Verse:Mwtqwlqwj/Qwbmwdqwg

Mwtqwlqwj/Qwbmwdqwg/Lexicon

Proto-Mwtqwlqwj/Qwbmwdqwg

Zèl-leaṫanaċ fil-Mijòrìje (IPA)

Majorcan Arabic
el-Mijòrìje et-teanga Mijòrìje teangatna
Pronunciation	[ə̟lmɪ̟jo̟r̻iːjə̟]
Created by	User:IlL
Setting	Verse:Irta
Native to	Majorca
Native speakers	896,038 (2018)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Central Semitic Arabic Irta Maghrebi Arabic Majorcan Arabic

Majorcan Arabic ("Majorcan" in-universe) is an Irish-influenced historical Arabic variety spoken in the Irta timeline's Majorca (natively el-Mijòr [ə̟lmɪ̟ˈjo̟ːɾ̻ʲ], from Latin (insula) major 'bigger island'), an independent country where it's an official language alongside English. The native name for the language is el-Mijòrije or et-teanga Mijòrìje, but speakers may simply call the language teangatna [ˈt̪ʰæ̃ːʔʶʌtʶʰnʶʌ] 'our language'. Its speakers almost always also speak English; Modern Standard Latin and Irish are also widely understood in Majorca. Majorcans are predominantly Catholic; some are Remonitionists or Muslims.

Its premise is essentially "Maltese but with Middle Irish and Classical Irish (and secondarily French and Nyvierfusiez) instead of Italian". It's the only Irtan Semitic language that evolved naturally under Celtic influence (Knench is more Azalic-influenced, and Irta Modern Hebrew was revived by Celtic speakers), and the only Irtan Semitic language written in a Latin orthography.

todo

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

When does ʔimālah happen?

History

In Irta, Majorca was ruled by Muslim Arabs (8th c. - 11th c.), then by the Irish (11th c. - 16th c.), then the Azalic English (16th c. - 20th c.). Majorca gained independence from the Azalic 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 Arabic reflects a fictional Middle Irish dialect which shows features of modern Munster Irish (such as weight-sensitivity and stressed -ach and -acht) and our timeline's Scottish Gaelic; it's conservative in that broad dh (> Majorcan Z) is kept distinct from broad gh (> Majorcan Γ). However, velarization was fairly strong for all 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 Arabic is dated to 1515.

Majorcan Arabic evolved from Sardino-Arabic, a fictional vernacular Arabic variety similar to our old Maghrebi Arabic which had the following features:

• qāf and ṭāʔ are unaspirated, sometimes voiced.
• 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
• Some vestigial 2i3rāb (*-i for nouns but *-Ø for verbs)
• C(+emph)C(-emph)C(+emph) root > C(+emph)C(+emph)C(+emph) root

Majorcan Arabic during or immediately after the period of Irish rule was markedly more grammatically conservative and more Irish-like than modern Majorcan Arabic. Today's Majorcan Arabic shows more English grammatical influence; for example it mainly uses the genitive preposition GaWW for possessive constructions, whereas older texts prefer a head-marked construction which requires the possessum to be in the construct state or take a possessive suffix.

Some Irish vocabulary in Majorcan Arabic (especially when created after the 17th century) are actually Majorcan coinages.

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)

Figures

• Peadar Budı-Digēgı (Peadar Buddigèg) is an Irta Irish politician.
• Dylan Alı-Bejdāvī (Dilen el-Bejẕàvi): speculative evolution worldbuilder
  • Bejda (Bejẕa) is an Irta Majorcan town

Phonology

Consonants

Majorcan Arabic has an almost complete set of emphatic-nonemphatic pairs, formed from both native emphatic consonants (Classical Arabic T D S Z q became D Z S Z G) and the contrast between broad (velarized) and slender (palatalized) consonants in borrowed Irish vocabulary. (Some of the labial pairs probably have low functional load, though.) Irish broad and slender consonants are borrowed as emphatic and nonemphatic consonants, respectively (unless possibly after a stressed syllable, where they're subject to emphasis/nonemphasis spreading). The phonetic transcription of Majorcan Arabic used in this article represents emphatic consonants with capitalized letters.

Arabic /θ/ and /ð/ become Majorcan /d/ and /z/. (blue background and bold = regularly occurs in native words' underlying forms)

Consonant phonemes in Majorcan Arabic

		Labial		Dental/Alveolar		Postalveolar	Dorsal		Glottal
		plain	uvularized	plain	uvularized		prevelar	preuvular
Nasal		m	mʶ	n̪	n̪ʶ		[ŋ̟]	[ɴ̟]
Stop	aspirated	pʰ	pʶʰ	t̪ʰ	t̪ʶʰ		k̟ʰ	q̟ʰ
	unaspirated	b	bʶ	d̪	d̪ʶ		ɡ̟	ɢ̟~ʔʶ
Fricative	voiceless	f	ʍʶ	s̪	s̪ʶ	ʃ	x̟	χ̟	h
	voiced	v~β̞	wʶ	z̪	z̪ʶ	ʒ	j	ʁ̟
Trill				r̻~ɾ̻	rʶ~ɹ
Lateral					l̪ʶ

/h/ is always pronounced clearly. It is usually [h~ɦ], but is [ħ̞] (weak [ħ]) before or after /a/. Word-finally it is always [ħ̞] unless preceded by /ɪ/.

Allophones or marginal phonemes include H [hʶ] and Š [ʂʶ]; this article won't reflect these. [ŋ̟ ɴ̟] occur as allophones of /n̪ n̪ʶ/ before dorsal stops.

Emphatic consonants are realized as uvularized consonants by most of the population but are realized as velarized (also turning emphatic dorsals into true velars) by older and more educated speakers.

"Voiceless" stops are consistently aspirated; voiced stops are usually weakly voiced (as in German and Irish) and are always devoiced after a voiceless or aspirated consonant. Emphatic voiced stops tend to be less voiced than their nonemphatic counterparts; /ɢ̟/ is particularly prone to devoicing. Voiced geminate stops are realized as voiceless unaspirated. Geminated and word-final aspirated stops are preglottalized. Gemination is neutralized word-finally. Preuvular consonants are velar or uvular for some speakers; the velar realization is more common in rural areas.

G in contemporary urban Majorcan Arabic is turning into [ʔʶ] (cf. Maltese and Egyptian Arabic /ʔ/ for older Arabic q), even affecting Irish loans: taNGə 'language' and Gī́jə 'prayer' (from Irish guidhe) 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 realization for Arabic q.

r is a laminal, alveolar trill or flap. It is often pronounced as Czech ř or as [ʒ] by younger speakers.

w = [β̞], [v] before vowels

t d T D n N L s S are lamino-dental

Nonemphatic consonants (except /v h/) are slightly more palatalized in word-final position than in other conditions. /t d n l/ become laminal alveolar [t̻ʲ d̻ʲ n̻ʲ lʲ] when allophonically palatalized. Emphatic consonants are less strongly uvularized word-finally.

/rʶ/ may be realized as [ɾʶ] or [ɹʷʶ], the latter sounding a lot like a General American English r.

unasp stop + h > asp stop

asp stop + h > geminated asp stop

The palatal stops and fricatives are realized as prevelar, and the uvular consonants are preuvular, but they are transcribed as palatal and uvular for convenience. /j/ is vocalized to [ɪ] in word-initial position before a consonant.

Vowels

Majorcan Arabic is usually analyzed as having 6 short monophthongs, 6 long monophthongs, and 4 diphthongs (not counting vowel + semivowel sequences). Some non-exhaustive common spellings for the vowels are given.

Mwtqwlqwj/Qwbmwdqwg stressed vowel phonemes

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

Somewhat-native closing diphthongs: /əj əw əwʶ æj æw æwʶ/

Opening diphthongs: /eɐ oɐ iɐ uɐ/

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 əw əwʶ/ 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

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].

Stress is no longer predictable

/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: dùilìjèth is /dʶu:li'je:h/

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

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: g̱ahve (Gaffə) 'coffee', g̱av̱v̱ha (GaFFə) 'of her'

Vowels

• [æ] and [ɑ] are distinctive in vowel-initial words and after /h/ (from Arabic a/Irish ea vs Irish a)
• /æ:/ vs /ɒ:/: ?
• /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

Kinda Irishy

Declarative sentences have the Russian question/pause intonation.

Pauses and questions stay high and flat on the stressed syllable and start at a lower level right after, rising till the end.

Orthography

Like many orthographies used in Irta, Majorcan Arabic orthography is based on the principles of etymological spelling and enabling many-to-one reading, with the latter taking precedence.

Ȝaɯ̱xùꞃ cꞃeiċe hije el-ḇuẕv̱a. (aSXū́r kréxə híjə əL-BúZWə) == A vulture is a bird of prey.

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

Spelling native consonants

(corresponding to underlying phonemes not realization)

• 2alif = (ɂ, like bā2)
• 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 = 3 3a 3i 3u 3à 3ì 3ù 3aj 3av
• 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

(sgàṫeàn [sʶʔʶʌˈhæːnʲ] 'mirror')

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

Final broad consonants require underline

Morphology

Pronouns

• ɂèn(e), int(i), hw(ve), hi(je), aħn(e), intwm, hwm(e) (ēn(ə), ínt(i), hú(wə), hí(jə), áhn(ə), íntum, húm(ə)); impersonal mir (< mar2 'person')
  • In subject position, mir is often used as 1pl (cf. spoken Finnish)
• object pronouns: ɂìje, ɂìc, ɂìjwh, ɂìhe, ɂìne, ɂìcwm, ɂìhwm (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
  • Ritcal·lim mir gil es̱-S̱ìn ɂìhe (ritkállim mir gil əS-Sīn ī́hə) = it (f.) was spoken in China / one spoke it in China

Nouns

sound plurals: m. -0 > -ìn (-ī́n), f. -e/-a (-ə) > -èṫ/-àṫ/-ìjèṫ (-ḗh/ṓh/ijḗh; irregular -t > -h in f pl ending)

m. pl. const. -ej (-əj)

f. sg. const. -et/-at (-it/-ət); f. pl. const. -èt/-àt/-ìjèt (-ḗt/-ṓt/-ijḗt)

nisba nouns: -(a)i -(a)ìn (-i -ī́n), f. -(a)ìje -(a)ìjèṫ (-ījə -ijḗh)

emphasis spreading to the syllables after a posttonic emphatic

• guiḋe (Gújjə) 'prayer', guiḋeti (Gújjiti) 'my prayer'; guiḋetwh (Gujjituh) 'his prayer', guiḋèṫ (Gujjḗh) 'prayers'
• teanga (táNGə) 'language', teangatai (táNGəTi) 'my language'; teangatuh (táNGəTuh) 'his language'; teangaḋ (taNGəZ) 'languages'
• ḃeannaċṯ (wəNáXT) (f.) 'blessing', ḃeannaċtai (wəNáXTi) 'my blessing', etc.; ḃeannaċtaìjèṫ (wəNəXTijḗh) 'blessings'

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

todo: broken plurals

article əC- 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-dùil (əD-Dūl) 'the element'
• ed-dèr (əd-dēr) 'the house'
• eṯ-ṯif̱l (əT-TíFəl) 'the boy'
• et-teanga (ət-tænʔə) 'the language'
• es̱-s̱ajf (əS-Sajf) 'summer'
• eɯ-ɯene (əs-sénə) 'the year'
• eẕ-ẕuhr (əZ-Zúhər) 'noon'
• ez-zeȝrùl (əz-zaRū́l) 'the hawthorn'
• eṟ-Randàn (əR-RəNDān) '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'
• ež-žwhneàl (əž-žuhnā́l) 'the journal'

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

Before clusters the article becomes eli-: eli-sgàṫàn (əli-SGōhā́n) 'the mirror'

sg and sound pl fem possessives: -i -ik -uh -hə -nə -kum -hum

sound pl masc possessives: -éjjə -ḗk -ḗh -ḗhə -ḗnə -ḗkum -ḗhum

irish -ə nouns are borrowed as feminine -ə, unless they are animate masculines

vlèdi, vlèdic, vlèdwh, vlèdhe, vlèdne, vlèdcwm, vlèdhwm (wlēdi, wlēdik, wlēduh, wlēdhə (pronounced wlētə), wlēdnə, wlēdkum, wlēdhum (pronounced wlētum))

For learned and semi-learned Irish borrowings:

• All Irish nouns that take a suffix in the plural are pluralized with -[most productive non stress shifting suffix, from Irish]
• Irish nouns that slenderize the final consonant also slenderize the final consonant in Majorcan
• Nativized Irish loans often use broken plurals
• Todo: Arabic words with Irish pluralization?

Adjectives

Adjectives became a separate morphological part of speech from nouns under Irish influence.

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

Color adjectives follow a different declension: áhmir 'red' has f.sg. and pl. hámrə. Loan adjectives (such as -aċ (-áX) adjectives from Irish) have unmarked feminine singular forms.

Predicative adjectives and adverbs formed from adjectives use kəl-/kəL-(moon) or kəC-(sun) followed by the masculine sg. form of the adjective. An alternative construction for adverbs, common in written language, is bi treò (bi trō) [ADJ.m.sg], from bi 'instrumental' + Irish treo 'direction'.

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:

• cdìr 'much' > ɂeacder 'more', el-ɂeacder 'most'
• ftìt 'few, little' > ɂeang̱as̱ 'less', el-ɂeang̱as̱ 'least'

Verbs

4 principal parts: past 3sg.m, imperative sg, passive participle, verbal noun

loan verbs use -aċaḋ (-əXəZ) for VN from MidIr *-aghadh (~ Scottish Gaelic -achadh, Irish -ú)

passive binyanim are lost; maSdars serve the same grammatical roles as Irish verbnouns

Gzarot split based on emphatic/nonemphatic, then simplification

negative mə-š sticks to the first (focused) constituent; the unmarked construction is MəRáDWi huš 'he did not admit' for pronoun subjects, but MəRáDWiš šēMəS 'Séamus did not admit' for noun subjects. However, the MəRáDWiš form 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 rə-/Rə- (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. Some conservative dialects only use rə-/də- in the past tense (in verbs that use them) when in the affirmative, not in interrogatives or negatives (cf. Irish lenition/d'- and Welsh mi):

– əl Gáddis KáLəM əlláwm? – MəGáddisš. (Standard əR RəGáddis...? MəRGáddisš.)

– Did Calum 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 lē + imperative.

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	cetbit hi	ctebne	ctebtwm, ctebbintwm	cetbw hwm
future	nectib	tectib	jectib hw	tectib hi	nectbw	tectbw	jectbw hwm
imperative	-	wctib!	-	-	-	wctbw!	-
passive participle	mictẁb
verbal noun	citb

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	nesṟaḇ	tesṟaḇ	jesṟaḇ hw	tesṟaḇ hi	neseṟḇu	teseṟḇu	jeseṟḇu
imperative	-	wsṟaḇ!	-	-	-	wseṟḇw!	-
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	benit hi	bnejne	bnejtwm, bnejtintwm	benev hwm
future	nebni	tebni	jebni hw	tebni hi	nebnw	tebnw	jebnw hwm
imperative	-	wbni!	-	-	-	wbnw!	-
passive participle	mibnì
verbal noun	binje

Stem I verb conjugation, II-w: mèt 'he died' (Arabic māta)

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	mwttin	mwttint	mèt hw	mètit hi	mwtne	mwttwm, mwttintwm	mètw hwm
future	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: xàn (or xèn) 'he cheated, betrayed' (Arabic xāna)

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	xintin	xinnint	xàn hu	xànit hi	xinne	xintwm, xinnintwm	xànw hum
future	nxìn	txìn	jxìn hw	txìn hi	nxìnw	txìnw	jxìnw hwm
imperative	-	xìn!	-	-	-	xìnu!	-
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	rog̱addɯit hi	rog̱addeɯne	rog̱addeɯt(int)wm	rog̱addɯw hwm
future	ng̱addiɯ	tg̱addiɯ	jg̱addiɯ hu	tg̱addiɯ hi	ng̱addɯw	tg̱addɯw	jg̱addɯw hum
imperative	-	g̱addiɯ!	-	-	-	g̱addɯw!	-
passive participle	mg̱addiɯ
verbal noun	teg̱dìɯ

Stem IV (ɂectib)

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: ɂecrid (ékrid) 'he believed'

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	ɂecridtèn (əkrídtēn)	ɂecriddint (əkríddint)	ɂecrid hw	ɂecirdit hi	ɂecridne	ɂecridtwm, ɂecriddintwm	ɂecirdw hwm
future	nwcrid	twcrid	jwcrid hw	twcrid hi	nwcirdw	twcirdw	jwcirdw hwm
imperative	-	ɂwcrid!	-	-	-	ɂwcirdw!	-
passive participle	mwcrid
verbal noun	ɂicrèd

Stem VI (ritcètib)

Stem X verb conjugation: ritvèlid 'he was born'

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	rintəZáRTēN	rintəZáRRəNT	rintáZəR hu	rintáZRəT hi	rintəZáRNə	rintəZáR(RəN)TuM	rintáZRu hum
future	nintáZəR	tintáZəR	jintáZəR hu	tintáZəR hi	nintáZRu	tintáZRu	jintáZRu hum
imperative	-	intáZəR!	-	-	-	intáZRu!	-
passive participle	mintáZəR
verbal noun	intəZōR

Stem VIII (rictetib)

Stem X verb conjugation: rintáZəR 'he delayed, postponed, procrastinated'

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	rintəZáRTēN	rintəZáRRəNT	rintáZəR hu	rintáZRəT hi	rintəZáRNə	rintəZáR(RəN)TuM	rintáZRu hum
future	nintáZəR	tintáZəR	jintáZəR hu	tintáZəR hi	nintáZRu	tintáZRu	jintáZRu hum
imperative	-	intáZəR!	-	-	-	intáZRu!	-
passive participle	mintáZəR
verbal noun	intəZōR

reanalyze as vii, root Z-R?

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	nteargem	tteargem	jteargem hw	tteargem hi	nteargmw	tteargmw	jteargmw hum
imperative	-	teargem!	-	-	-	teargmw!	-
passive participle	mitteargem
verbal noun	teargmeċaḋ

Irish -aigh verbs

Loan verb paradigm based on loaned Irish -aigh 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	radṁaiġt hi	radṁaiġne	radṁaiġtwm, r'adṁaiġtintwm	radṁav̱ hwm
future	nadṁaiġ	tadṁaiġ	jadṁaiġ hw	tadṁaiġ hi	nadṁu	tadṁu	jadṁu hwm
imperative	-	adṁaiġ!	-	-	-	adṁu!	-
passive participle	adṁaite
verbal noun	adṁaċaḋ (used in constructions such as èn f-adṁaċaḋ 'I confess')

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	fònaite
verbal noun	fònaċaḋ

The verb cèn

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

In the present tense,

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

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

Prepositions

• b(e): bìje, bìc, bìh, bìhe, bìne, bìcwm, bìhwm
• f(i): fìje, fìc, fìh, fìhe, fìne, fìcwm, fìhwm
• min: minni, minnic/minc (poetic), minnwh, minhe, minne, mincwm, minhwm
• meȝ: meȝi/meȝje /mæj~mæːjə/, meȝc, meȝuh /mæẅh/, meȝhe, meȝne, meȝcwm, meȝhwm

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/

imḋeiḋin (imijéjn) 'about' (~ Scottish Gaelic mu dheidhinn): imḋeiḋini, imḋeiḋinic, imḋeiḋinwh, imḋeiḋinhe, imḋeiḋinne, imḋeiḋincwm, imḋeiḋinhwm

f(i) (< CA fī) is matched to faoi in some verb complements and is in fact F(i) 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'

Numerals

vèħad, dnejn/nejn, dlède, ɂearḇȝa, xamɯe, ɯitte, ɯeaḇa, dmènje, diɯȝa, ȝasra (nejn is due to rebracketing: vèħad, dnejn → vèħad, nejn; attributive for '2' is zevg, with 'the two X' = zevg el-X')

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

Ordinals come before nouns, as in Irish: ed-dèlid bèb = the third door

Syntax

Irish/Gàidhlig relex; VSO and verbnouns whose possessors are direct objects. Even more Irishy than Irta Modern Hebrew; grammar-wise it's the most Irishy Irtan Semlang, though it does not have mutations.

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 jə/j' is consistently used (like the Irish vocative). Vocative phrases go to the beginning or end: 'Cerìm, close the door' is ɂwγlag̱ el-bèb, je Cerìm or Je Cerìm, ɂwγlag̱ el-bèb

• is fear é Dónal = Rágil hu DóWNəL
• is é Dónal an Taoiseach olc = DóWNəL hu əT-TīšəX āR
• tá Dónal mór = DóWNəL kəl-kibīR; bhí Dónal ... = kēn DóWNəL..., beidh Dónal = jəkin DóWNəL...
• tá úll ann/agam = (mḏì/form of kēn) twffèħ (ȝandi) (reverse of Arabic)
• Stative verbs: tá mé i mo chodladh = ēn fi-RGōdi

Texts

UDHR, Article 1

Ritvèldw el-bnèdmìn cwllhe ceḻ-xèliɯ ⁊ ceḻ-coṁionaṉṉ f uirrimhwm ⁊ f ceartahum. Buaḋ er-rèsùṉ ⁊ eḻ-cogaḃus̱ ȝandhwm ⁊ ȝalèhwm jiomċru rùħhum meȝ selsìn b mèin g̱uṟ ɂeaxva.

[r̻ɪt̪ʰˈveːldü ə̟l-bn̪ɪd̪ˈmiːŋ̟ ˈk̟ʰülhə̟ k̟ʰəl̪ʶˈχʌ̯eːlɪsʲ ɔsʶ k̟ʰəl̪ʶˈqʰʌwʶːʌn̪ʶʌn̪ʶ ˈf‿ürːɪmhüm ɔsʶ ˈf‿k̟ʰærʶt̪ʶʰʌhʶʊmʲ ‖ bʶʊɑzʶ ʌr̻r̻ə̟ˈs̪ʶuːnʶ ɔsʶ ə̠l̪ʶˈqʰɔʔʌwʶʊsʶ ˈænt̪ʰümʲ ɔsʶ æˈleːhümʲ ˈjʊmʶχrʶʊ ˈrʶʊɐħ̞ħ̞ʊm mæ ʃə̟lʃiːnʲ b‿meːnʲ ʔʶʊrʶ ˈæχwʶʌ]

The Lord's Prayer

called əL-Pádir or əl-misḗrnə