Verse:Irta/Judeo-Mandarin

In the Lõis timeline, Yudech or Judeo-Gaelic (natively: אַן יודעך an Yudech /ən 'judəx/ or אַ גּֿאַלג'־יודעך a Ghalj-Yudech /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 Azalic, Togarmite and Persian.

Names

Patronymics:

• Gaelic: מאַק/ניק חיים mac (m)/nic (f) Chaim, אוֹה/ני חיים Ouh (m)/Ni (f) Chaim (we might write these as McChaim, O'Chaim when nativized to English)
• Semitic: בן/בר/בת חיים, חיימי ben (m)/bar (m)/bas (f) Chaim, Chaimi
• Azalic: חיימסאָן Chaimson
• Persian: חיימזאַדעהּ, חיימיאַן, חיימינעג'אָד Chaimzadeth, Chaimian, Chaiminejod

Famous people

• סקוט מאַק אהרון Scott McAharon (Scot mac Aharoun) - quantum physicist and computer scientist

Todo

• Interrogatives: Cad a to o zein aget? 'What are you doing?'
• Cleft construction: Še zein lešóunes a tom a zein anéš = It is making languages that I'm doing now.

numbers: אַה אוין, אַה דו, אַה טרי, אַה צ'עהער, אַה קוג', אַה שיי, אַה שעכט, אַה אָכט, אַה נוי, אַה זעש ah oin, ah du, ah tri, ah čeher, ah cuj, ah šei, ah šecht, ah ocht, ah noi, ah zeš

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~tɕ v j z/.
  • Final h is silent unless before a vowel. th is pronounced even when final.
• Lenitions: Note that d s are NOT lenitable unlike in our Irish and Gaelic.
  • 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 ai ei oi ou ia ua /a e i o u ai ei~ea oi~y ou~oa ia ua/, vowel reduction to /ə/ common.
• Stress is transcribed if not initial
• OIr oí > oi?

Orthography

Yudech is written in an adapted Hebrew alphabet.

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

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

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 zh th ch mh sh ph fh tzh čh ch th /v ɣ j ɣ j h x v h f 0 h ʃ x h/

/j/ between two vowels is written יי.

Vowels are spelled as follows (in non-Semitic words):

אַ ע יי י אָ אוֹ או יַי וי = /a e ei i o ou u ai oi/

יִ is used for /i/ after י /j/.

Hebrew words are spelled as in Hebrew. 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: מאָ־מֿאַדרע mo-mhadre 'my dog'.

Grammar

Verbs

Only the verbal noun and the imperative survive:

טאָם אַ ל'אַסעג נרות חנוכּה.

Tom a łasegh nerous hanuco.

/tom 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 סקריבו דאָ אות אַר זי שבת!

Noh scrivu do ous ar zi 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

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

• to še ag ih = he eats; he is eating
  • vil še... = does he...?
  • chal še... = he does not...
  • nachil še... = doesn't he...?/that he does not
  • gu vil še... = COMP he...
  • a to še... = REL he...
• to še triš ih = he ate/has eaten
• bei še ag ih = he will eat
  • bei še... = will he...?
  • cha bhei še... = he will not...
  • nach bhei še... = won't he...?
  • a vi še... = REL he will...
• va še ag ih = 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...?
• ih! = Eat! (2sg)
• ihu! = Eat! (2pl) (from a dialectal reflex of *itheabh)
• noh ih(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-thi = I sit
• tom i mo-šesev = I stand
• tom i mo-li = I lie (somewhere)
• tom i mo-fhirech = I live (I dwell)

Conjugation

• to, vil, chal, and nachil are conjugated as follows:
  • tom, tor, to še/ši, toj, tohi, to šid
  • vilim, vilir, vil še/ši, vilij, vilhi, vil šid
  • chalim, chalir...
  • nachilim, nachilir...
• va, rou:
  • vas, vaš, va še/ši, vimer, vyur, va šid
  • rous, rouš, rou še/ši, roumer, rovyur, rou šid
• bei: beim, beir, bei še/ši, beij, beihi, bei šid

Nouns

Like Irish and Hebrew, Yudach 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 -n/-an, or less commonly umlaut of a o u to e e i.

Hebrew words often form plurals in 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'אַהּ 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 גּֿעלעך a jhełech = the moon
• אַן אישה an išo = the woman/wife
• אַן אות an ous = the letter (character)
• אַן סוכּה an suco = the booth

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

• נאַהּ־טיש nah tiš = the houses
• נאַהּ־ל'אַהען nah łahen = 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 -e in the plural, except that the plural of -ech is -i: the plural of יודעך Yudech 'Jew' is יודי Yudi.

• pred: טאָם בּעגּ Tom beg. = I am short.
• m.sg.: ףער בּעגּ fer beg = a short man; אַם ףער בּעג am fer beg = the short man
• f.sg.: ףיור בֿעגּ fyur bheg = a short sister; אַן ףֿיור בֿעגּ an fhyur bheg = the short sister
• pl.: ףערען אָרדע feren orde = tall men; נאַה ףערען אָרדע nah feren orde = the tall men

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

מוֹר - ניס מוֹ - עס מוֹ mour - nis mou - es mou = big - bigger - biggest

Pronouns

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

emphatic prons: מישע, טוסע, שעשען, שישע, שינע, שיבשע, שיצען miše, tuse, šešen, šiše, šine, šivše, šitzen

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־מֿאָהער איס מ־אַהער mo-mhoher is m-aher, not *mo-moher is aher.

Prepositions

• ag 'at': agom, aget, aje, ači, agen, agev, acu
• de 'to, for': dom, dit, de, di, din, div, du
• ze 'off, away from': zom, zit, ze, zi, zin, ziv, zu
• ouh 'from': uom, uat, ua, uahi, uen, uev, uahu
• i(n) 'in': inom, inet, on, intzi, inen, inev, intu
• ar 'on': orom, oret, er, eri, oren, orev, oru
• as 'from': asom, aset, 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, umet, eme, empi, umen, umev, umpu
• fo 'under': fum, fut, fu, fihi, fun, fuv, fuhu

Combinations

i + definite article is insa(n) in the sg and insnah in the plural:

• אינסאַ צעך insa tzech 'in the house'
• אינסאַן אָץ insan otz 'in the place'
• אינסנאַה צירען insnah tziren 'in the countries'

i + possessive a(n)-: ina(n)-

i + possessive or-: inar-

ou + an-/am-/a- : oun-/oum-/oun-

Syntax

Prepositions stick to every noun in a noun phrase: טאָם טריש פאָל נאַהּ ףרעגּערצען אוֹ מאָ־מֿאָהער איס אוֹ מאָ־בּראָהער Tom triš fol nah fregertzen ou mo-mhoher is ou mo-bhroher 'I got the answers from my mother and brother'

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

• שלום Šolem = Hello, goodbye
• שלום עליכם Šolem aléichem = Hello
• עליכם שלום Aléichem šolem = Hello (in response to Šolem aleichem)
• בּיאָנאַכט אַגּעט/אַגּעב Byonacht aget/agev = Thank you (lit. may you have blessing)
• ףאָלצע רוט/רוב Foltze rut/ruv = Welcome
• צ'ייד מילע ףאָלצע Čeid mile foltze = A hundred thousand welcomes
• קאַד ע אַנט ענים רעט? Cad e ant enim ret? = What is your name?
• ...שע אנט ענים ריאָם X še ant enim ryom = My name is X
• ביל אַן אַזעליש אַגּעט/אַגּעב? Vil an Azeliš aget/agev? = Do you speak English?
• כאַל אַן יודעך אַגּאָם Chal an Yudech agom = I can't speak Yudech
• כאַלים אַ טיקשין Chalim a ticšin = I don't understand
• ל'אַבער ניס מעלע, רי דאָ־טֿעל = Łaver nis mele, ri do-thel = Please speak more slowly
  • ל'אַברו ניס מעלע, רי באַר־טעל Łavru nis mele, ri var-tel = above, 2pl
• טאָ איאַרי אַגּאָם אַ ל'אַבער יודעך, אַך כאַל קומעס דאָם. To iari agom a łaver Yudech, ach chal cumes dom. = I want to speak Yudech, but I cannot.

Dates and time

Days of the week

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

• Sunday: זי־סוֹל zi-soul
  • Sunday morning: מאַזין סוֹל mazin soul
  • Sunday afternoon (before sunset): ףעסקער סוֹל fescer soul
  • Sunday evening (after sunset): ערב ל'ואַן erev łuan (!)
  • Sunday night: איישע ל'ואַן eiše łuan (!)
• Monday: זי־ל'ואַן zi-łuan
• Tuesday: זי־מאָרץ zi-mortz
• Wednesday: זי־צ'יידין zi-čeidin
• Thursday: זי־זיירעדין zi-zeiredin
• Friday: זי־הייַנע zi-haine
• Saturday: זי־שבת zi-šabes