Final (?) Senyecan Orthography

Hi!

I have finally settled on an orthography for Senyecan, with some
modifications for Wiki.frath and this list.  I have been working
with Word for a coule of weeks now and have discovered a lot.  I
will list the graphemes in the Latin alphabetical order.  I have
also found some non-Latin alphabets that I can use as well.  I
really like the Georgian alphabet!  I've also adapted the Greek, the
Cyrillic, the Armenian, and the Devanagari.  Some day I'll send
those to the list; those who are skilled can then let me know if I
got them right!  Here is the Senyecan Latin alphabet with the X-
sampa pronunciation guide and the occasional note.

 1.a /a/ - There are short and long vowels.  The long vowels are
written twice as in Finnish, aa /a:/.  An acute accent is used for
the mid tone. a double acute accent for the high tone.  I borrowed
the idea of double acute from Hungarian, something I couldn't do on
WordPerfect.  Hungarian has only the "o" and the "u," but I can use
Word's combining diacritical marks for the other four vowels.  For
this list and for Wiki.frath I use a circumflex in place of the
double accent.
 2. b /b/
 3. c /k/
 4. d /d_d/
 5. ð /D_d/ - This is not interdental as in English.
 6. e /e/
 7. f /p\/
 8. g /g/
 9. h /j_0/ - a voiceless palatal approximant.  In Word I use "h"
with a crossbar because just plan "h" might be confusing.  The
sounds are similar.  I borrowed it from the Maltese alphabet where
it represents the voiceless palatal fricative /C/.
10. i /i/
11. j /j/ - As soon as possible I will be changing this to yogh on
my Word documents.  I read that it is incorrect to use ezh in its
stead.
12. l /l_d/
13. £ /l_d_0/ - I use l-stroke in Word which I borrowed from the
Polish alphabet where it represents the labial-velar approximant.
Interestingly, this phoneme is not the voiceless palatal lateral
approximant /L/ nor the voiceless alveolar lateral fricative /K/.  I
discovered that Tibetan has this voiceless dental lateral
approximant; it occurs in the name Lhasa.  It is allophonic in
English, being the l-sound heard after a voiceless consonant, e.g.,
please.
14. m /m/
15. µ /m_0/ - In Word I use the Old English wynn, which looks like
a lower case "p" with its nose in the air!  For here and for
Wiki.frath I use "µ."
16. n /n_d/
17. o /o/
18. ø /O/
19. p /p/
20. q /j\/
21. r /4_0/ - In the "-r" interrogatory suffix, which is always
sentence final, this often becomes the voiceless trill /r_0/.
22. s /s/
23. ç /ts)/ - Wanting to avoid the use of acute accents over
consonants, I have chosen to use, in Word, the s with the retroflex
hook.
24. t /t_d/
25. þ /T_d/ - This is not interdental as in English.
26. u /u/
27. v /B/
28. x /C/
29. z /z/
30. ß /dz)/ - As with the unvoiced variant, I have chosen to use,
in Word, the z with the retroflex hook.

There are also three epenthetic vowels which are not counted among
the letters of the alphabet.  They are known as møhe, møhi, and
møhu, i.e., short e, etc.

ë /E/ - In Word I use the Ukrainian IE, a backwards yeh-ree open
in the "correct" position.  I find it more pleasing than epsilon.
In Wiki.frath and here I use "ë."

ï /I/ - In word I use the dotless "i."  The palatalization of a
consonant becomes this close front unrounded vowel when followed by
a consonant.  /b"ad_jin/ (yellow); /b"adïtan/ (yellownesss).  Here
and in Wiki.frath I use "ï." The palatalization of a consonant is
indicated by a cedilla under the consonant or, if necessary, an
apostrophe over the consonant.  BTW, in WordPerfect there was a
dotless "j."  I can't find it in Word.  Has anyone else seen this
grapheme?

y /U/ - The labialization of a consonant becomes this close back
rounded vowel when followed by a consonant. /"ok_won/
(eye); /"okUm_0in/ (ocular).  The labialization of a consonant is
indicated by a breve over the consonant or, if necessary, an
inverted breve under the consonant.

So many wonderful graphemes to choose from on Word, but I didn't
want to get too carried away!

Charlie
http://wiki.frath.net/user:caeruleancentaur