Verse:Irta/Judeo-Mandarin

In the Lõis timeline, Yudach or Judeo-Gaelic (natively: אניודאַך an-Yudach /ən 'judəx/ or אגאַלג'־יודאַך a-Ghalj-Yudach /ə ɣaldʒ judəx/) is the sole surviving Goidelic language. With over 10 million speakers, it is the main vernacular of the Jewish diaspora in Central Asia. It mainly borrows words from Hebrew, but also from English, Togarmite and Persian.

The aesthetics is inspired by Yiddish and Polish.

Todo

é ó > ei ou (ea oa in some dialects)

native mutation with rafe, Hebrew mutation with dagesh/no dagesh?

syllabic n, l (and r)?

• tom byo = I live
• tom a zein = I do
• tom ag ith = I eat
• tom ag ouł = I to drink
• tom a ro = I say
• tom a lebh = I read
• tom a scribh = I write
• tom a łasagh = I light
• Interrogatives: Cad a to o zein agat? 'What are you doing?'
• Cleft construction: Še zein lešónouth a tom a zein anéš = It is making languages that I'm doing now.

Phonology

• Consonants: b c ch č d f g gh j h l ł m n p r s š t th tz v y z /b k χ tʃ d f g ɣ dʒ h l w m n p r s ʃ h ts j v z/.
• Lenitions: Note that d m are NOT lenitable.
  • b /b/ > bh /v/
  • f /f/ > fh /0/
  • g /g/ > gh /ɣ/
  • c /k/ > ch /χ/
  • č /tʃ/ > čh /ʃ/
  • m /m/ > mh /v/
  • p /p/ > ph /f/
  • t /t/ > th /h/
  • tz /ts/ > tzh /h/
  • j /dʒ/ > jh /j/
• ts z č j l arise from slender t d c g l.
• Vowels: a e i o u /a e i o u/, vowel reduction to /ə/ common. Vowel clusters exist.
• Stress is transcribed if not initial

Orthography

אַ ע יֵ י אָ אוֹ או = a e ei i o ou u

ט ק for all native /t k/

בּ ב גּ ג פ ף = b bh g gh p f in native words

הּ for coda /h/

rafe for initial lenition:

אַ־בּֿוֹ בּֿיוֹ a vou vyou = the live cow

ת = /s/ in Hebrew and Aramaic loans

Grammar

Verbs

Only the verbal noun and the imperative survive:

טאָם אַ ל'אַסאַג נרות חנוכּה.

Tom a łasagh nerous hanuco.

/to me ə 'wasəɣ 'nerəs 'hanukə/

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

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

נאָהּ סקריבב דאָ אות זע שבת!

Noh scribhabh do ous ze Šabos!

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

Tenses are basically (pres, past/conditional, fut) x (imperfective, perfective).

• to še ag ith = he eats; he is eating
  • bhil še... = does he...?
  • chal še... = he does not...
  • nachil še... = doesn't he...?/that he does not
  • gu bhil še... = COMP he...
  • a to še... = REL he...
• to še triš ith = he ate/has eaten
• bei še ag ith = he will eat
  • bei še... = will he...?
  • cha bhei še... = he will not...
  • nach bhei še... = won't he...?
  • a bhi še... = REL he will...
• bha še ag ith = he was eating/he would eat
  • rou še... = was he...?/would he?
  • cha rou še... = he was not.../he would not...
  • nach rou še... = was he not...?/would he not...?
• ith! = Eat! (2sg)
• ithu! = Eat! (2pl)
• noh ith(u)! = Don't eat!

For stative verbs in imperfective tenses, i mo-, i do-, ina-, etc. + VN is used:

• tom i mo-chadel = I sleep
• tom i mo-shigh = I sit
• tom i mo-šesabh = I stand
• tom i mo-ligh = I lie (somewhere)
• tom i mo-fhirech = I live (I dwell)

Conjugation

• to, bhil, chal, and nachil are conjugated as follows:
  • tom, tor, to še/ši, toj, tothi, to šid
  • bhilim, bhilir, bhil še/ši, bhilij, bhilthi, bhil šid
  • chalim, chalir...
  • nachilim, nachilir...
• bha, robh:
  • bhas, bhaš, bha še/ši, bhimar, bhyur, bha šid
  • robhas, robhaš, rou še/ši, robhimar, robhyur, rou šid
• bei: beim, beir, bei še/ši, beij, beithi, bei šid

Nouns

Yudach has no grammatical case.

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

Hebrew words have the same gender as in Hebrew. Hebrew words often use unstressed -im /im/ or -ous /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 ant-, before a labial am-, otherwise an

• אַנט אישצשע ant išče = the water
• אַם בּיאַ am bia = the food
• אַן ל'אהּ an łah = the day
• אַן צעך an tzech = the house
• אַן נס an nes = the miracle

Feminine nouns: Nouns beginning with a lenitable consonant (except t and tz) lenite and take a-;

• אַ גּֿעלאַך a jhełach = the moon
• אַן אישה an išo = the woman/wife
• אַן אות an ous = the letter (character)
• אַן סוכּה an suca = the booth

Plural nouns: nah- /nə(h)/ (the h is only pronounced before a vowel)

• נאַהּ־טיש nah tiš = the houses
• נאַהּ־ל'אַהאַן nah łathan = the days
• נאַהּ־מנאָ nah mno = the women/wives (irregular plural of išo)
• נאַהּ אותיות nah ousyous = the letters
• נאַהּ סוכּות nah sucous = the booths
• נאַהּ ניסים nah nisim = the miracles

Adjectives

Adjectives always have -a in the plural.

• pred: Tom beg. = I am short.
• m.sg.: fer beg = a short man; am-fer beg = the short man
• f.sg.: fyur bheg = a short sister; an-fhyur bheg = the short sister
• pl.: feran orda = tall men; nah-feran orda = the tall men

Comparatives are formed by adding nis 'more' and es 'most' before the adjective and using the comparative form of the adjective:

mour - nis mou - es mou = big - bigger - biggest

Pronouns

pronouns: מע טו שע שי שין שיב שיד me tu še ši šin šibh šid

Possessive prefixes:

• מאָ־בּֿראָהער mo-bhroher /mo vrohəɾ/ 'my brother'; מ־אַהער m-aher /mahəɾ/ 'my father'
• דאָ־בּֿראָהער do-bhroher /do vrohəɾ/ 'thy brother'; ד־אַהער d-aher /dahəɾ/ 'thy father'
• אַ־בּֿראָהער a-bhroher /ə vrohəɾ/ 'his brother'; אַ־אַהער a-aher /a ahəɾ/ 'his father'
• אַהּ־בּראָהער ah-broher /ə brohəɾ/ 'her brother'; אַהּ־אַהער ah-aher /əh ahəɾ/ 'her father'
• אָר־בּראָהער or-broher /oɾ brohəɾ/ 'our brother'; אָרן־אַהער orn-aher /oɾn ahəɾ/ 'our father'
• באַר־בּראָהער var-broher /vəɾ brohəɾ/ 'your brother'; באַרן־אַהער varn-aher /vəɾn aheɾ/ 'your father'
• אַ־בּראָהער a-broher /ə brohəɾ/ 'their brother'; אַן־אַהער an-aher /ən ahəɾ/ 'their father'

m' and d' are used before a vowel, a /j/ or when a lenited f results in an initial vowel or /j/: ףיור fyur /fjuɾ/ 'sister'; מ־ףֿיור m-fhyur /mjuɾ/ 'my sister'.

A possessive prefix must be used before every noun: 'my mother and my father' is מאָ־מאָהער איס מ־אַהער mo-moher is m-aher, not *mo-moher is aher.

Prepositions

• ag 'at': agom, agat, aje, ači, agen, agev, acu
• da 'to, for': dom, dit, de, di, din, div, du
• ze 'off, away from': zom, zit, ze, zi, zin, ziv, zu
• ou 'from': uom, uat, ua, uahi, uen, uev, uahu
• i(n) 'in': inom, inat, on, intzi, inen, inev, intu
• ar 'on': orom, orat, er, erhi, oren, orev, orhu
• as 'from': asom, asat, as, aši, asen, asev, asu
• ru 'before, in front of': rum, rut, reve, rempi, run, ruv, rompu
• ri 'with': ryom, ret, reš, rei, rin, riv, ryu
• um 'around': umom, umat, eme, empi, umen, umev, umpu
• fo 'under': fum, fut, fu, fihi, fun, fuv, fuhu

Combinations

in + definite article is insa(n)- in the sg and insna- in the plural.

i + possessive a-: ina-

i + possessive or-: inar-

ou + an-/am-/a- : oun-/oum-/oun-

Syntax

Prepositions stick to every noun in a noun phrase: נאַהּ־ףרעגּערצען אוֹ מאָ־מאָהער איס אוֹ מאָ־בּראָהער nah-fregertzen ou mo-moher is ou mo-bhroher 'the answers from my mother and brother' (Really tempted to make this)

Syntax

Noun phrase

Since Yudach lost the genitive case, most genitives use the construction an-X ag Y (lit. the X at Y) when Y is a noun. For example, אַן־קאַט אַגּ מאָ־מֿאַק an-cat ag mo-mhac = my son's cat.

Phrasebook

• Šolam aleichem = Hello
• Aleichem šolam = Hello
• Benacht agat/agebh = Thank you (lit. may you have blessing)