Judeo-Gaelic

Judeo-Gaelic/Wordlist

Ăn Yidiș or Judeo-Gaelic, natively אן ייִדיש ăn Yidiș /ən 'jidiʃ/ (from yid- 'Jew' + -iș, cognate to Irish -(a)is), 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 9 million speakers, Ăn Yidiș 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, Azalic, Galoyseg and Nithish. It is the Jewish language with the second largest number of speakers in Apple PIE, the first being (revived) Hebrew. Among Judeo-Gaelic speakers, Hebrew (read with the Gaelic Hebrew pronunciation) and English are common second languages. Hebrew is used as a religious language and a lingua franca for communicating with other Jews. Among Jews, the language is nowadays associated with either European Ultra-Orthodox Jews or with secular leftist Jewish culture; Hebrew is now associated with more "normie" Jews.

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

Todo

Fix (later) Hebrew loans

ü from Old Irish ú and other sources

History

• Once Gentile and Jewish Goidelic speakers lived in harmony... but one day, [some linguistic majority] attacked, and banned religious and literary activity conducted in Gaelic. (IIRC something similar happened to Gaelic in our timeline.) Gentile Gaelic rapidly declined and Gaelic-speaking Jews fled.
• Older history is analogous to that of our Yiddish.
  • צאנה וּראינה Ț'eno Ür'eno (Biblical commentary for women written in Ăn Yidiș)
• The Gaelic Haskalah or the Judeo-Gaelic Enlightenment (JG אן השכלה (גֿעל'אך) ăn Hăscolă (Ghełăch), Heb. ההשכלה הגלית haHaskoló haGélis)
  1. The first phase consisted of efforts to secularize Hebrew (à la our Haskalah).
  2. The second phase saw Judeo-Gaelic speakers discovering and consciously borrowing from an older Gentile Goidelic literary tradition and seeking out older Goidelic and other Celtic sources for new Ăn Yidiș words, mainly cognatizations. (Gentile Goidelic varieties were already extinct by this time.) The purpose of this was to legitimize the Celtic part of Ăn Yidiș as well as help Jews become literate in the Celtic literature that was part of the Gentile literary canon. Gaelic-Haskala-era Jews were among the first people to take interest in Old Irish philology. Among the best-known works from this phase is ___, a very long satirical "bardic poem" in Ăn Yidiș about society (both religious Jewish and Gentile) at the time.
• Post-Gaelic-Haskalah writers, as well as traditionally religious Gaelic Jews, criticized the new Gaelic loans as not being authentically Ăn Yidiș. Some used coinages from newly revived Hebrew, further enriching Ăn Yidiș vocabulary.

Names

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

Given names (non-Hebrew)

Male

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

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

Female

• כּלין Calin (Colleen) 'little bride'?

Unisex

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

Surnames

Patronymics:

• Gaelic: מאַכּ/ניכּ 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 v y 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: some minimal pairs are דר'עבאר dŗevăr 'sister' and ג'עבאר ģevăr 'winter'; תּר'י tŗi '3' and צ'י c̦i 'hunting hound; attack dog' (a loan from another Celtic language).
  • Voiceless stops (written פּ כּ תּ) are aspirated unless after a fricative, where they are written בּ ק ט. In Hebrew and Aramaic loans, this aspiration may be retained even after fricatives in careful speech.
  • 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.
• The glottal stop is used in Hebrew and Aramaic loans (where it repressnts syllable-initial aleph and ayin) by careful speakers.
• 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 k ɣ t t dʒ h h t z j kh l w m n s ph f ts tʃ k r ʒ ʃ th/.

ק and ט in Hebrew and Aramaic loans (when not lenited) are unaspirated /k/ and /t/. ק ט represent /kh th/ in some exceptional words: קינה cină '(to) lament, to keen' (cognate to Irish caoineadh but spelled as the Hebrew word with the same meaning; the expected Hebrew reading would be gină)

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
• אף-אך af-ach 'however' "←" אף af 'even' + אך ach 'but'

Grammar

Verbs

Only the verbal noun and the imperative survive. The imperative is on the way out in younger secular Ăn Yidiș.

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 scŗivü 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.
• (bi) ă(g) = imperative impfv.
• (bi) ney = imperative pfv.

• to șe ag yth = he eats; he is eating (impers. tor ag îth)
  • vîl șe... = does he...? (impers. vîltăr ag îth)
  • chal șe... = he does not... (impers. chaltăr...)
  • nachîl șe... = doesn't he...?/that he does not (impers. nachîltăr)
  • gu vîl șe... = COMP he...
  • ă to șe... = REL he...
• to șe nej yth = he ate/has eaten
• bey șe ag yth = he will eat (impers. beyfăr)
  • bey șe... = will he...?
  • cha bhey șe... = he will not... (impers. cha bheyfăr)
  • nach bhey șe... = won't he...?
  • ă vi șe... = REL he will...
• vă șe ag yth = he was eating/he would eat (impers. vihăs)
  • rev șe... = was he...?/would he? (Impers. refs)
  • cha rev șe... = he was not.../he would not...
  • nach rev 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 אנט ănd, before a labial except /f v/ אם ăm, before a trill א ă, otherwise אן ăn

• אנט אישק'א ănd îșģă = 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 א ă;

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

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

• נאה ציש năh țîș = the houses
• נאה ל'אַהאן năh łathăn = the days
• נאה מנאָ năh mno = the women/wives
• נאה אותיות năh usyăs = the letters
• נאה סוכּות năh sücăs = the booths
• נאה ניסים năh nisim = the miracles

Nouns may take a preposed vocative particle א 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: 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 dŗevăŗ bheg = a short sister; אן דר'עבאר בֿעק ăn dŗevăr bheg = the short sister
• pl.: ףיר' אָרדא fiŗ ordă = tall men; נאה ףיר' אָרדא năh fiŗ 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 מיט שיב שיאט me tü șe și mîd șîv șîd (3sg epicene is most commonly șîd)

disj. pronouns: מע טו ע אי שין שיב איאט 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

Pronominal possessives can be formed either with the construction "ăn NOUN + [inflected form of ag]" or with possessive prefixes:

• מאָ־בּֿראָהער' mă-bhrohăŗ /mə vrohəɹ/ 'my brother'; מ־אַר' m-aŗ /mahəɹ/ 'my father'
• דאָ־בּֿראָהער' dă-bhrohăŗ /də vrohəɹ/ 'thy brother'; ד־אַר' d-aŗ /dahəɹ/ 'thy father'
• אַ־בּֿראָהער' a-bhrohăŗ /ə vrohəɹ/ 'his brother'; אַ־אַר' a-aŗ /a ahəɹ/ 'his father'
• אַהּ־בּראָהער' ah-brohăŗ /ə brohəɹ/ 'her brother'; אַהּ־אַר' ah-aŗ /əh aɹ/ 'her father'
• אָר־בּראָהער' or-brohăŗ /oɾ brohəɹ/ 'our brother'; אָרן־אַר' orn-aŗ /oɾn aɹ/ 'our father'
• באַר־בּראָהער' văr-brohăŗ /vəɾ brohəɹ/ 'your brother'; באַרן־אַר' vărn-aŗ /vəɾn aɹ/ 'your father'
• אַ־בּראָהער' a-brohăŗ /ə brohəɹ/ 'their brother'; אַן־אַר' an-aŗ /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 prefer the ăn levăr agom construction for most nouns except family members (cf. Revived Hebrew also usually uses הספר שלי ha-sefer šeli instead of ספרי sifri).

Using possessive prefixes in double-marking possessive constructions such as בא אהרן אַ-בראָהר' אַק משה Vă Ăharăn a-bhrohăŗ ag Mușă. 'Aaron was Moses' brother' (lit. his brother of Moses) is archaic in Ăn Yidiș. (It's a relex of the Hebrew construction אחיו של משה.)

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

î(n) 'in' and ŗî(n) 'with' before a definite article becomes înș, ŗînș (from rebracketing of Proto-Celtic *in sind-):

• אינש אן צעך înș ăn țech 'in the house'
• To șîd înă-fiŗăch înș ă bhelă șo ŗînș năh dînă elă 'They live in this town with the other people'

î + possessive a(n)- 'his/her/their': îna(n)-

î + possessive or- 'our': înăr-

oh 'from' + ăn-/ăm-/ă- : oan-/oam-/oan-

Syntax

Prepositions stick to every noun in a noun phrase: תּאָם ניי ףאָל נאַהּ ףר'עקארצאן אָה מא־מֿאָר' איס אָה מא־בּראָהאר' Tom ney fol năh fŗegărțăn oh mă-mhoŗ 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 mhea, tŗi mhea, ...

1000 = milă

attributives: 2-6 lenites

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

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

There is no true attributive form for "one"; usually the singular form is used in isolation. The Hebrew numeral אחד ehăd (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.

מאר ייִדי, תּאָ מיט אק עבודה ז-א אחד.

Măr Yidi, to mîd ăg ăvudă Z-e ehăd.

As Jews, we worship only one G-d.

שי א מֿענין אחד אי, א בּיי געל' אַקאָם די ר'יאב.

Și ă mhenîn ehăd i, ă bey geł agom di ŗiev.

She's the only woman who I'll ever love.

Syntax

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

To Yidi înă-firăch î sach ŗiftăn.

Jews live in many countries.

In transitive sentences, the direct object (if it's a noun) 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.

Translating "be"

• "PRON is a NOUN": איש מענין מע Îș menîn me = I'm a woman
• "X is a NOUN": איש מענין אי רבקה Îș menîn i Rîvgă = Rîvgă (Rebekah) is a woman
• "1p/2p is the NOUN": איש מישא אַ מֿענין אַגּ משה Îș mișă ă mhenîn ag Mușă = I am Mușă's (Moses') wife
• "3p is the NOUN": שי אַ מֿענין אגּ משה אי Și ă mhenîn ag Mușă i = She is Mușă's wife
  • שי אַ מֿענין אַג משה אי רבקה Și _ă mhenîn ag Mușă_ i _Rîvgă_ (or Și _Rîvgă_ i _ă mhenîn ag Mușă_) = Rîvgă is Mușă's wife
• For topics or focused predicatives: איש מונצאָר'ית אַ טאָ רבקה Îș münțăŗis ă to Rîvgă 'Rîvcă is a (female) teacher (not some other job)'
• Pred. adjectives or adjuncts use the verb בּי bi:
  • טאָ רבקה אָרד To Rîvcă ord 'Rîvcă is tall'
  • טאָ רבקה אינס אן חדר קאַדעל To Rîvcă îns 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 -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 men Yidăch
• -in: diminutive
• -ăg: augmentative
• -on: instrumental; agentive (Hebrew influence)
• -ol: verbal noun
• -ül: adjective
• -ăfd/-fd: abstract noun
• -łon: place
• -וּת -üs, plural -וּיות -üyăs: nominalizer in Hebrew and Aramaic words (also replaced native -ăs)
  • צניעוּת țni'üs 'modesty' < צנוּע țonüe 'modest'
  • תּיישאכוּת teyșăchüs '(tribal) chiefdom'

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 Byonăfd 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 ănd enim ŗet? = What is your name?
• דוד שע אנט ענים ר'יאָם Dovid șe ănd enim ŗom = 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, ŗî dă-thel = Please speak more slowly
  • ל'אַבר'וּ ניס מעלא, ר'י באר־טעל Łavŗü nis melă, ŗî văr-tel = above, 2pl
• טאָ איאַר'י אַגּאָם א ל'אַבערץ אס יידיש, אך כאַל כּוֹמאס דאָם. To ieŗi agom ă łavărț ăs Yidiș, ach chal cumăs dom. = I want to speak Ăn Yidiș, but I cannot.
• בּליאן מֿאַהּ בֿיאָניצא Blien mhath bhyoniță /bliən vah vjonitsə/ = Happy new year (Rosh Hashanah greeting)

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
• זעראק zerăg = red
• בּוייע buyă = yellow
• גּל'אַס głas = green
• גּאָראם gărăm = blue
• בּאַנאש banăș = violet; purple
• דוֹן doan = brown

Sample texts

From the Kaddish

Refs 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-malchüs,

And may He establish/build His kingdom,

Î văr-bethă, î văr-łathăn, îs înș 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.