There is significant phonological variation among the various Yiddish dialects. The description that follows is of a modern Standard Yiddish that was devised during the early 20th century and is frequently encountered in pedagogical contexts.
Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar/ Uvular | Glottal | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hard | soft | hard | soft | ||||||
Nasal | m | n | ( nʲ) | ( ŋ ) | |||||
Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | ( ʔ ) | ||||
voiced | b | d | ɡ | ||||||
Affricate | voiceless | ts | ( tsʲ) | tʃ | ( tʃʲ) | ||||
voiced | dz | ( dzʲ) | dʒ | ( dʒʲ) | |||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ( sʲ) | ʃ | χ | h | ||
voiced | v | z | ( zʲ) | ( ʒ ) | |||||
Rhotic | r | ||||||||
Approximant | central | j | |||||||
lateral | l | ( ʎ ) |
As in the Slavic languages with which Yiddish was long in contact (Russian, Belarusian, Polish, and Ukrainian), but unlike German, voiceless stops have little to no aspiration; unlike many such languages, voiced stops are not devoiced in final position. [1] Moreover, Yiddish has regressive voicing assimilation, so that, for example, זאָגט/zɔɡt/ ('says') is pronounced [zɔkt] and הקדמה/hakˈdɔmɜ/ ('foreword') is pronounced [haɡˈdɔmɜ].
The vowel phonemes of Standard Yiddish are:
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | ɪ | ʊ | |
Open-mid | ɛ | ɜ | ɔ |
Open | a |
Front nucleus | Central nucleus | Back nucleus |
---|---|---|
ɛɪ | aɪ | ɔɪ |
In addition, the sonorants /l/ and /n/ can function as syllable nuclei:
[m] and [ŋ] appear as syllable nuclei as well, but only as allophones of /n/, after bilabial consonants and dorsal consonants, respectively.
The syllabic sonorants are always unstressed.
Stressed vowels in the Yiddish dialects may be understood by considering their common origins in the Proto-Yiddish sound system. Yiddish linguistic scholarship uses a system developed by Max Weinreich in 1960 to indicate the descendent diaphonemes of the Proto-Yiddish stressed vowels. [4]
Each Proto-Yiddish vowel is given a unique two-digit identifier, and its reflexes use it as a subscript, for example Southeastern o11 is the vowel /o/, descended from Proto-Yiddish */a/. [4] The first digit indicates Proto-Yiddish quality (1-=*[a], 2-=*[e], 3-=*[i], 4-=*[o], 5-=*[u]), and the second refers to quantity or diphthongization (−1=short, −2=long, −3=short but lengthened early in the history of Yiddish, −4=diphthong, −5=special length occurring only in Proto-Yiddish vowel 25). [4]
Vowels 23, 33, 43 and 53 have the same reflexes as 22, 32, 42 and 52 in all Yiddish dialects, but they developed distinct values in Middle High German; Katz (1987) argues that they should be collapsed with the −2 series, leaving only 13 in the −3 series. [5]
|
|
|
In vocabulary of Germanic origin, the differences between Standard German and Yiddish pronunciation are mainly in the vowels and diphthongs. All varieties of Yiddish lack the German front rounded vowels /œ, øː/ and /ʏ, yː/, having merged them with /ɛ, e:/ and /ɪ, i:/, respectively.
Diphthongs have also undergone divergent developments in German and Yiddish. Where Standard German has merged the Middle High German diphthong ei and long vowel î to /aɪ/, Yiddish has maintained the distinction between them; and likewise, the Standard German /ɔʏ/ corresponds to both the MHG diphthong öu and the long vowel iu, which in Yiddish have merged with their unrounded counterparts ei and î, respectively. Lastly, the Standard German /aʊ/ corresponds to both the MHG diphthong ou and the long vowel û, but in Yiddish, they have not merged. Although Standard Yiddish does not distinguish between those two diphthongs and renders both as /ɔɪ/, the distinction becomes apparent when the two diphthongs undergo Germanic umlaut, such as in forming plurals:
Singular | Plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
MHG | Standard German | Standard Yiddish | Standard German | Standard Yiddish |
boum | Baum /baʊ̯m/ | בױם /bɔɪm/ | Bäume /ˈbɔʏ̯mə/ | בײמער /bɛɪmɜr/ |
bûch | Bauch /baʊ̯x/ | בױך /bɔɪχ/ | Bäuche /ˈbɔʏ̯çə/ | בײַכער /baɪχɜr/ |
The vowel length distinctions of German do not exist in the Northeastern (Lithuanian) varieties of Yiddish, which form the phonetic basis for Standard Yiddish. In those varieties, the vowel qualities in most long/short vowel pairs diverged and so the phonemic distinction has remained.
Yiddish has some coincidental resemblances to Dutch in vowel phonology, which extend even to orthography, such as Dutch ij versus Yiddish tsvey judn, both pronounced /ɛɪ/; and Dutch ui (pronounced /œy/) versus Yiddish vov yud (/ɔj/). For example, the Yiddish "to be" is זיין, which orthographically matches Dutch zijn more than German sein, or Yiddish הויז, "house", versus Dutch huis (plural huizen). Along with the pronunciation of Dutch g as /ɣ/, Yiddish is said to sound closer to Dutch than to German because of that even though its structure is closer to High German.[ citation needed ]
There are consonantal differences between German and Yiddish. Yiddish deaffricates the Middle High German voiceless labiodental affricate /pf/ to /f/ initially (as in פֿונטfunt, but this pronunciation is also quasi-standard throughout northern and central Germany); /pf/ surfaces as an unshifted /p/ medially or finally (as in עפּל/ɛpl/ and קאָפּ/kɔp/). Additionally, final voiced stops appear in Standard Yiddish but not Northern Standard German.
M. Weinreich's diaphoneme | Pronunciation | Examples | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Middle High German | Standard German | Western Yiddish | Northeastern ("Litvish") | Central ("Poylish") | South-Eastern ("Ukrainish") | MHG | Standard German | Standard Yiddish | |
A1 | a in closed syllable | short a/a/ | /a/ | /a/ | /a/ | /a/ | machen, glat | machen, glatt /ˈmaxən, ɡlat/ | מאַכן, גלאַט/maχn, ɡlat/ |
A2 | â | long a/aː/ | /oː/ | /ɔ/ | /uː/ | /u/ | sâme | Samen /ˈzaːmən/ | זױמען/ˈzɔɪ̯mn̩/ |
A3 | a in open syllable | /aː/ | vater, sagen | Vater, sagen /ˈfaːtɐ, zaːɡən/ | פֿאָטער, זאָגן/ˈfɔtɜr, zɔɡn/ | ||||
E1 | e, ä, æ, all in closed syllable | short ä and short e/ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | becker, mensch | Bäcker, Mensch /ˈbɛkɐ, mɛnʃ/ | בעקער, מענטש/ˈbɛkɜr, mɛntʃ/ |
ö in closed syllable | short ö/œ/ | töhter | Töchter /ˈtœçtɐ/ | טעכטער/ˈtɛχtɜr/ | |||||
E5 | ä and æ in open syllable | long ä/ɛː/ | /eː/ | /eː~eɪ/ | /eɪ~ɪ/ | kæse | Käse /ˈkɛːzə/ | קעז/kɛz/ | |
E2/3 | e in open syllable, and ê | long e/eː/ | /ɛɪ/ | /eɪ/ | /aɪ/ | /eɪ/ | esel | Esel /eːzl̩/ | אײזל/ɛɪzl/ |
ö in open syllable, and œ | long ö/øː/ | schœne | schön /ʃøːn/ | שײן/ʃɛɪn/ | |||||
I1 | i in closed syllable | short i/ɪ/ | /ɪ/ | /ɪ/ | /ɪ/ | /ɪ/ | niht | nicht /nɪçt/ | נישט/nɪʃt/ |
ü in closed syllable | short ü/ʏ/ | brück, vünf | Brücke, fünf /ˈbʁʏkə, fʏnf/ | בריק, פֿינף/brɪk, fɪnf/ | |||||
I2/3 | i in open syllable, and ie | long i/iː/ | /iː/ | /iː/ | /iː/ | liebe | Liebe /ˈliːbə/ | ליבע/ˈlɪbɜ/ | |
ü in open syllable, and üe | long ü/yː/ | grüene | grün /ɡʁyːn/ | גרין/ɡrɪn/ | |||||
O1 | o in closed syllable | short o/ɔ/ | /ɔ/ | /ɔ/ | /ɔ/ | /ɔ/ | kopf, scholn | Kopf, sollen /kɔpf, ˈzɔlən/ | קאָפּ, זאָלן/kɔp, zɔln/ |
O2/3 | o in open syllable, and ô | long o/oː/ | /ɔu/ | /eɪ/ | /ɔɪ/ | /ɔɪ/ | hôch, schône | hoch, schon /hoːx, ʃoːn/ | הױך, שױן/hɔɪχ, ʃɔɪn/ |
U1 | u in closed syllable | short u/ʊ/ | /ʊ/ | /ʊ/ | /ɪ/ | /ɪ/ | hunt | Hund /hʊnt/ | הונט/hʊnt/ |
U2/3 | u in open syllable, and uo | long u/uː/ | /uː/ | /iː/ | /iː/ | buoch | Buch /buːx/ | בוך/bʊχ/ | |
E4 | ei | ei/aɪ/ | /aː/ | /eɪ/ | /aɪ/ | /eɪ/ | vleisch | Fleisch /flaɪ̯ʃ/ | פֿלײש/flɛɪʃ/ |
I4 | î | /aɪ/ | /aɪ/ | /aː/ | /a/ | mîn | mein /maɪ̯n/ | מײַן/maɪn/ | |
O4 | ou | au/aʊ/ | /aː/ | /eɪ/ | /ɔɪ/ | /ɔɪ/ | ouh, koufen | auch, kaufen /aʊ̯x, ˈkaʊ̯fən/ | אױך, קױפֿן/ɔɪχ, kɔɪfn/ |
U4 | û | /ɔu/ | /ɔɪ/ | /oː~ou/ | /ou~u/ | hûs | Haus /haʊ̯s/ | הױז/hɔɪz/ | |
(E4) | öu | äu and eu/ɔʏ/ | /aː/ | /eɪ/ | /aɪ/ | /eɪ/ | vröude | Freude /ˈfʁɔʏ̯də/ | פֿרײד/frɛɪd/ |
(I4) | iu | /aɪ/ | /aɪ/ | /aː/ | /a/ | diutsch | Deutsch /dɔʏ̯t͡ʃ/ | דײַטש/daɪtʃ/ |
The pronunciation of vowels in Yiddish words of Hebrew origin is similar to Ashkenazi Hebrew but not identical. The most prominent difference is kamatz gadol in closed syllables being pronounced same as patah in Yiddish but the same as any other kamatz in Ashkenazi Hebrew. Also, Hebrew features no reduction of unstressed vowels and so the given name Jochebed יוֹכֶבֶֿד would be /jɔɪˈχɛvɛd/ in Ashkenazi Hebrew but /ˈjɔχvɜd/ in Standard Yiddish.
M. Weinreich's diaphoneme | Tiberian vocalization | Pronunciation | Examples | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Western Yiddish | Northeastern ("Litvish") | Central ("Poylish") | Standard Yiddish | ||
A1 | patah and kamatz gadol in closed syllable | /a/ | /a/ | /a/ | אַלְמָן, כְּתָבֿ/ˈalmɜn, ksav/ |
A2 | kamatz gadol in open syllable | /oː/ | /ɔ/ | /uː/ | פָּנִים/ˈpɔnɜm/ |
E1 | tzere and segol in closed syllable; hataf segol | /ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | גֵּט, חֶבְֿרָה, אֱמֶת/gɛt, ˈχɛvrɜ, ˈɛmɜs/ |
E5 | segol in open syllable | /eː/ | /eː~eɪ/ | גֶּפֶֿן/ˈgɛfɜn/ | |
E2/3 | tzere in open syllable | /ɛɪ/ | /eɪ/ | /aɪ/ | סֵדֶר/ˈsɛɪdɜr/ |
I1 | hiriq in closed syllable | /ɪ/ | /ɪ/ | /ɪ/ | דִּבּוּק/ˈdɪbɜk/ |
I2/3 | hiriq in open syllable | /iː/ | /iː/ | מְדִינָה/mɜˈdɪnɜ/ | |
O1 | holam and kamatz katan in closed syllable | /ɔ/ | /ɔ/ | /ɔ/ | חָכְמָה, עוֹף/ˈχɔχmɜ, ɔf/ |
O2/3 | holam in open syllable | /ɔu/ | /eɪ/ | /ɔɪ/ | סוֹחֵר/ˈsɔɪχɜr/ |
U1 | kubutz and shuruk in closed syllable | /ʊ/ | /ʊ/ | /ɪ/ | מוּם/mʊm/ |
U2/3 | kubutz and shuruk in open syllable | /uː/ | /iː/ | שׁוּרָה/ˈʃʊrɜ/ |
Patah in open syllable, as well as hataf patah, are unpredictably split between A1 and A2: קַדַּחַת, נַחַת/kaˈdɔχɜs, ˈnaχɜs/; חֲלוֹם, חֲתֻנָּה/ˈχɔlɜm, ˈχasɜnɜ/.
Modern Hebrew is phonetically simpler than Biblical Hebrew and has fewer phonemes, but it is phonologically more complex. It has 25 to 27 consonants and 5 to 10 vowels, depending on the speaker and the analysis.
In phonetics, rhotic consonants, or "R-like" sounds, are liquid consonants that are traditionally represented orthographically by symbols derived from the Greek letter rho, including ⟨R⟩, ⟨r⟩ in the Latin script and ⟨Р⟩, ⟨p⟩ in the Cyrillic script. They are transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet by upper- or lower-case variants of Roman ⟨R⟩, ⟨r⟩:, ,, ,, ,, and.
Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be stops, fricatives, nasals, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and the symbol for the voiced fricative is used instead. Uvular affricates can certainly be made but are rare: they occur in some southern High-German dialects, as well as in a few African and Native American languages. Uvular consonants are typically incompatible with advanced tongue root, and they often cause retraction of neighboring vowels.
The phonology of Standard German is the standard pronunciation or accent of the German language. It deals with current phonology and phonetics as well as with historical developments thereof as well as the geographical variants and the influence of German dialects.
The phonology of Portuguese varies among dialects, in extreme cases leading to some difficulties in intelligibility. Portuguese is a pluricentric language and has some of the most diverse sound variations in any language. This article on phonology focuses on the pronunciations that are generally regarded as standard. Since Portuguese is a pluricentric language—and differences between European Portuguese (EP), Brazilian Portuguese (BP), and Angolan Portuguese (AP) can be considerable—varieties are distinguished whenever necessary.
The first Slovak orthography was proposed by Anton Bernolák (1762–1813) in his Dissertatio philologico-critica de litteris Slavorum, used in the six-volume Slovak-Czech-Latin-German-Hungarian Dictionary (1825–1927) and used primarily by Slovak Catholics.
Esperanto is a constructed international auxiliary language designed to have easy phonology. The creator of Esperanto, L. L. Zamenhof, described Esperanto pronunciation by comparing the sounds of Esperanto with the sounds of several major European languages.
This article is about the phonology of Bernese German. It deals with current phonology and phonetics, including geographical variants. Like other High Alemannic varieties, it has a two-way contrast in plosives and fricatives that is not based on voicing, but on length. The absence of voice in plosives and fricatives is typical for all High German varieties, but many of them have no two-way contrast due to general lenition.
The Uralic Phonetic Alphabet (UPA) or Finno-Ugric transcription system is a phonetic transcription or notational system used predominantly for the transcription and reconstruction of Uralic languages. It was first published in 1901 by Eemil Nestor Setälä, a Finnish linguist.
The Persian language has between six and eight vowels and 26 consonants. It features contrastive stress and syllable-final consonant clusters.
Old English phonology is necessarily somewhat speculative since Old English is preserved only as a written language. Nevertheless, there is a very large corpus of the language, and the orthography apparently indicates phonological alternations quite faithfully, so it is not difficult to draw certain conclusions about the nature of Old English phonology.
Dutch phonology is similar to that of other West Germanic languages, especially Afrikaans and West Frisian.
This article is about the phonology and phonetics of the Estonian language.
This article discusses the phonological system of Standard Bulgarian. Most scholars agree that contemporary Bulgarian has 45 phonemes but different authors place the real number of Bulgarian phonemes between 42 and 47, depending on whether one includes or excludes phonemes which appear primarily only in borrowed foreign words.
French exhibits perhaps the most extensive phonetic changes of any of the Romance languages. Similar changes are seen in some of the northern Italian regional languages, such as Lombard or Ligurian. Most other Romance languages are significantly more conservative phonetically, with Spanish, Italian, and especially Sardinian showing the most conservatism, and Portuguese, Occitan, Catalan, and Romanian showing moderate conservatism.
This article aims to describe the phonology and phonetics of central Luxembourgish, which is regarded as the emerging standard.
The phonology of Old Saxon mirrors that of the other ancient Germanic languages, and also, to a lesser extent, that of modern West Germanic languages such as English, Dutch, Frisian, German, and Low German.
This article is about the phonology and phonetics of the West Frisian language.
This article is about the phonology and phonetics of the Upper Sorbian language.
Chemnitz dialect is a distinct German dialect of the city of Chemnitz and an urban variety of Vorerzgebirgisch, a variant of Upper Saxon German.