Orthographies

Been thinking of changing the orthography of ta:ruven yet again, and
therefore need some tips. It's the visuals that count here...

Original (ole' translation-excercise, "Grandfather and the Dragon"):

    ka=ECrfa=EC a gva=ECr=20

    ka=ECrfa=ECdudjal:; i:ru djinra e=ECcavy
    i: xvua=ECc ry=FA's; rael:ia
    a=F2 i: xvu 'ryc; syel:ia
    a=F2 i: xvu ly=E8's; ju:ar:in: vaeren a ka=ECrfa=EC ct'a=EBlan:
    i:el 'syardris djin xvu ksy's; k'a:on; ta'aon; brenon; a tiron
    i:ruel ksy'seles tca'ra ge=E0lar:ei=F0 ga=ECnrui=F0 e=ECcai=F0es=20

The colons mark length, the semi-colons mark a short pause (the comma
marks palatalization and /j/), and the apostrophe marks (pre)aspiration.
Graves (`) marks off-glides and acutes (=B4) onglides. This is -a bit-
noisy...

Revision a:

    ka=ECrfa=EC a gva=ECr=20

    ka=ECrfa=ECdudjall / =EEru djinra e=ECcavy
    =EE xvua=ECc ry=FAhs / raellia
    a=F2 =EE xvu hryc / syellia
    a=F2 =EE xvu ly=E8hs / j=FBarrinn vaeren a ka=ECrfa=EC ctha=EBlann
    =EEel hsyardris djin xvu ksyhs / kh=E2on / tahaon / brenon / a tiron
    =EEruel ksyhseles tcahra ge=E0larrei=F0 ga=ECnrui=F0 e=ECcai=F0es=20

Vowel-length marked with circumflex (^), consonant-length by doubling,
short pause by " / " instead of "; ", and the apostrophe has been
replaced with a "h". "|" and "=A6" are possible substitutes for "/".=20

Less noisy, but I don't know...

Revision b, Finnish-Latin style:

    kairfai a gvair

    kairfaidujall, iiru jinra eicavy
    ii khv=FCaish r=FDuhs, ra=EBllia
    ao ii khvu hrysh, sy=EBllia
    ao ii khvu lyehs, zhuuarrinn va=EBren a kairfai shtha=EBlann
    iiel hsy=E4rdris jin khvu ksyhs, khaaon, taha=F6n, brenon, a tiron
    iiru=EBl ksyhseles tshahra gealarre=EF=F0 gainru=EF=F0 eisha=EF=F0es

Length marked by doubling, offglides unmarked, onglides marked with an
acute (=B4) on the glide (non-glides then have to be marked somehow, here
with umlaut (=A8)). Short pause by comma (<j> would then be used for /j/
and to mark palatalization), <sh>, <zh> and <kh> has replaced <c>, <j>
and <x> respectively.

This one is a bit heavy on h's I think, and it is soo tempting to
pronounce the doubled vowels as two different vowels and not one long...

Another thing that could be done is to replace <u> (barred-u) with <=FB>
so that /u/ can be marked with <u> instead of <o>... but then it gets
messier again...

For your amusement, Anglified style:

    kuyrfuy ah gvuyr

    kuyrfuydewjahll, eerew jinrah eyshahvi
    ee hvewuysh riewhs, rahealleeah
    ahoo ee hvew hrish, siealleeah
    ahoo ee hvew leeeahs, zhewahrrinn vahearean ah kuyrfuy shtahealahnn
    eeeal hseeahrdrees jeen hvew ksihs, khahoon, tahhahoon, breanoon, \
        ah teeroon
    eereweal ksihsealeas tshahhrah geaahlahrreaeeth guynreweeth \
        eyshaheetheas

<ee> as in "see", <ea> as in RP "bear", <ew> as in "brew" though never a
glide, <uy> as in "guy, die, dye", <i> as in "bit", <ah> as in "shah",
<oo> as in "fool, moon", <th> as in "thigh, thy", <t> as in "tone,
stone"... quite a few phoneme-boundaries have been "adjusted" :) (I used
<zh> for the <j> in "join" in an attempt to avoid the affricate, plain
<j> is used when it is, in fact, an affricate.)

Come to think of it, the very last version of Panowa, ta:ruven's
descendant, uses a somewhat anglified orthography...

Apropos orthographies, does anyone have a link to, or can describe, the
orthographies of various celtic languages? Lotsa sounds and few letters
makes for, uh, interesting results ;)


tal.
--=20
"Better living through conlanging"