Phonology and Orthography
The following more-or-less describes the accent of the first Thessian settlers of the Telai; by no means are these pronunciations guaranteed to be intelligible by all Telaians. In particular, s may become ʃ or θ in different dialects or in a position-dependent manner (the pattern si/sɪ -> ʃi/ʃɪ is particularly common.)
| IPA | ortho | key | notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| k | k | key | |
| g | g | gay | |
| ŋ | n | hang | before k or g |
| t | t | tie | |
| d | d | day | |
| n | n | neigh | not before k or g |
| s | s | say | |
| z | z | zoo | |
| p | p | pay | |
| b | b | bay | |
| m | m | may | |
| v | v | vow | |
| f | f | fay | |
| l | l | lay | |
| r | r | ray | alveolar trill |
| IPA | ortho | key | notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| æ | a | apt | |
| ɪ | i | if | |
| i | ee | eel | |
| u | u | too | |
| ʌ | eu | up | |
| ɛ | e | exes | |
| o | o | oak | |
| w | u | wit | if first partner of diphthong |
| j | i | yay | if first partner of diphthong |
Phonotactic Constraints
Most dialects of Kuanid strike a compromise in favour of rapid, simple speech with few exotic consonants. As such, the syllable complexity is similarly simplified.
A syllable consists of the following elements, where [square brackets] denote an optional element and <angle brackets> denote a mandatory one:
[LEAD][VOWEL]<VOWEL>[I][NASAL][TAIL]
Where LEAD is any consonant except ŋ,
VOWEL is any vowel,
I is an optional diphthongization with ɪ,
NASAL is n, m, or ŋ (and must agree with TAIL or the next LEAD if present),
and TAIL is any consonant except a nasal, l, or r.
Alphabet
Coming soon.
