User:Rtcity/orthography

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Kryfona orthography is the way in which Kryfona are spelled and how their spelling corresponds with their pronunciation. The modern Kryfona orthography, known as the Rijeringzse, has been standardized since the Orthographic Convention of 1563; previously, there was no official orthography for the language and thus a great number of words had spelling variants. Since the first Orthographic Convention, there have been a number of smaller, less significant conventions by the Kryfona Orthographic Board. The last such convention was in 1965.

Kryfona orthography is, outside of the orthography used to write the Changeling language, probably the most complicated of any of the Equo-Kryfonic languages. Owing to a lack of standardization, a great deal of outside influence, the introduction of Yaraan and Tuszkean words to the language and almost a millennium of use, Kryfona has sprouted a great number of counter-intuitive digraphs, trigraphs, consonant clusters, and vowel combinations. Many of these were not standardized in any capacity until the creation of the Rijeringzse, and because of their age, many words and place names retain their counter-intuitive spellings.

Alphabet

Kryfona has a 28 letter alphabet, comprised of the 26 Latin letters and the two supplemental digraphs sz and zs. Theoretically, Kryfona letters correspond with only a single sound; however, owing to sound changes, consonant clusters, and a number of unconventional orthographic tendencies, many Kryfona letters can and do represent more than one sound. The alphabet is as follows:

Kryfona alphabet
Upper case A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Sz Zs
Lower case a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z sz zs


Consonants

Spelling Major value
(IPA)
Examples of major value Other
values
Examples of other values
b, bb usually /b/ eberesi, barje, sabbita Ø vbija
finally Ø yedub, zsykeb /β/ tubb
bd usually Ø nabde, tabda /d/ naribdet, sabdewa, kabdat
after o /b/ dobdti, kanobda, talobdenta /bd/ gobden
c initially /k/ Cazje, cozsi, cnadi
initially, before
e, i, y, j or l
/s/ cedy, cjan, clowu cyzse /k/ clady, cjy
medial /s/ pacim, decik, korucie /k/ tacien, vedyicu, drecin
final /k/ tac, hozsemec, tradyec, nasjovenec
ch /tʃ/ chare, namache, keryech, navichejy
cs usually /s/ csery, ancsara, tuics /k/ tekacs, vatyics
csz initially and medially /s/ csza, mekycsza, talemcszo
finally /k/ tabanzsacsz, koremcsz, teiedzicsz /s/
/z/
namysocsz, tocsz
robucsz, vyzxsucsz
cz initially and medially /z/ czalem, Czuryunl, taczel, rodczal /s/
/kz/
rokczal, doriczveld
pelcziem, draczeik,
finally /k/ viekcz, danecz /s/ dyrcz, pecercz, aluacz
czs initially /z/ czson, czsnowe, czsla /ʃ/ czsi, czsemet, czsakerzet
medially /z/ dsaczso, naczse
finally /z/ tabroczs, eidenczs /s/ tizsiczs, rowaczs
d, dd, dh /d/ kinadi, tado, kuldva, tod, adhe, keddis
f, ff usually /f/ fien, adanfielk, toidaf, affien
g /ɡ/ goek, szage, tolgai
gh usually /ɡ/ dighi, ladegho, tabighit
after /ɪ/ /k/ ygham, adyghit
gsz after consonants /ks/ dolgsz, rangszan
after vowels /ɡs/ tagsz, noiekagsz /ɡz/ dosewagsz, latyegsz
gx /sk/ ruigxzsi, dagx, loeigx
gzs after vowels /z/ viegzsin, doivegzs
after consonants /gz/ rowgzs
h, hh /h/ deleh, rohiem, hosgina, dehher
hq /k/ Redimahqevits, Yiulstihq, sahqal /ɡ/ ehqe, tahqa, shqare[1]
j usually /dʒ/ jozem, jy, elekoje /j/ onije, talije
finally /ʃ/ zegataj, volej, rozemej
finally, after consonant /tʃ/ natj, setrj, vatj
jj /jdʒ/ kajj, voinajjo
jy /dʒɪ/ tojy, velemjystek
k, kk, kh, kkh /k/ dowek, talinekk, onsekhan, takkh, tuikkhos
s initially /s/ sary, salemek, sowe
before diphthong /z/ soied, vansoik, laseina
medially and finally /s/ vulsi, dobris, anemes
sc before vowels /sk/ scoyeviw, scikeperi, sca
before consonants /ʃ/ scnikoy, scla, vetsclo, nobyscne
scz before vowels /z/ sczote, sczamy, besczame
before consonants /ʒ/ lasczno, joziscztowy, desczle
sometimes, with e...n, o...n, y...n /ʃ/ pesczni, dovesczni, osczno

Notes

  1. This only occurs in some dialects. Most Kryfona pronounce ⟨hq⟩ as /k/ and not /ɡ/.