נאָך פּרטים

Word Order in Compound Sentences

In ‏5.3 נאָך פּרטים we noted that a compound sentence consists of at least two sentences (clauses), often linked by one or more conjunctions. We mentioned but did not explain the word order in compound sentences that begin with a conjunction. Compare for example:

When the compound sentence begins with the conjunction װען, the order of subject and verb changes in the second of the two linked clauses: קען נעמי (instead of נעמי קען). This word order is used in compound sentences that begin with certain conjunctions, and can be understood as follows:

Subordinate Clause and Main Clause

The part of the sentence with the conjunction is known as the subordinate clause; the other part is known as the main clause:

The same terms apply when the conjunction is in the middle of the sentence:

Word Order in a Compound Sentence with a Subordinate Clause and a Main Clause

As we saw in ‏5.3 נאָך פּרטים, the conjunction is not a sentence unit and each clause that it connects has its own word order. Using the schema described in ‏5.3 נאָך פּרטים, the word order in our example sentence is:

When the subordinate clause comes before the main clause, the whole subordinate clause is considered to be the first unit in the main clause, and the verb (of the main clause) comes right after the subordinate clause, in the second position of the main clause:

Conjunctions that Introduce a Subordinate Clause

We already know several conjunctions that introduce a subordinate clause:

When a sentence begins with one of these conjunctions, it has the order of “a subordinate clause plus a main clause”. Here are several examples from YiddishPOP lessons:

Note:

• A subordinate clause with װײַל usually comes after the main clause and only rarely before it.
• The conjunction אַז at the beginning of a sentence has a meaning similar to אױב . For example:

• The word בשעת that we learned as a preposition in lesson 5.5 can also function as a conjunction:

Conjunctions that Join Two Main Clauses

The conjunctions און, אָבער, אָדער do not introduce a subordinate clause; they link two main clauses. If they are at the beginning of a sentence, there is usually a connection with something from before. For example:

פֿלעג: Repeated Action in the Past

The form:

The meaning:

The Possessive

The possessive conveys to whom something belongs.

Names of People

The possessive ending ס– is added to people’s names.

If the name ends in one of the following sounds, the ending עס– is added:

If the name ends in ס– and the accent is on the last syllable, the possessive is shown in writing with an apostrophe:

Animate Nouns

The possessive ending ס– can also be used with a common noun that designates a living being (a person or animal). Articles and adjectives associated with the noun have the form of the dative.

For stylistic reasons, the possessive relationship is sometimes expressed with the preposition פֿון; note that articles and adjective endings are the same in the possessive and in the construction with פֿון. For example:

As can be seen in the examples above, the possessive replaces the definite article associated with the thing possessed; this is not the case in the construction with פֿון. For example:

The form of the possessive does not change according to the gender, number or case of the thing possessed. For example, the possessive form דעם ברודערס is used with nouns of all genders:

with nouns in the singular and plural:

and with nouns in all cases:

טאַטנס, זײדנס, מאַמעס, באָבעס

We have already learned when a ן– is added to the nouns טאַטע, זײדע, מאַמע, באָבע (see ‏5.2 נאָך פּרטים‏). The ן– is included in the possessive forms of טאַטע and זײדע, but not in those of מאַמע and באָבע:

װער – װעמענס

The possessive form of the question word װער is based on the object form װעמען:

When the Possessive is Not Used

The possessive ending ס– is rarely used with inanimate or abstract nouns. Rather, the construction with פֿון is used, for example:

Note the following time expressions where the possessive is used in English, but an adjective is used in Yiddish:

With plural nouns, the construction with פֿון is usually used; however, with animate nouns the possessive ending ס– is sometimes found:

A more detailed description of the possessive in Yiddish can be found in Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature and Culture by Sheva Zucker, volume 2, pp. 201–204.

The Directional Converb צו and the Preposition צו

The directional converb צו indicates movement in the direction of a particular goal. The preposition צו indicates the goal itself: in the above examples צו מיר and צו דער טיר.

Detailed explanations about the converb צו and the preposition צו can be found in ‏6.2 נאָך פּרטים.

אַן אַנדער

We have already learned that an adjective has the zero ending when it comes after the indefinite article אַ and before a neutral noun, for example גוט in אַ גוט בוך (see ‏5.5 נאָך פּרטים). When the adjective אַנדער comes with the indefinite article and a singular noun, it often has the zero ending regardless of the noun’s gender or case. The pairs אַן אַנדער and קײן אַנדער can be regarded as invariant. For example:

With the definite article and in the plural, אַנדער has the usual endings:

The Exclamation װאָס פֿאַר אַ

When Nomi wants to convey how much she likes her great-grandmother’s smile, she uses an exclamation that begins with the words װאָס פֿאַר אַ:

There follow several more examples where װאָס פֿאַר אַ emphasizes a noun phrase in an exclamation. Note that the case of a noun after the exclamation װאָס פֿאַר אַ is determined not by the preposition פֿאַר but by the role the noun plays in the sentence.

Note that with a plural noun, the word אַ may (but does not have to!) be omitted:

The word order and the intonation make clear that these are exclamations, not questions. The word order is the same as in an indirect question: that is, the question word and the words associated with it are not regarded as a sentence unit. However, the intonation differentiates between an indirect question and an exclamation.

Word order in indirect questions is described in ‏5.3 נאָך פּרטים. Here the same schema is used to show how the word order of an exclamation compares with that of a direct and an indirect question. The intonation of the following examples can be heard here:

The same word order can be found in various exclamations, not only with װאָס פֿאַר אַ. The following example is based on what Nomi says in the movie of this lesson when looking at a picture of her grandfather:

אַזױ

The word אַזױ appears several times in this lesson; we are thus taking the opportunity to provide an overview of the various ways in which the word is used with examples of how it has been used in YiddishPOP.

Adverb אַזױ: “like this/this way”

Exclamation: !אָט אַזױ – “Well done! That’s it!”

Comparison

The second part of a comparison is introduced with the word װי, for example:

Intensifier

אַזױ is also an intensifier similar to זײער, but it is more emphatic and often adds a feeling of wonder or surprise. In the following examples אַזױ adds emphasis to an adjective or adverb:

The intensifier אַזױ can also be found with verbs with the meaning “so much”. For example:

After the intensifier אַזױ, a result or consequence can be indicated with the word אַז, for example:

In lesson 3.5 Nomi reads from the story:

The woman could have connected her two sentences with אַז, showing that not being able to stand straight is the result of the house being cramped:

An example with an adverb:

An example with a verb:

עליו־השלום / עליה־השלום

In this movie, Nomi says of her paternal grandparents:

In both cases, Nomi uses an expression signaling that the person she is speaking of is no longer alive:

• עליו־השלום (literally: “peace be upon him”, pronounced oleva-sholem) for someone who is male
• עליה־השלום (“peace be upon her”, pronounced oleha-sholem) for someone who is female.

There are quite a few variants of this kind of expression, for example:

Expressions like these are very common in Yiddish, especially when speaking warmly of the deceased.