User:Helrasincke/Morphology/Yiddish

Notes: Litvish only has two genders, with inanimate objects being mostly assigned a feminine gender. Diminutives retain their base noun gender.

Inflectional

Verbal

Verbal
Affix	Function	Examples	Notes

Verbal
Affix	Function	Examples
-∅	First person singular Imperative singular
־סט (-st)	Second person singular
־ט (-t)	Third person singular Second person plural Imperative plural
-ṇ ־ן (-n)	Infinitive (regular verbs) First person plural Third person plural
-ṇdik ־נדיק (-ndik)
ge- + umlaut + -ən ־ן (-n) + גע־ (ge-)	Past participle (strong verbs)	רײַסן (raysn) ⇾ געריסן (gerisn)
ge- + umlaut + -t ־ט (-t) + גע־ (ge-)	Past participle (weak verbs)	מאַכן (makhn) ⇾ געמאַכט (gemakht)
ge- גע־ (ge-)	Derivational/fossilised historic prefixations (greykhṇ)	greykhṇ גרייכן (greykhn)

nominal

Nominal
Affix	Function	Examples	Notes
~-s^[1] ־ס (-s)	Plural formation of nouns	Most nouns with unstressed final -ə ־ע (-e), -m ־ם (-m), -əm ־עם* (-em), -ṇ ־ן (-n), -en* ־ען (-en). Words of foreign origin with unstressed, non-reduced final vowel (auto, radio, etc.) Nouns in -er ־ער (-er) not referring to humans^[2]; in some contexts, also human agentives in -er ־ער (-er)	Sometimes alternates with ־ן (-n), ־ען (-en), especially in journalistic and some formal usage; where both exist, the latter usually engenders a more abstract meaning.^[3]
-ṇ ־ן (-n), ־ען (-en)	Plural formation	Some inherited Germanic vocabulary; Daytshmerisms; some non-diminutives in syllabic -ḷ ־ל (-l)	Common in political terminology borrowed from German in the 19th century.^[3]
-er ־ער (-er)	Plural formation	Many inherited Germanic words; a very small number of words of Semitic origin, e.g. pónəm פּנים (pnim) ⇾ pénəmər פּנימער (pnimer).	May or may not also involve vowel shift (umlaut)
∅ + umlaut	Plural formation	Many inherited Germanic words
∅	Plural formation	Nouns referring to humans in -er ־ער (-er) (with some exceptions); handful of nouns with various endings	In some contexts, human agentives in -er ־ער (-er) pluralise instead with ־ס (-s)^[4]
~-s^[1] ־ס (-s), ~-əs^[1] ־עס (-es)	Plural formation	Family names	־עס (-es) after names ending in sibilants: ־ז, ־זש, ־סש, ־ס, ־צ, ־ש
~-əs^[1] ־עס (-es)	Plural formation	Some nouns, mostly those of Slavic origin.	Sometimes stem undergoes vowel changes
-im, -əm ־ים (-im)	Plural formation	1) Some nouns of Semitic origin in unstressed -ə ־א (-a), -ə ־ה (-h), e.g. יום־טובֿ (yontev) ⇾ יום־טובֿים (yontoyvem); 2) Small number of nouns of non-Semitic origin, e.g. דאָקטער (dokter) ⇾ דאָקטוירים (doktoyrim); נאַר (nar) ⇾ נאַראָנים (naronim); פּויער (poyer) ⇾ פּויערים (poyerim);	Stress shifts to penultimate syllable; many stems undergo vowel changes^[5]; Sometimes a syllable is added or changed between stem and suffix Most nouns in -er ־ער (-er), -or ־אָר (-or) acquire a pejorative or sarcastic sense when pluralised this way
-əs ־ותֿ (-us)	Plural formation	Mostly nouns of Semitic origin (most in unstressed -ə ־א (-a), -ə ־ה (-h); some ending in a consonant); מעשׂה (mayse/manse) ⇾ מעשׂיות (mayses/manses); אות (os) ⇾ אותיות (oysyes);	Stress shifts to penultimate syllable; many stems undergo vowel changes;^[5] final -ə ־ה (-h) is dropped; phonetically identical with ~-əs ־עס (-es)
-əkh, -akh ־עך (-ekh)	Plural formation	Nouns ending in syllabic -ḷ ־ל (-l)	Mandatory for diminutives; some non-diminutives alternate with ־ען (-en)

adjectival

Affix	Function	Examples	Notes
∅
er (-ṇ)? [Term?]
e [Term?]
en [Term?]
em [Term?]
s [Term?]
er [Term?]
et [Term?]

Affix	Function	Examples	Notes
prefixes:
ge- גע־ (ge-)	verbal (past tense & derivational/historic) & nominal? (collective)
גע־ (ge-)

Derivational:

verbal

Affix	Function	Examples	Notes
-ke- [Term?]
-eve- [Term?]

nominal

Affix	Function	Examples	Notes
-∅	Nominalisations from verbal stems		Masculine; vowel often follows past participle^[6]
-or ־אָר (-or)	Forms masculine agentives
-íst ־יסט (-ist)	Forms masculine agentives		Stressed
-nik ־ניק (-nik)	Forms masculine agentives		See also: ־ניצע (-nitse)
-ént ־ענט (-ent)	Forms masculine agentives		Stressed
-éts ־עץ (-ets)	Forms masculine agentives
-er ־ער (-er)	Forms masculine agentives
-úk ־וק (-uk)	Forms masculine agentives		Pejorative; stressed^[6]
-ák ־אַק (-ak)-yák ־יאַק (-yak)	Forms masculine agentives		Pejorative; stressed^[6]

-ə ־א (-a)			Unstressed final vowels generally feminine, except where semantic masculinity overrides^[7]
-ə ־ה (-h)			Unstressed final vowels generally feminine, except where semantic masculinity overrides^[7]
-ə ־ע (-e)			Unstressed final vowels generally feminine, except where semantic masculinity overrides^[7]
-hayt ־הײַט (-hayt)			Generally feminine^[7]
-kayt ־קײַט (-kayt)			Generally feminine^[7]
-ung ־ונג (-ung)			Generally feminine^[7]
-úr ־ור (-ur)			Generally feminine^[7]
-əs ־ותֿ (-us)			Generally feminine; occasionally neuter^[7]^[8]
-ik ־יק (-ik)			Generally feminine^[7]
-ənish ־עניש (-enish)			Generally feminine; occasionally neuter^[7]^[8]
-énts [Term?]			Generally feminine^[7]
-ék ־עק (-ek)			Generally feminine^[7]
-əráy ־ערײַ (-eray)			Generally feminine; occasionally neuter^[7]^[8]
-shaft ־שאַפֿט (-shaft)			Generally feminine^[7]

-tə ־טע (-te)	Forms feminine agentives		Most frequent feminizing suffix for Semitic component agentives^[9]
-tsə ־יצע (-itse)	Forms feminine agentives
-in ־ין (-in)	Forms feminine agentives
-kə ־קע (-ke)	Forms feminine agentives

-∅ (+stem vowel ablaut)	Nominalisations of adjectival stems	קעלט (kelt, “cold”, noun) (c.f. קאַלט (kalt, “cold”, adj), קעלטער (kelter, “colder”, comparative degree))	Compare German Kälte f (“cold”, noun), kalt (“cold”, adj), kälter (“colder”, comparative degree). Unlike German, there is no final vowel.



syllabic -ḷ ־ל (-l)	Diminutive: little		Almost always neuter, except in very rare cases when semantic gender overrides^[10]
-ḷe ־עלע (-ele)	Diminutive, 2nd degree: very little		Almost always neuter, except in very rare cases when semantic gender overrides^[10]

gə- גע־ (ge-)	Collective		Generally neuter^[11]
-varg ־וואַרג (-varg)	"ware"		Generally neuter^[11]; Albright argues that this behaves more like a bound stem than a suffix^[12]
-tum ־טום (-tum)			Generally neuter^[11]
-s ־ס (-s)			Generally neuter^[11]
-əkhts, -akhts ־עכֿץ (-ekhts) (־עכץ (-ekhts))			Generally neuter^[11]

-∅	Nominalisations of: 1) infinitives; 2) adjectives ending in ־ע		Neuter^[13]

lekh/-elekh ־עלעך (-elekh)/־לעך (-lekh)
-lich (very rare)
ke [Term?]
-nost -nost ־נאָסט (-nost)		פּאָטעפֿאַלנאָסט (potefalnost, “audacity”) < פּאָטעפֿאַלנע (potefalne, “audacious”); דאָוויערענאָסט (dovyerenost, “power of attorney”) < Russian доверенность (doverennostʹ)	Extremely rare, only in Slavic loanwords









izm ־יזם (-izm)

-em ־עם (-em)
ṇ ־עם (-em)			syllabic

tshik ־טשיק (-tshik)
in [Term?]
te [Term?]
tel/-stel [Term?]

adjectival/adverbial
Affix	Function	Examples	Notes
erheyt [Term?]
lekh ־לעך (-lekh)
ik ־יק (-ik), ־יִק (-ik); ־יג (-ig) (daytshmerish)

prefixes:

verbal

Affix	Function	Notes

ant- אַנט־ (ant-)^		Unstressed prefix
ba- באַ־ (ba-)^		Unstressed prefix
der- דער־ (der-)^		Unstressed prefix
far- פֿאַר־ (far-)^	'completeness of action; initiation of a change in circumstances; debasement of the value or success of the action'	Unstressed prefix
ge- גע־ (ge-)^		Unstressed prefix
tse- צע־ (tse-)^		Unstressed prefix

oys- אויז־ (oyz-) [óys]		Stressed prefix
uf- אויפֿ־ (oyf-) [úf]		Stressed prefix
um- אומ־ (um-) [úm]		Stressed prefix
unter- אונטער־ (unter-)		Stressed prefix
iber- איבער (iber)		Stressed prefix
ayn- אײַנ־ (ayn-)	'enter a new state; change of situation'	Stressed prefix
on- אָנ־ (on-)		Stressed prefix
op- אָפּ־ (op-) past tense: [óp] / [ó]		Stressed prefix
bay- בײַ־ (bay-)		Stressed prefix
for- פֿאָר־ (for-)		Stressed prefix
tsu- צו־ (tsu-)		Stressed prefix
(free stressed prefixes)
(a)dú(r)kh- אַדורכ־ (adurkh-)/דורכ־ (durkh-)
ahin- אַהינ־ (ahin-)
aher- אַהער (aher)
avek- אַװעק־ (avek-)
mit- מיט־ (mit-)
a(nt)kegen- (antkegṇ-)? אַנטקעגנ־ (antkegn-)/אַקעגענ־ (akegen-)
anider אַנידער־ (anider-)
arop- אַראָפּ־ (arop-)
aroys- אַרויס־ (aroys-)
arúf- אַרויפֿ־ (aroyf-)
arum- אַרומ־ (arum-)
arayn- אַרײַנ־ (arayn-)
arunter- אַרונטער־ (arunter-)
ariber- אַריבער־ (ariber-)
nokh- נאָכ־ (nokh-)
farbay- פֿאַרבײַ־ (farbay-)
faroys- פֿאַרויס־ (faroys-)
funander- פֿונאַנדער־ (funander-)
tsuzamen- צוזאַמענ־ (tsuzamen-)
tzunoyf- צונויפֿ־ (tsunoyf-)

adverbial

Affix	Function	Examples	Notes
a- [Term?]
am- [Term?]

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 The 's' is pronounced somewhere between /s/ and /z/
^ Katz, p.56
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Katz, p.54
^ Katz, p.62
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 Katz, p.57
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 Katz, p.49
↑ ^7.00 ^7.01 ^7.02 ^7.03 ^7.04 ^7.05 ^7.06 ^7.07 ^7.08 ^7.09 ^7.10 ^7.11 ^7.12 ^7.13 Katz, p.49
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 Katz, p.52
^ Katz, p.51
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 Katz, p.52
↑ ^11.0 ^11.1 ^11.2 ^11.3 ^11.4 Katz, p.52
^ Albright, p.7
^ Katz, p.53

References

Albright, Adam (2008) “Inflectional paradigms have bases too: Arguments from Yiddish”, in Asaf Bachrach and Andrew Nevins, editors, Inflectional identity‎^[1], London: Oxford University Press, pages 271-312
Katz, Dovid (1987) Grammar of the Yiddish Language‎^[2], London: Duckworth, →ISBN

[:7-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 The 's' is pronounced somewhere between /s/ and /z/

[2] Katz, p.56

[:5-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Katz, p.54

[4] Katz, p.62

[:6-5] 5.0 ^5.1 Katz, p.57

[:0-6] 6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 Katz, p.49

[:1-7] 7.00 ^7.01 ^7.02 ^7.03 ^7.04 ^7.05 ^7.06 ^7.07 ^7.08 ^7.09 ^7.10 ^7.11 ^7.12 ^7.13 Katz, p.49

[:2-8] 8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 Katz, p.52

[9] Katz, p.51

[:3-10] 10.0 ^10.1 Katz, p.52

[:4-11] 11.0 ^11.1 ^11.2 ^11.3 ^11.4 Katz, p.52

[12] Albright, p.7

[13] Katz, p.53

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