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Lesson #1: Fádallan romanisation
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This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 3 Jun 2018, 08:23.

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Menu 1. Consonants 2. Vowels 3. Tone 4. Acutes 5. Test
The orthography of Fádallan is cruel and unusual retains much of the spelling from  Classical Dhwer, but fear not! It's also entirely phonetic, so that's nice.

[edit] [top]Consonants

Fádallan has a very small consonant inventory, with only /m n ɲ t k f s x l j w/. The consonants are romanised very regularly, and generally conform to the following chart.

bcdghklmnpstw
/f w/Ø/l//k//x//k//l//m//n//f//s//t//w/

The three digraphs are <ni>, representing /ɲ/, <mn>, representing /n/, and <ki>, representing /s/. Don't ask why <ki> is /s/, it just is. Etymology or something (/ki/ is <kí>). /j/ is represented as <i>, and really only occurs before vowels or between a vowel and the end of the world. <b> is realised as /w/ between vowels, and /f/ elsewhere.

You may be wondering what <c> is for, since it doesn't actually have a phonetic value. In the changes from  Classical Dhwer, a lot of final vowels were lost. This is reflected in Fádallan's romanisation, with final vowels not being pronounced, unless they're the only vowel or diphthong in the word. <c> prevents the loss of the vowel, essentially 'shielding' it from the end of the word.

  • <niuuc> [ɲʉ:], cf. <kógo> [kok]


[edit] [top]Vowels

Fádallan has the rather large vowel inventory of /i i: ì: ì ʉ ʉ: ʉ̀: ʉ̀ e e: è: è o o: ò: ò ɐ ɐ: ɐ̀: ɐ̀/, generally romanised as follows.

iiiuuueeeoooaaa
/i//i://ʉ//ʉ://e//e://o//o://ɐ//ɐ:/

I haven't included the tones in this table because they'll be discussed next.
<i> becomes /j/ before vowels or between a vowel and the end of the world (_V, V_#, V:_#). When a long vowel is next to /j/, the <i> is doubled, <iiec> [je:].


Tone is very regular and easy to predict. I promise.
Tone is marked using one of <b d g>, varying by etymology and final pronunciation, placed after the vowel. <b> is pronounced as /f/, <d> as /l/ or nothing before a consonant, and <g> as /k/.
Tone also carries over onto adjacent vowels. If tone were to carry over onto an /i/, but it would otherwise become /j/, then it stays as /i/ and gains the tone, except word final /j/.

[edit] [top]Acutes

You might be wondering what's with all the acutes flying all over the place, seemingly performing no fixed role, but worry not. That's what this bit is about. Acutes in Fádallan perform four simple roles, presented here arranged in order of precedence.

  1. <dí> and <dií>: the sequence <dí> indicates /j/ preceded by a low tone, etymologically due to /z/. <dií> performs largely the same function, although also indicates that the previous vowel is long.
    • amnodií [ɐnò:j]
    • biidías [fì:jɐs]
  2. <ií>: the sequence indicates /x/ with a short vowel on one side and the same vowel, but long, on the other side, in order to prevent sequences such as <oóo> or <ooó>
    • oiíooc [oxo:]
  3. overriding tone: a single vowel may have an acute placed on it before an etymologically preserved tone marker to remove the tone and preserve the marker
    • uulúd [ʉ:lʉl]
  4. /x/ insertion: in a sequence of /VxV/, an acute is placed on the second vowel to indicate the /x/
    • koís [koxis]


Acutes are also sometimes used when they more closely approximate the etymological spelling without affecting the spelling, for example 'to run' is written ó because it was followed by /x~h/ in Old Fádallan. It could be written o but the acute doesn't have any effect so the two are effectively identical.


Armed with this knowledge, you come to the test. This is a lesson after all.

QuestionYour answerCorrect answer
Write out the romanisation for these pronunciations
[sʉ:]  
▼ Answer - don't cheat!
[jìʉ̀kʉ]  
▼ Answer - don't cheat!
Choose the correct pronunciation
iudn  
▼ Answer - don't cheat!
iáac  
▼ Answer - don't cheat!
kuumuú  
▼ Answer - don't cheat!


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