Verse:Tdūrzů/Hebrew

The history of Hebrew and Judaism in Verse:Apple PIE is much like in our own world. The consonantal text of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible is identical to our timeline. However, it preserves phonological distinctions that our Hebrew lost. The language was also revived three times independently (in the Holy Land, the Judeo-Gaelic-speaking European Jewish communities, and North America), and is not associated with a nation-state. All three revived varieties are accepted as dialects of the same language and are intelligible.

Present-day Hebrew has 8 million speakers, the second largest Jewish language after Ăn Yidiș. The most common accent is Corded Ware Hebrew.

This page documents the various pronunciations of Hebrew used by the different Jewish communities in Apple PIE.

The relative conservatism of Hebrew in this timeline allowed medieval (hyper-)Arab Jewish scholar ___ to use Hebrew as a vantage point from which to compare other Semitic languages in his ___, the first known work of comparative linguistics in Apple PIE.

Todo

• random change 2inþat > 2iššå 'woman'

Comparison

Dror Yikra

Dror Yikra is a medieval Shabbat piyyut, in our timeline one of the earliest piyyutim to use an Arabic-derived meter.

Disclaimer: Piyyutim are thick with biblical allusions so they're a bitch to translate. I'm sure I made mistakes.

[X] denotes "something that has the same reflex as X in our Tiberian Hebrew."

(Dunash ben Labrat in this timeline was Corded Ware which merged þ and š)

Hebrew (Tiberian)

דְּרוֹר יִקְרָא לְבֵן עִם בַּת
וְיִנְצָרְכֶם כְּמוֹ בָבַת
נְעִים שִׁמְכֶם וְלֹא יֻשְׁבַּת
שְׁבוּ נוּחוּ בְּיוֹם שַׁבָּת

דְּרוֹשׁ נָוִי וְאוּלָמִי
וְאוֹת יֶשַׁע עֲשֵׂה עִמִּי
נְטַע שׂוֹרֵק בְּתוֹךְ כַּרְמִי
שְׁעֵה שַׁוְעַת בְּנֵי עַמִּי

דְּרוֹךְ פּוּרָה בְּתוֹךְ בָּצְרָה
וְגַם בָּבֶל אֲשֶׁר גָּבְרָה
נְתוֹץ צָרַי בְּאַף עֶבְרָה
שְׁמַע קוֹלִי בְּיוֹם אֶקְרָא

אֱלֹקים תֵּן בַּמִּדְבָּר הַר
הֲדַס שִׁטָּה בְּרוֹשׁ תִּדְהָר
וְלַמַּזְהִיר וְלַנִּזְהָר
שְׁלוֹמִים תֵּן כְּמֵי נָהָר

הֲדוֹךְ קָמַי חַי אֵל קַנָּא
בְּמוֹג לֵבָב וּבִמְגִנָּה
וְנַרְחִיב פֶּה וּנְמַלֶּאנָּה
לְשׁוֹנֵנוּ לְךָ רִנָּה

דְּעֵה חָכְמָה לְנַפְשֶׁךָ
וְהִיא כֶתֶר לְרֹאשֶׁךָ
נְצוֹר מִצְוַת קְדֹשֶׁךָ
שְׁמוֹר שַׁבָּת קָדְשֶׁךָ

Hyper-Tiberian

[dăˈru̠ːʀ jiqˈʀɔː lɐˈveːn ʕiːm baːθ]
[wĭjints̺ˁɔʀˈxɛːm kăˈmuː vɔːˈvaːθ]
[nĭˈʕiːm ʃimˈxɛːm wăˈluː jʉs̺ˈbaːθ]
[s̺ăˈvʉː nʉːˈ[ħ]ʉː bĭˈjuːm s̺aˈbːɔːθ]

[dăˈroːʃ nɔːˈwiː wʉ̆ʔʉːlɔːˈmiː]
[wŭˈʔuːθ ˈjeːʃaʕ ʕăˈs̻eː ʕiˈmːiː]
[năˈtˁaːʕ s̻uːˈʀeːq băˈθuːx kaʀˈmiː]
[[ʃ]ĕˈʕeː [ʃ]awˈʕaθ băˈneː ʕaˈmːiː]

[dăˈroːx pʉːˈʀɔː băˈθuːx bɔts̻ˁˈrɔː]
[wăˈɣaːm bɔːˈveːl ʔăˈs̺ɛːʀ gɔvɐˈʀɔː]
[năˈθoː[ts̻ˁ] [ts̻ˁ]ɔːˈʀaːj băˈʔaːf ʕɛvˈʀɔː]
[ʃăˈmaːʕ quːˈliː bĭˈjuːm ʔɛqˈʀɔː]

[ʔɛ̆luːˈhiːm teːn bamːiðˈbɔːʀ haːʀ]
[hăˈðaːs̻ ʃiˈtːˁɔ băˈʀuːs̺ tiðˈhɔːʀ]
[wălamːazˈhiːʀ wălanːizˈhɔːʀ]
[ʃăluːˈmiːm teːn kăˈmeː nɔːˈhɔːʀ]

[hăˈðoːx qɔːˈmaːj ħaːj ʔeːl qaˈnːɔː]
[băˈmoːɣ leːˈvɔːv ʔʉvimɣiˈnːɔː]
[wănaʀˈħiːv pɛː ʔʉnmaˈlːɛnːɔː]
[lăʃuːˈneːnʉː lăˈxɔː ʀiˈnːɔː]

[dĕˈʕeː ħɔxˈmɔː lănafˈʃɛːxɔː]
[wĭˈhiː ˈxɛːθɛʀ lăruːˈʃɛːxɔː]
[năˈts̺ˁoːr mits̻ˁˈwaːθ qăðoːˈʃɛːxɔː]
[ʃăˈmoːr s̺aˈbːaːθ qɔðˈʃɛːxɔː]

Gaelic (i.u. "Ashkenazim")

[dăˈrur jigˈro ləˈveən ʔim bas]
[vəjintsorˈxem kəˈmu voˈvas]
[nəˈʔim ʃimˈxem wəˈlu jʉʃˈbas]
[ʃəˈvʉ nʉˈ[h]ʉ bəˈjum ʃaˈbos]

[dəˈroəʃ noˈvi vəʔʉloˈmi]
[vəˈʔus ˈjeəʃa ʔaˈseə ʔiˈmi]
[nəˈda suˈreəg bəˈsux karˈmi]
[ʃəˈʔeə ʃawˈʔas bəˈneə ʔaˈmi]

[dəˈroəx pʉˈro bəˈsux botsˈro]
[vəˈɣam boˈveəl ʔaˈʃɛr govˈro]
[nəˈsoəts tsoˈraj bəˈʔaf ʔevˈro]
[ʃəˈma guˈli bəˈjum ʔegˈro]

[ʔeluˈhim teən bamidˈbor har]
[haˈdas ʃiˈdo bəˈrus tidˈhor]
[vəlamazˈhir vəlanizˈhor]
[ʃəluˈmim teən kəˈmeə noˈhor]

[haˈdoəx goˈmaj xaj ʔeəl gaˈno]
[bəˈmoəɣ leəˈvov ʔʉvimɣiˈno]
[vənarˈhiːv pe ʔʉnmaˈleno]
[ləʃuˈneənʉ ləˈxo riˈno]

[dəˈʔeə xoxˈmo lənafˈʃexo]
[vəˈhi ˈxeser ləruˈʃexo]
[nəˈtsoər mitsˈvas gadoəˈʃexo]
[ʃəˈmoər ʃaˈbas godˈʃexo]

English (What Inthar got from an Israeli site explaining piyyutim)

[God] will proclaim freedom for his sons and daughters
And guard you [all] as the apple of his eye
Pleasant is your name and will never cease [to be so];
Sit and rest on the Sabbath day.

[God], remember my abode and my hall [Temple]
And show me a sign of salvation.
Plant a choice vine in my vineyard [give us a messiah/king in Jerusalem],
Attend to the cries of my people.

Tread [upon my foes] as on a winepress in Botsra [Edom],
And Babylon which overpowered [us].
Crush my oppressors in your wrath,
Hear my voice when I call.

O God, give us a mountain amidst the desert,
Myrtles, acacias, cypresses and [unknown tree species];
To those who admonish [others to keep the Sabbath] and to those who heed
Grant peace like a flowing river.

Pulverize my aggressors [as in a mortar], O Jealous God [who is jealous for his people],
[lit. Melt their hearts] and distress them,
And with open mouths we shall fill
Our tongues with songs of gladness to you.

Know what is wise for your soul,
And [wisdom] shall be a crown for your head.
Guard your Holy One's commandment,
Keep your holy Sabbath.

Gaelic Hebrew

Gaelic Hebrew (עברית גלית ivrís gélis or עברית אשכנזית ivrís așcănózis) has been influenced by Ăn Yidiș and Galoyseg, mostly the former. Similar to our Ashkenazi Hebrew, except

• Hyper-Tiberian /e ɔ o u ü/ are pronounced like Judeo-Gaelic ea o oa u ü
• Shva na3 is ă /ə/ in careful pronunciation (dropped in Hebrew loans in Ăn Yidiș, however)
• undageshed gimel is pronounced like Judeo-Gaelic gh
• /r/ is an alveolar flap
• affricates are distinguished from stop-fricative sequences, as in Judeo-Gaelic but unlike our Israeli Hebrew: תשומת לב [tsɨmas leəv] 'attention' is pronounced differently than *צומת לב.
• kuf and tet are /g/ and /d/
• /p t k/ are aspirated
• PSem /H/ is /h/ and PSem /x/ is /x/
• Sibilants mergers are like in our TibH.
• Final /h/ is pronounced unlike in Hyper-Israeli and Corded Ware: שמה šmoh 'her name'.

Revived Gaelic Hebrew (revived by some secular Gaelic Jews) is SVO like Judeo-Gaelic, but sometimes prefers Ăn Yidiș syntax, e.g.

• in expressions for feelings and modals.
  • עצוב עליי oțüv olay 'it is sad upon me' (to broan orum)
  • אפשר לי efshar li 'I can' (efșar řum)
  • חסר ממני chasear mimeni 'I want'
• Colloquially adjunct pronouns tend to be a bit further from their heads, e.g. yeaș X li 'I have X', hü nosan X li 'he gave me an X' rather than more formal yeaș li X and hü nosan li X.
• colloquial, often proscribed: shel (influenced by Ăn Yidiș ag) might replace l- in existential constructions: יש ספר שלי yeaș seafer șeli (but *yeaș șeli seafer is never grammatical). For less common verbs or predicates, this tendency is more pronounced even in formal speech.
• 'I have the book' is יש לי הספר yeaș li ha-seafer (colloq. yeaș ha-sefer (șe)li), NOT יש לי את הספר yeaș li es ha-seafer as in our Modern Hebrew.
• Question particles (ha2im or even ha-) are usually retained. Questions don't have a different intonation from declarative sentences.
• It also prefers some coincidentally Gaelic-sounding words, e.g. אַךְ ach 'but' and שָׂשׂ sos 'happy' (sounding like Judeo-Gaelic ach 'but' and sostă 'satisfied') instead of the synonyms אֲבָל avol and שָׂמֵחַ someach.

Orthodox Gaelic Jews prefer to speak Judeo-Gaelic and refuse to speak any form of Revived Hebrew, because they view Hebrew as a sacred language.

Hyper-Tiberian Hebrew

Hyper-Tiberian Hebrew was similar to Tiberian Hebrew, unless stated otherwise. It was the ancestor to Gaelic Hebrew. This timeline's Yemenite Hebrew is very similar except with /o/ > /ø/.

Hyper-Tiberian has the following sound changes from PSem:

• emphatics and alveolar /r/ are kept
• x > Skellan ll
• ś/s þ š > Basque z, Basque s, š (written as shin left dot, shin middle dot, shin right dot)
• z ð > voiced Basque z, voiced Basque s (the latter becomes Tamil zh in some readings)
• ś' þ' s' > /ts, c, c/ (but ejectives)
• Ayn and ghayn are still merged.
• Qamatz is always /O/ as in Tiberian.

Hyper-Tiberian Hebrew also distinguishes

• cholam from Proto-Semitic *u = o /o/
• cholam from Proto-Semitic *ā and *aw = ů /u/ (/uə/ in some other reading traditions)
• Proto-Semitic *ū = u /ü/ (/u/ in some other reading traditions)

Some accents merge the first two vowels like our TibH and Israeli did, some merge the second two, and others, such as Ăn Yidiș Hebrew, keep all three distinct.

Hyper-Israeli

This reading tradition is used by Jews in North Africa and the Holy Land in Apple PIE.

Like our Israeli Hebrew, but:

• Hyper-Israeli reflects Hyper-TibH o (and qamatz qatan) as /ʌ̹/, Hyper-TibH ů as /u̠/, and Hyper-TibH u as /u̟/. (These vowels resemble Seoul Korean eo, o, and u respectively.)
• PSem *H is reflected as a uvular fricative (merging with lenited kaf) and PSem *x is voiceless sje.
• Non-prevocalic V + ayin sequences are reflected as nasal vowels or nasal vowel offglides: ארבע /aʁbɑ̃/ '4'.
• Proto-Semitic ð became ž, as in זימר žimer 'he overpowered', as opposed to זימר zimer 'he sang'.

Riphean Hebrew

Inspired by a hypothetical Vietnamese Hebrew

/ʔ b v g ɣ d ð h w z ħ tʼ j k x l m n s ʕ p f ts kʼ r ʃ t θ/ = [ʔ b v ɣ ɣ d z h v z h t j kʰ x l m n s ʔ p f tɕ⁼ k⁼ ɹ~ʐ ʃ tʰ s] (some Ashkenazim have ð > z)

/i u e o ɛ ɔ a ă ɔ̆ ɛ̆/ = [i u iə uə ɛ ɔ a ə ɔ ɛ]

/ɓɔˈɹux ʔaˈtʰɔ ʔəzuəˈnɔi, ʔɛluəˈhiənu mɛlɛx hɔʔuəˈlɔm, sɛhɛhɛˈjɔnu vək⁼ijəˈmɔnu vəhiɣiˈʔɔnu lazəˈman haˈzɛ/

Corded Ware Hebrew

North American Hebrew was revived independently by Corded Ware-speaking Jews. Revived Hebrew in North America uses more Corded Ware-like grammar, like preferring object affixes to using pronominal forms of the object marker את eþ.

Holy Land speakers, especially the younger generation, receive Corded Ware Hebrew positively and judge its speakers as trustworthy. It is one of the two most popular accents for stylized music, the other being Hyper-Tiberian.

Vowels as in Sephardi Hebrew (except shva na = all chatafs = [ə]), consonants are more varied depending on the individual Jewish community. Readings similar to this are used all over Western Europe.

The enunciative vowel -ə is used when a word (1) in pausa (2) has ultimate stress and (3) has final C. The past 2fs suffix /-t/ is pronounced /-tə/ when following a consonant: כתבת [kaˈθavtə] 'you (2fs) wrote'.

ברוך אתה ה', א-לוהינו מלך העולם, אשר בחר בנו מכל העמים ונתן לנו את תורתו. ברוך אתה ה', נותן התורה.

/vaˈrux ʔatˈta ʔəðoˈnaj, ʔəlo'henu ˈmelex haʁoˈlamə, ʔəˈʃer vaˈχar ˈvanu mikˈkol haʁaˈmimə, wənaˈθan ˈlanu ʔeθ toraˈθo. vaˈrux ʔaˈta ʔaðoˈnaj, noˈθen hatoˈra./

שהחינו וקיימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה

/ʃeheχəˈjanu wəkijəˈmanu wəhigiˈʁanu lazəˈman haˈze/

Sample (Genesis 1:1-5)

Typical Western or Central CW reading

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃

[vəreˈʃiθ vaˈra ʔəloˈhimə | ʔeθ haʃaˈmajim wəˈʔeθ haˈʔarets]

וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָֽיְתָ֥ה תֹ֨הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

[wəhaˈʔarets hajəˈθa ˈθohu waˈvohu wəˈχoʃex ʁal pəne θəˈhomə | wəˈɾuax ʔəloˈhim məraˈχefeθ ʁal pəne haˈmajim]

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃

[waˈjomeɾ ʔəloˈhim jəhi ˈʔorə | wajəˈhi ˈʔorə]

וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃

[waˈjar ʔəloˈhim ʔeθ haˈʔoɾ kiˈtovə | wajavˈðel ʔəloˈhim ven haˈʔoɾ ʔuˈven haˈχoʃex]

וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃

[wajiˈkra ʔəloˈhim laˈʔor ˈjom wəlaˈχoʃex ˈkara ˈlajla | wajəˈhi ˈʁerev wajəˈhi ˈvoker jom ʔeˈχaðə]

Qivattu Hebrew is similar to Corded Ware Hebrew except no enunciative vowels

Hodi Hebrew

• /k x g ɣ/ = [k kʰ g gʰ]
• /ts z/ [tʃ dʒʰ]
• /t θ d ð n/ = [t tʰ d dʰ n]
• /p f b v m/ = [p pʰ b bʰ m]
• /j r l w/ = [j r l w]
• /s ʃ h ħ ʔ ʕ/ [s ʃ h h~ħ ʔ ʔ~ʕ]

Plosives without dagesh are aspirated.

• /i e ɛ a QG QQ o u ă ɛ̯ ɔ̯/ = [i e ə ə a o o u ə ə o]

Final /h/ is pronounced with an echo vowel: e.g. למינה /ləmi'naha/ 'according to its kind', אלוה /ə'luhu/ 'God'.

Tibetan Hebrew

/ʔ b v g ɣ d ð h w z ħ tʼ j k x l m n s ʕ p f tsʼ kʼ r ʃ t θ/ = [ʔ p⁼ v k⁼ g t⁼ d h w z h tʰ j kʰ x l m n s ʔ pʰ f ts⁼ kʰ ɹ ɕ tʰ h]

/i e ɛ a ɔ o u ə ă ɛ̯ ɔ̯/ = [i e ə a o y u ə a ə ø]