was at first an affected hyper-Hibernism used by the middle class, and even today some conservative dialects only use rə-/də- in the past tense when the verb is affirmative:

– Eḻ g̱addiɯ Calum̱ eljevm? – Mè g̱addiɯ s. (Standard Eṟ rog̱addiɯ...? Mè rog̱addiɯ s.)

– Did Calum̱ attend Mass today? – He did not.

kətábtēn/kətábbint came from kətábt ēnə/int. the -t in kətábt int wanted to dissimilate from the t in int, so it assimilated to the last root consonant.

The prohibitive is formed by using lè + imperative.

For prefix + native verbs, native conjugation works as normal and preverbs and personal prefixes are added before the prefix, e.g. raṫɯemme, jaṫɯemmi, maṫɯemmi, aṫtiɯmìje 'to rename'.

Inherited 3-consonant verbs

Stem I (cetib)

Stem I verb conjugation: cetib 'he wrote' (Arabic kataba)

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	ctebtin	ctebbint	cetib hw	cetbet hi	ctebne	ctebtwm, ctebbintwm	cetbw hwm
future; subjunctive	nectib	tectib	jectib hw	tectib hi	nectbw	tectbw	jectbw hwm
imperative	-	wctib!	-	-	-	wctbw!	-
passive participle	mictẁb
verbal noun	cetb

Stem I verb conjugation: seaṟaḇ 'he drank' (Arabic šaraba)

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	sṟaḇṯin	sṟaḇḇint	seaṟaḇ hw	seaṟḇaṯ hi	sṟaḇna	sṟaḇtum	seaṟḇu hwm
future; subjunctive	nesṟaḇ	tesṟaḇ	jesṟaḇ hw	tesṟaḇ hi	neseṟḇu	teseṟḇu	jeseṟḇu
imperative	-	wsṟaḇ!	-	-	-	wseṟḇu!	-
passive participle	mesṟùḇ
verbal noun	swRB

Stem I verb conjugation, III-y: bene 'he built' (Arabic *banē)

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	bnejtin	bnejtint	bene hw	benet hi	bnejne	bnejtwm, bnejtintwm	benev hwm
future; subjunctive	nebni	tebni	jebni hw	tebni hi	nebnw	tebnw	jebnw hwm
imperative	-	wbni!	-	-	-	wbnw!	-
passive participle	mibnìj
verbal noun	binje

Stem I verb conjugation, II-w: meàt 'he died' (Proto-Arabic *mawita)

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	mwttin	mwttint	meàt hw	meàtet hi	mwtne	mwttwm, mwttintwm	meàtw hwm
future; subjunctive	nmẁt	tmẁt	jmẁt hw	tmẁt hi	nmẁtw	tmẁtw	jmẁtw hwm
imperative	-	mẁt!	-	-	-	mẁtw!	-
passive participle	mmẁt
verbal noun	mevt

(One can also use the expression vegid mevt (lit. find/suffer death), in Irta Irish faigh bás is a calque of this)

Stem I verb conjugation, II-y: xèn 'he cheated, betrayed' (Arabic *xayVna)

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	xintin	xinnint	xèn hu	xènet hi	xinne	xintwm, xinnintwm	xènw hum
future; subjunctive	nxìn	txìn	jxìn hw	txìn hi	nxìnw	txìnw	jxìnw hwm
imperative	-	xìn!	-	-	-	xìnw!	-
passive participle	mxùn
verbal noun	xajn

Stem II (recettib)

Stem II verb conjugation: rog̱addiɯ 'he sanctified; he attended Mass' (Arabic qaddasa)

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	rog̱addeɯtin	rog̱addeɯɯint	rog̱addiɯ hw	rog̱addɯet hi	rog̱addeɯne	rog̱addeɯ(ɯint)wm	rog̱addɯw hwm
future; subjunctive	ng̱addiɯ	tg̱addiɯ	jg̱addiɯ hu	tg̱addiɯ hi	ng̱addɯw	tg̱addɯw	jg̱addɯw hum
imperative	-	g̱addiɯ!	-	-	-	g̱addɯw!	-
passive participle	mg̱addiɯ
verbal noun	teg̱dìɯ

Stem IV (ectib)

Early loan verbs beginning with a consonant cluster fall into this conjugation (cf. some Modern Hebrew loan verbs like hiklík). Stem IV is no longer productive.

Stem IV verb conjugation: ecrid 'he believed'

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	ecridtin	ecriddint	ecrid hw	ecerdet hi	ecridne	ecridtwm, ecriddintwm	ecerdw hwm
future; subjunctive	nwcrid	twcrid	jwcrid hw	twcrid hi	nwcerdw	twcerdw	jwcirdw hwm
imperative	-	wcrid!	-	-	-	wcerdw!	-
passive participle	mwcrid
verbal noun	icrèd

Stem V (ritcettib)

Mediopassive for stem II

The t assimilates before coronal obstruents.

Stem VI (ritcètib)

Mediopassive for cètib

The t assimilates before coronal obstruents.

Stem X verb conjugation: ritvèlid 'he was born'

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	ritvèledtin	ritvèleddint	ritvèlid hw	ritvèldet hi	ritvèledne	ritvèled(din)twm	ritvèldw hwm
future; subjunctive	nitvèlid	titvèlid	jitvèlid hw	titvèlid hi	nitvèldw	titvèldw	jitvèldw hwm
imperative	-	tvèlid!	-	-	-	tvèldw!	-
passive participle	mitvèlid
verbal noun	tvèlde

Stem VII (rintectib)

used as mediopassive for cetib and ectib

4-consonant roots

usually treated somewhat like loan verbs; they even take r- in the past tense

rəCaCCəC verb conjugation: riteargem 'he translated, interpreted' (Arabic tarjama)

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	ritergemtin	ritergemmint	riteargem hw	riteargmit hi	ritergemne	ritergemtwm, ritergemmintwm	riteargmw hwm
future; subjunctive	nteargem	tteargem	jteargem hw	tteargem hi	nteargmw	tteargmw	jteargmw hum
imperative	-	teargem!	-	-	-	teargmw!	-
passive participle	mitteargem
verbal noun	teargmeċaḋ (f)

Irish 1st-conjugation verbs

These verbs are mostly borrowed in the verbal noun form, with principal parts ro+lenited VN, j+lenited VN, lenited VN+ta/te/ṫa/ṫe, lenited VN. The imperative is usually, but not always, the unlenited VN.

Irish syncope verbs

These verbs end in /-C1əC2/ in unsuffixed forms. When a suffix beginning with a vowel is added, the schwa is dropped and C2 assimilates in emphasis to C1. If C2 becomes emphatic it spreads its emphasis to the suffix, like in any native verb whose stem ends in an emphatic consonant: roċosain 'he defended', roċos̱naṯ 'she defended'.

Irish loan verb conjugation: diḟreagair 'he answered, responded (synonym of rivègib)'

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	diḟreagairtin	diḟreagairrint	diḟreagair hw	diḟreagraṯ hi	diḟreagairne	diḟreagairtwm	diḟreagru hwm
future; subjunctive	nḟreagair	tḟreagair	jḟreagair hw	tḟreagair hi	nḟreagru	tḟreagru	jḟreagru hwm
imperative	-	ḟreagair!	-	-	-	ḟreagru!	-
passive participle	ḟreagarṫa
verbal noun	ḟreagairt (f)

Examples:

• roċosain 'to defend'
• riomair 'to travel by water; to diffuse, to disperse'
• riomċair rùħuh 'to behave'
• rinnis 'to narrate'

Irish 2nd-conjugation -aiġ verbs

Loan verb paradigm based on loaned Irish -aiġ verbs (partly fitted to native 3-y verbs, hence the stress shifts and possibly vowel reduction and addition of the R- to past forms from Irish ro and d-/D- if the 1st consonant in the stem is a r/R)

past tense forms are lenited as in Irish, and VN follows that (Irish feminine definite article lenition + analogy to past for d-/t-/s-)

Irish loan verb conjugation: radṁaiġ 'he admitted, confessed'

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	radṁaiġtin	radṁaiġtint	radṁaiġ hw	radṁait hi	radṁaiġne	radṁaiġtwm, r'adṁaiġtintwm	radṁav̱ hwm
future	nadṁaiġ	tadṁaiġ	jadṁaiġ hw	tadṁaiġ hi	nadṁu	tadṁu	jadṁu hwm
imperative	-	adṁaiġ!	-	-	-	adṁu!	-
passive participle	adṁaiṫe
verbal noun	adṁaċaḋ (f)

Newer loan verbs

Newer loan verbs use the same stress patterns and affixes as Irish -aigh loan verbs, but have a fixed stem.

Irish loan verb conjugation: rofònaiġ 'he phoned'

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	rofònaiġtin	rofònaiġtint	rofònaiġ hw	rofònaiġt hi	rofònaiġne	rofònaiġtwm, rofònaiġtintwm	rofònav̱ hwm
future	nfònaiġ	tfònaiġ	jfònaiġ hw	tfònaiġ hi	nfònu	tfònu	jfònu hwm
imperative	-	fònaiġ!	-	-	-	fònu!	-
passive participle	fònaiṫe
verbal noun	fònaċaḋ (f)

Passivizing loan verbs

Loan verbs are made passive by adding (ə)t- to the stem:

raimsiġ 'to attempt' -> rataimsiġ 'to be attempted' (The r- is helpful for parsing the t- here.)

The t assimilates before coronal obstruents.

The verb g̱àl

exhibits suppletion with *sèd < šahida 'to bear witness' (inspired by għid ~ qal in Maltese, ghid looks like hebrew 3ėd but is a false friend)

sedtin, seddint, g̱àl, g̱àlit, sedne, sedtwm, g̱àlw

nessid, tessid, jessid, nessdw, tessdw, jessdw

wssid, wssdw

meqùl

qavl

The verb ceàn

The verb ceàn, jcẁn, (no passive part.), cevn/cvèn (from Arabic kāna) is a regular hollow 2-w verb. Unlike in Irish, ceàn covers the senses of both Irish is and Irish bí.

In the present tense,

• the appropriate independent pronoun is used, for predicate nouns, predicative adjectives, and adjuncts
• the particle temm (irregularly from Arabic þamma 'there') is used, for existential statements

The future form of ceàn is also used as a "habitual be". (ncẁn = Scottish Gaelic bidh mi 'I (tend to) be, I will be')

Modals

• eas̱ḏaȝ, jeas̱ḏaȝ, --, --, s̱ḏàȝa 'can' (istiTā3a reanalyzed as Form IV)
• rèd, jrìd, --, --, rìde 'to want'
• ȝalèh 'to have to'
• pràinn 'it is urgent that'
• ȝandwh gàḋ 'to need to'

  Ȝandi gàḋ nibtìȝ deg̱ìg̱ ⁊ swccaṟ bès ns̱ajjer cejc min nefɯi. 'I need to buy flour and sugar in order to bake my own cake.'

• ȝandwh ceaḏ 'to be permitted to'

  Ȝandic ceaḏ texfèm zèl progreamm teaħt eḻ coinġeallaiḋèṫ gèje. 'You may use this program under the following conditions.'

Prepositions

• b(e) 'instrumental': bìje, bìc, bìh, bìhe, bìne, bìcwm, bìhwm
• f(i) 'in, at': fìje, fìc, fìh, fìhe, fìne, fìcwm, fìhwm
• min 'from': minni, minnic/minc (poetic), minnwh, minhe, minne, mincwm, minhwm
• meȝ 'comitative': meȝje /maːjə/, meȝc, meȝuh /maẅh/, meȝhe /mahhə/, meȝne, meȝcwm, meȝhwm /mahhum/
• bejn 'between': bejn(èt)i, bejn(èt)ic, bejn(èt)wh, bejn(èt)he, bejn(èt)ne, bejn(èt)cwm, bejn(èt)hwm
  • bejn X ⁊ Y and bejn X bejn Y are both valid for 'between X and Y'

frè (< Irish fré) = against

frejje, frèc, frèh, frèhe, frène, frècwm, frèhwm

• also ȝal /æl/ = on

fwg̱ = upon, towards, for (< fawq + chuig)

fwg̱i, fwg̱ac̱, fwg̱uh, fwg̱ha /çüqʰə/, fwg̱na, fwg̱cum /çüqʰːʊmˁ/, fwg̱hum /çüːm~çüʔʊmˁ/

gvèr = about

f(i) (< CA fī) is matched to faoi in some verb complements and is in fact fo sometimes; 'in' often uses a different prep gil (from majāl 'domain')

g̱uṟ = 'of, at' (from GuRB 'vicinity'): g̱uṟi, g̱uṟac̱, g̱uṟuh, g̱uṟha, g̱uṟna, g̱uṟcum, g̱uṟhum

ȝand 'to have'

Conjunctions

• agus̱ /ag̟əs, ɪs/ 'and', usually written ⁊
• ev 'or'
• eas̱da 'but (however)'
• bzècwllwh 'however'
• γir, xlàf 'but (rather)'
• metli 'when'
• g̱abli 'before'
• veara li 'after'
• ȝalcemm 'although'
• ȝaseàn, ħajd 'because'
• bès 'so that, in order that'
• nà 'lest' (from Irish ná)
  • (synonym) fzeȝ + pronominal suffix for the subject of the matrix clause
• veag̱ṯ, veag̱ṯ li 'while'
• jenc 'if (realis)'
• cinc 'if (irrealis)'
• ann-sin /ən'ʃɪn/ 'then'

Numerals

vèħad /veahəd/, nejn, dlède, earḇȝa, xamɯe, ɯitte, ɯeaḇȝa, dmènje, diɯȝa, ȝasra (nejn is due to rebracketing: vèħad, dnejn → vèħad, nejn

attributive forms: vèħad/vèħde, zevg, dlèdit, earḇȝaṯ, xamɯt, ɯittit, ɯeaḇȝaṯ, dmènit, diɯȝat, ȝasraṯ

xamɯt meara (by Irish influence; dated) or xamɯt niɯe '5 women', xamɯt en-niɯe 'the 5 women'

evvil, dèni, dèlid, ràḇaȝ, xàmiɯ, ɯètit, ɯèḇaȝ, dmèni, dèɯeȝ, ȝàser

Ordinals come before nouns, as in Irish: ed dèlid bèb (abbrev. ed .3. bèb) = the third door

Syntax

Irish influence preserved or revived many conservative Semitic features of Majorcan syntax:

• "A el B" ("A B" when B is a proper noun) construction predominant for possessives
• possessive suffixes always productive
• default VSO word order

Sentences with finite verbs are VSO:

Cel eḻ γannèj clùiteaċ nòṉ meȝṯ Taoiseċ.

eat.PST.3SG.M DEF γina_singer famous.SG.M lunch with-DEF Taoiseach

The famous γina singer had a luncheon with the Taoiseach.

The progressive aspect uses verbnouns whose possessors are direct objects.

Less topic-prominent than Arabic so no "anā ismī"

Question particle el (from hal), assimilates to əL/ər/əR before L/r/R

The vocative particle je (j before a vowel) is consistently used (like the Irish vocative). Vocative phrases usually go to the end: 'Cerìm, close the door!' is ʔwγlag̱ el bèb, je Cerìm!

• Is fear é Dónal = Ragil hwve Doṁnall
• is fear mór/mór an fear é Dónal = ragil cbìr/cbìr eṟ ragil hw Doṁnall
• is é Dónal an Taoiseach olc = Doṁnall hw eṯ Taoiseċ ȝàrr
• (!) tá Dónal mór = Doṁnall hw cbìr
• bhí Dónal ... = ceàn Doṁnall cbìr
• (!) tá úll ann/agam = hemm/ȝandi twffèħ
• (!) Stative verbs are different from Irish: tá mé i mo chodladh = nearg̱ad (stative verbs use the future tense in Majorcan)

Syntax example:

Language	I love reading a lot.	When I went to the library,	I only found this old book.	I wanted to read a book about the history of women in France.
Majorcan	Nħebb ène neag̱ra veaxra.	Metli s̱iltin fwg̱ el leaḃarlaṉṉ,	mè s̱ibtin s γir zèl ctèb g̱adìm.	Ridtin neag̱ra ctèb gvèr s̱dòir en niɯe fiṟ Ḟrainc.
Maltese	Jien inħobb naqra ħafna.	Meta mort il-librerija,	sibt biss dan il-ktieb il-qadim.	Ridt naqra ktieb dwar il-ġrajja tan-nisa fi Franza.
Arabic	أَنَا أُحِبُّ القِرَاءَةَ كَثِيرًا	عِنْدَمَا ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى المَكْتَبَة	لَمْ أَجِد سِوَى هٰذَا الكِتَابِ القَدِيم	كُنْتُ أُرِيدُ أَنْ أَقْرَأَ كِتَابًا عَن تَارِيخِ المَرأَةِ فِي فَرَنسَا
(Transl. for MSA)	ʔanā ʔuħibbu l-qirāʔata kaþīran.	ʕindamā ðahabtu ʔila l-maktabah,	lam ʔaǧid siwā hāða l-kitābi l-qadīm.	kuntu ʔurīdu an ʔaqraʔa kitāban ʕan tārīxi l-marʔati fī faransā.
Irish (An Caighdeán)	Is maith liomsa léamh go leor.	Nuair a chuaigh mé go dtí an leabharlann,	ní bhfuair mé ach an sean-leabhar seo.	Theastaigh uaim leabhar faoi stair na mban sa Fhrainc a léamh.

Noun phrase

• adnominal demonstratives: zèl (m), zìl (f), ilel (pl), sìl (what/which X?) (follows sun/moon letter rules like the definite article)
• pronominal demonstratives:
  • proximal: zè (m), zì (f), ile (pl)
  • distal: zèc (m), zìc (f), ilèc (pl)
• can use el X hùn lit. 'the X here', el X temm 'the X there' instead
• attributive adjective phrases: "NOUN ADJ1 ADJ2" for 'a ADJ1 and ADJ2 NOUN' (Irish influence)

Vocabulary

• Native: most everyday words (33%), archaic literary vocabulary
• Irish: most formal vocabulary; government, law and source of many new coinages (50%)
• Latin, Romance and Greek: some formal vocabulary, esp. religion (possibly via Irish or English)
  • profèt, profètìn (m) 'prophet'
• English: source of calques, some technology words

Derivation

(e is a stressed vowel which may change to ea; ej may change to aj; ə may be spelled e or a; w may be spelled u; Ē is either è or à; Ā is either eà or à)

• CeCC(ə), CiCC(ə), CwCC(ə): segolates
• meCCəC, meCCCə, miCCəC, miCCCə, mwCCəC, mwCCCə: various inanimate nouns
• CCejjəC, CCejCə: diminutives
• CCwCə, CCwCìje: abstract nouns
• CəCCèC, CĒCəC (less prod.): agentives
• -aire, -airìn: Irish agentive
• -adòir, -adòirìn: Irish agentive
• -Ān (-eàn after ṫ): Irish instrument nouns
• -òg: Irish diminutive
• aṫ-: re-
• neaṁ-: non-, un- (for adjectives; lenites nouns of Irish origin)
• mì-: non-, in- (for nouns; lenites nouns of Irish origin)
  • mì-ħnène (f) 'cruelty, callousness' < ħnène (f) 'compassion'
  • mì-ċòir (f) 'injustice' < còir
• nùa-: neo- (lenites nouns of Irish origin)
• CèCəC, C(ə)CìC, CəCCĀn: adjectives
• -ì, -ìje, -ìje: nisba, used in both Arabic and Irish words; -ìje is used for feminine occupations, e.g. nòtaire 'notary' → nòtairìje 'notary (f.)'
• -ìje: some language names
• -aċt/-eċt, -aċtaiḋèṫ/-eċtaiḋèṫ: most common abstract noun suffix, used on agentives and adjectives; also used on native words

Days of the week

• Sunday: jwm Doṁnaiġ
• Monday: jwm Dnejn
• Tuesday: jwm Dlède
• Wednesday: jwm Eaṟḇȝa
• Thursday: jwm Xamɯe
• Friday: jwm Gimȝa
• Saturday: jwm Ɯebt

abbreviated as "D 2 3 4 5 G Ɯ", e.g. jwm 2

Texts

Todo:

• snippet from some Classical Arabic text
• snippet from some Irish epic
• a hypothetical news report in Modern Irta Majorca

UDHR, Article 1

Ritvèldw el bnèdmìn cwllhe xèlɯe ⁊ coṁionanna f uirrimhwm ⁊ fi ceartaèhwm. Hwme mrabbħa ber rèsùṉ ⁊ beḻ cogaḃus̱ ⁊ ȝalèhwm jiomċru rùħhum meȝ silsìn b mèin g̱uṟ eaxve.

/rɪtʰˈveːldʊ əl bnɪdˈmiːn ˈcʰʊlhə ˈχe:lsə ɟɪs qʰəwʶˈnʶanʶ:ə f ˈʊr:ɪmhʊm ɪs fɪ cərʶˈtʶʰe:hʊm | ˈhʊmə ˈmʶrʶapʰ:ɐ bər rəˈsʶu:nʶ ɪs bəlʶ qʰɔˈʔʶawʶ:ʊsʶ əɟɪs ɐˈle:hʊm ˈjʊmʶχrʶʊ ˈrʶuɐhhʊm mɐ ʃɪlˈʃi:n bə me:n ʔʶʊrʶ ˈaχvʶə/

[rɪt̪ʰˈveːl̪d̪ʊ̈ ə̟lbn̪ɪd̪ˈmiːŋ̟ ˈk̟ʰʊ̈lhə ˈχɛːls̪ə̟ g̟ɪs̪ qʰʌwʶˈn̪ʶɑn̪ʶːʌ ˈf‿ʊ̈rːɪmhʊ̈m ˌæg̟ɪs̪ fɪ k̟ʰərʶˈt̪ʶʰɛːhʊ̈mʲ ‖ hʊ̈mə̟ ˈmʶrʶɑpːʰɐ̟ bərrə̟ˈs̪ʶʊːn̪ʶ ɪs̪ bəl̪ʶqʰʌˈʔɑwwʶʊs̪ʶ əg̟ɪs̪ ɐ̟ˈleːhʊ̈mʲ ˈjʊmʶχrʶʊ ˈrʶʊɐħ̞ħ̞ʊm mɐ̟ ʃɪ̟lʃiːnʲ b‿meːnʲ ʔʶʊrʶ ˈæχwʶʌ]

PST-PASS-give_birth_to-3PL DEF human-PL all.PL free-PL and equal-PL in dignity-3PL.POSS and right-PL-3PL.POSS. 3PL.INDEP enriched-PL INST-DEF reason and INST-DEF conscience and on-3PL behave/3PL.FUT REFL-3PL COM each_other INS mindset POSS sibling.PL.

Our timeline's Tunisian Arabic:

In-nès il-kull muludìn ħurrìn w mitsèwìn fi’l-karàme w’il-ħuqùq. Tagħŧàw għqal w żamìr w lèzim ygħàmlu bgħażhum kìf l-axwa.

Our timeline's Egyptian Arabic:

ʔil-mæddæ ʔil-ʔæwwalaniyyæ ʔil-bæniʔædmīn kulluhum mæwlūdīn ħurrīn wi mitsawwyīn fil-karāma wil-ħuʔūʔ. ʔitwæhæb-luhum ʔil-ʕaʔl wiḍ-ḍamīr wil-mafrūḍ yiʕæmlu baʕḍ bi-rūħ ʔil-ʔuxuwiyyæ.