Judeo-Gaelic

Judeo-Chinese is a descendant of Middle Chinese adopted by Chinese Jews, written in a version of the Hebrew alphabet and incorporating Hebrew loans. Like other Chinese varieties, it is a tonal language and is unintelligible to speakers of other Chinese lects.

Phonology

Initials

tsy tshy dzy ny sy zy > ti thi di ngi si zi

p merges into b

tr trh dr nr tsr tshr sr zr > q qh ʀ ʀ χ χ ʃ w

Consonant phonemes

		Labial		Dental		Postalv.	Velar		Uvular	Laryngeal
		broad	slender	broad	slender		slender	broad
Nasal		mˠ	mʲ	n̪ˠ	nʲ		ŋʲ	ŋ
Stop	plain			t̪ˠ	tʲ		kʲ	k	q
	aspirated	pˠʰ	pʲʰ	t̪ˠʰ	tʲʰ		kʲʰ	kʰ	qʰ
	voiced	bˠ	bʲ	d̪ˠ	dʲ		gʲ	g
Affricate	plain			t̪sˠ	tsʲ
	aspirated			t̪sˠʰ	tsʲʰ
Fricative	voiceless	fˠ		sˠ	sʲ	ʃ	xʲ	x	χ	h
	voiced	vˠ		zˠ	zʲ				ʀ
Approximant		w		l̪ˠ	lʲ		j

Rimes

In stressed syllables:

a, wa, ja, jwa > a, o, ia, io
ae, wae, jae > æ, a, iæ
u, jo, ju > u, ia, iu
oj, ajH > aj
woj, wajH > oj
eaj, aejH > æj
weaj, waejH > aj

jejH, jiejH, jwejH, jwiejH might have the same outcome as je, jie, jwe, jwie
those finals with -ji- are called chongniu finals
i could merge jiej completely with jej like mandarin does
or they could be different
i'll treat jiej like jij and jwiej like jwij

je(j), jwe(j) > ie, iə
joj, jwoj > ioj, iəj
ij, jij, wij, jwij > y, i, uj, iuj
i > y
j+j, jw+j > i, iuj
aw, aew, jew, jiew, ew, uw, juw, jiw > aw, aw, iaw, iew, ew, u, iu, iew
om, am, eam, aem, jem, jiem, jaem, jom, em, im, jim > um, om, am, am, iem, im, iam, iom, ium, em, im, jim
an, wan, aen, waen, ean, wean > an, on, æn, an, en, ən
jen, jwen, jon, jwon > ien, iən, ion, iun
en, wen, on, won > en, ən, on, un
in, jin, win, jwin, j+n, jun > in, yn, un, iun, in, iun
ak, wak, jak, jwak > ak, ok, iak, iok
aewk > auk
ok, wok, ik, wik > ok, uk, ik, uk
aek, waek, eak, waek > æk, ak, æk, ak
jaek, jwaek > iæk, iak
jek jwek ek wek > iek iək ek ək
uwk owk juwk jowk > uk ok iuk iok

Tonality

level = 45, H = 13, X = 53

Tone is realized on the stressed syllable.

Orthography

Consonants

Consonant phonemes

		Labial		Dental		Retroflex	Velar		Laryngeal
		broad	slender	broad	slender		slender	broad
Nasal		מ	מ׳	נ	נ׳	נר	ע׳	ע
Stop	plain			ט	ט׳	טר	ק׳	ק	א (null initial)
	aspirated	פ	פ׳	ת	ת׳	תר	כ׳	כ
	voiced	ב	ב׳	ד	ד׳	דר	ג׳	ג
Affricate	plain			צ	צ׳	צר
	aspirated			צ֨	צ֨׳	צ֨ר
Fricative	voiceless	פֿ		ס, שֹ	ס׳	ש	כֿ׳	כֿ, ח	ה
	voiced	בֿ		ז	ז׳		גֿ׳	גֿ
Approximant		ו		ל	ל׳	ר	י

Vowels

• a /ɑ/ = אָק (closed syllables),ֹ אָא (open syllables)
• æ /æ/ = אַק (closed syllables), אַא (open syllables)
• e /e/ = אֵי
• i /i/ = אִי
• ə /ə/ = אְק (closed), אְה (open)
• o /o/ = אוֹ
• u /u/ = אוּ

Tones

• level (píng tone) = לׇ֣א (la)
• X (shǎng tone) לָ֝א (lá)
• H (qù tone) = לָ֔א (là)

Grammar

Pronouns

I = ngá

thou = ngió

he = bí

we = ngánga

ye = ngióngiə

they = bíbi

Numbers

0 = ǣfəsə /æ45fəsə/

1-10 = ỳt, ngì, sōm, sì, ngú, liùk, tshỳt, bæ̀t, kiú, z­ìp /ɨt2, ŋʲi13, som45, sʲi13, ŋu53, lʲuk2, tsʰɨt2, bæt2, kʲu53, zip2/

11, 12, ... = z­ìp ỳt, zìp ngì, ... (Similarly, 21, 22, ... = nìzip ỳt, nìzip nì, ..., etc.)

20, 30, ... = ngìzip, sōmzip, sìzip, ngúzip, liūkzip, tshȳzzip, bǣzzip, kiúzip /ŋʲi13.zʲip, som45.zʲip, sʲi13.zʲip, ŋu53.zʲip, lʲuk45.zʲip, tsʰɨz45.zʲip, bæz45.zʲip, kʲu53.zip/

100, 200, 300, ... = ȳtbak, ngìbak, sōmbak, sìbak, ngúbak, liūkbak, tshȳtbak, bǣtbak, kiúbak /ɨt45.bɑk, ŋʲi13.bɑk, som45.bak, sʲi13.bɑk, ŋu53.bɑk, lʲuk45.bak, tsʰɨt45.bak, bæt45.bak, kʲu53.bak/

1000, 2000, 3000, ... = y­­̀ttshən, ngìtshən, sōmtshən, sìtshən, ngútshən, liùktshən, tshỳttshən, bæ̀ttshən, kiútshən /ɨt13.tsʰən, ŋʲi13.tsʰən, som45.tsʰən, sʲi13.tsʰən, ŋu53.tsʰən, lʲuk13.tsʰən, tsʰɨt13.tsʰən, kʲu53.tsʰən/

10000, 20000, 30000, ... = ȳtmin, ngìmin, sōmmin, sìmin, ngúmin, liùkmin, tshỳtmin, bæ̀tmin, kiúmin /ɨt45.mʲin, ŋi13.mʲin, som45.mʲin, sʲi13mʲin, ŋu53.mʲin, lʲuk13mʲin, tsʰɨt13mʲin, bæt13mʲin, kʲu53.mʲin/

Ordinal numbers: "Nth" is expressed by the construction de /de/ + N.

Sample texts

UDHR, Article 1

(Not sure how to handle recent borrowings from Mandarin)

עִ֣׳ין־עִ֣׳ין ז֣׳וֹע שַ֣עלִי זִ֔ייִו, כָבֿ֔וֹד יַא זְכֿ֔וּת קָ֣ן אִ֣ילִּיט בַ֣׳נטְע. בִ֝יבִי ג֔׳וּיִו לִ֝יסְ׳ע יַ֝א לָ֣׳עסִים, עִ֣׳י אִ֣יעטָע י֔וֹע חָ֣׳נדֵ֝י־קָ֣נגְֿי קָא צֵ֣׳עזִ׳ין גֿ֣וּסָ׳ע טְיד֝וֹי.

Ngîn-ngîn ziông shæ̂nglə zìjə, khavòt jǽ zəxùt kân ŷllət biæ̂ntəng. Bíbi giùjə lýsiəng jǽ liângsəm, ngî ŷntəng jóng xiândə-kânhə ka tsiêngziən hûsiəng tôidə.

Etymological gloss: 人人 從 生來 自由, כבוד 也 זכות 關 一律 平等。 彼彼 具有 理性 也 良心, 而 應當 用 兄弟 關係 個 精神 互相 對待。

All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.